Ten Interesting Facts About Freezers

They quietly hum and get on with their job, but the freezer really is a remarkable contraption. While their designs perhaps undersell their influence on the way we prepare food and live our lives, there is no doubt that the freezer has served a revolutionary purpose.

Previously, we’d have to re-stock our supplies with fresh food bought from the local grocers. Now, with freezers being so widely available, we can stock up on dinners for multiple nights, and make spare dishes that we can freeze to have at a later date. Not only that, but we can make the likes of vegetables, eggs and yogurt last for longer.

So in celebration of the fantastic creation that is the household freezer, we’re going to deliver ten cool facts about freezers that you probably didn’t know.

#1. Frozen Assets

As many of us feel quite stretched by our finances, we look to different ways that we can save money. One of these ways is reducing our food bill. In an effort to do so, we even rummage around our current stock of food and ingredients to put together make-shift dinners. Apparently, over one-third of us (36%) plan to use food in our fridge-freezers to try and save money.

#2. Freezers Full of Food

Fact #1 shouldn’t really come as a surprise – given that 72% of us have freezers that are full of food. Of the foods we’re likely to store in freezers, 76% stick their meat and/or poultry in the freezer, and 65% of us store our vegetables in there too.

#3. Economical With The Capacity

When we look at manufacturer specifications for a freezer, we expect the stats to be accurate. However, there are certain anomalies when it comes to ‘capacity‘. While the values are not untrue, they are not realistic either. This is because manufacturers remove shelves, racks and drawers before measuring the capacity. However, since you will use these storage compartments to store your food, the manufacturer’s capacity should not be replied upon. The ‘true’ capacity can, therefore, be as much as 25% less than advertised.

#4. Defrost Defrosting

Only 10% of us are defrosting our freezers every month; while 14% of us have never done it. While most people have defrosted their freezer within the past two years, our team at Repair Aid would advise making this an annual (or twice yearly) event. This helps to not only keep your freezer more energy efficient, it can also help to extend its lifespan.

#5. Food-getful

This one perhaps explains why our freezers are full, and why we go looking for food there when we need to save money. Nearly half of us (43%) forget that we have frozen food stored away; whereas 16% claim that they are on top of what’s in their freezer unit.

#6. Our Survey Says…

Consumer watchdog ‘Which?’ surveyed their members and found out the three top faults when it comes to freezers:

• Broken or cracked drawers – 29%
• Ice build-up in a frost-free freezer – 12%
• Freezer not keeping correct temperature – 11%

If you’ve ran into any of these problems, a fridge repair company should be able to help you out.

#7. Not Built The Same

Despite their visual similarities to one another, freezers can wildly range on the performance scale. Take, for example, Which?’s freezer scores. Their top energy-efficient freezer scored 85%, while their worst performing freezer tallied just 18% on the scale.

#8. Thaw In Case Of Emergency

Over one-third of us (37%) will store away frozen dinners in case we need a dish or two in an emergency. That’s some good planning!

#9. Full, But Totally Forgotten

Despite loads of us liking to keep our freezers as full as they can be (see fact #2), nearly 1-in-10 of us will fill our freezer and yet hardly ever use it. A surprisingly high 7% seem to be addicted to ensuring they have enough stored away for a rainy day. Or two. Or three…

#10. I Like It Cold, But Not That Cold!

We think that due to the very nature of freezers that they would appreciate being stored away in a cold location such as a garage. However, not all freezers have been designed to operate in such temperatures. Many won’t work when in environments of -15°C or lower; but some manufacturers, such as Beko, guarantee that their freezers will work when faced with such extreme cold.