Combination Fridge Freezers

If you are considering a combination fridge freezer be sure to look at the split between the fridge and freezer areas and choose the combination that best suits your needs and the type of food you eat. If you shop regularly, prefer fresh produce and only use the freezer compartment for storing things like frozen vegetables, ice cream and ice cubes - go for a larger fridge area.

But if you tend to buy in bulk and prefer the convenience of frozen food - choose fridge freezers with bigger freezer. Storage capacity is measured in cubic feet, with a capacity of around 9 to 10 cu.ft. being adequate for most families.

Combination fridge freezers

Combination fridge freezers are amongst the most popular choice of UK consumers.

Standard and/or combination fridge freezers may include:

Automatic defrosting: In any refrigerator, over time, water vapor in the air condenses onto the cooling coils as frost, eventually building up into a thick layer of ice. This ice acts as an insulator, reducing cooling efficiency. In the past, the ice was removed by periodically emptying the refrigerator and turning it off to let the ice melt, perhaps aided by hot water applied by the user (a process known as defrosting).

In a refrigerator equipped for frost free operation, however, a heater and a thermostat are fitted around the cooling coils. The cooling is periodically switched off (with the period varying between every 6 to 24 hours depending on the model) and the heater is turned on until the temperature around the coils slightly exceeds the freezing point of water, after which normal cooling resumes. This melts any frost which has collected around the coils. Melt water drops into a small gulley, through a small pipe which drains into a tray on the top of the compressor from which it is then evaporated into the surrounding air by residual heat generated by the operation of the compressor.

A power failure warning, alerting the user by flashing a temperature display. The maximum temperature reached during the power failure may be displayed, along with information on whether the frozen food has defrosted or may contain harmful bacteria;
Chilled water and ice available from an in-door station, so the door need not be opened;
Cabinet rollers that allow the refigerator to be easily rolled around for easier cleaning;
Adjustable shelves and trays that can be moved around to suit the user;
A Status Indicator to notify the user when it is time to change the water filter;
An in-door ice caddy, which relocates the ice-maker storage to the freezer door and saves approximately 60 litres (about 2 cubic feet) of usable freezer space. It is also removable, and helps to prevent ice-maker clogging;
A cooling zone in the refrigerator door shelves. Air from the freezer section is diverted to the refrigerator door, to better cool milk or juice stored in the door shelf;
An LCD suggesting what types of food should be stored at what temperatures, and the expiration date of the food stored;
Extras unrelated to refrigeration, such as a television set, radio, or DVD player built into a door.
Early freezer units accumulated ice crystals around the freezing units. This was a result of humidity introduced into the units when the doors to the freezer were opened. This build up of frost required periodic thawing of the units to maintain their efficiency. Advances in frost-free refrigeration eliminating the thawing task were introduced in the 1950s. Also, early units featured freezer compartments located within the larger refrigerator, and accessed by opening the refrigerator door, and then the smaller internal freezer door; units featuring entirely separate freezer compartment were introduced in the early 1960s, becoming the industry standard by the middle of that decade.

Later advances included automatic ice units and self compartmentalized freezing units.

An increasingly important environmental concern is the disposal of old refrigerators - initially because of the freon coolant damaging the ozone layer, but as the older generation of refrigerators disappears it is the destruction of CFC-bearing insulation which causes concern. Modern refrigerators usually use a refrigerant called HFC-134a (1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethane) instead of freon, which has no ozone layer depleting properties.

Disposal of discarded refrigerators is regulated, often mandating the removal of doors: children playing hide-and-seek have been asphyxiated while hiding inside a discarded refrigerator. This was particularly true for the older models that had latching doors. More modern units use a magnetic door gasket to hold the door sealed but can actually be pushed open from the inside. However, children can be unwittingly harmed by hiding inside any discarded refrigerator