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Switch off fridge when not in use?


Adriana
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Our fridge probably won't be used for the next 6 months or so. I always switched it off, but someone recently told me that it is better to leave the fridge on at a very low temperature. I am concerned about the fridge short circuiting or something like that when we are not there. Any advice?

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If the power goes off so will your fridge, and if the circuit trips as well it won't come back on - both common occurances in the countryside.  So when you get back you will be faced with a nice mould covered inside to the fridge.[+o(]

 

So switch it off and leave the door slightly open so that the surfaces do not attract condensation and mould.

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Electrically the fridge should come to no harm if left switched off, ours doesn't and we are at least six months between visits. What you must do is comprehensively clean it and leave the door open, this avoids any possibility of mildew which will be impossible to remove and will taint any food afterwards. Ditto with freezers.

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I actually had my "help save our planet " hat on when we left this week so for the first time ever I switched some of the fridges off-yes, I did wash them out first[:)] I left a freezer on cos it's got stuff in it and I left some wine and water ( sounds a bit Biblical ) in another fridge for when we go back but really I think I should have washed that fridge out too and turned it off- maybe next year !
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I read that a way to monitor what your freezer did while you were away is to leave a box of icecubes in the freezer. If they're transformed into one solid block on your return you can assume the freezer has been off for a time and that you need to find out how long and make a decision as to what you do with your freezer contents. If the freezer was off long enough for the ice cubes to melt...[Www]

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It is also worth mentioning that some fridge freezers will turn off the compressor when the ambient temperature drops to around 4°C.  Which means your freezer will defrost.  It seems a silly design concept to me and certainly not one that you would want to include in an unheated (over winter) secondary home, but the first you are likely to know about it is when you arrive at Christmas to find the Freezer at room temperature (cold room temperature that is, but not cold enough by a long way).[:@]
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i always leave in the fridge a cup with a few pieces of charcoal, apparently it absorbs bad odours.

 

Andyh4, do you live in Frankfurt? i was there for 18 months in early 90s... i was living near palmengarden.

do you know cono cimino italian restaurant? we spent long evenings there...

 

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[quote user="Chauffour"]

Andyh4, do you live in Frankfurt? i was there for 18 months in early 90s... i was living near palmengarden.

do you know cono cimino italian restaurant? we spent long evenings there...

 

[/quote]

 

Not currently.  I work there and do a 100km commute every day.  So I know very little about the area of Frankfurt.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

You only have to be away from the house for a short week to realise that the freezer has been off then come back on.  We had a lovely bag of ice cubes, which when we got back from a 5 day holiday was a solid mass!  I have now left the fridge and small freezer empty, with the door propped open with a bottle of red wine.  At least we'll have something to drink when we get back to France...

M

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