"Brooklyn1" <Gravesend1> wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:00:50 -0800 (PST), ItsJoanNotJoann
> > wrote:
>
>>On Dec 30, 12:38 pm, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:16:20 -0800 (PST), ItsJoanNotJoann
>>>
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>> >On Dec 29, 10:46 pm, "Pico Rico" > wrote:
>>>
>>> >> what the heck are you folks doing? Just turn a fan on and let the
>>> >> room air
>>> >> circulate into the freezer. It will defrost likity split, and big
>>> >> chunks of
>>> >> ice will fall off.
>>>
>>> >I gotta agree; this is the best method if you don't have a frost-free
>>> >freezer.
>>>
>>> Actually a fan will likely slow thawing... a fan will increase
>>> evaporation therefore *lowering* the temperature. Were I in a hurry
>>> I'd place a large pot of boiled water into the freezer and close the
>>> door... repeat as needed.
>>>
>>>
>>I'm not going to agree on this but I'll admit it's been at least a
>>hundred years since I've had to do that unpleasant job.
>>>
>>>
>>> People who think their old fashioned defrost units cost less to
>>> operate are fooling themselves, the smallest ice build up decreases
>>> efficiency and as the ice is allowed to become thicker and thicker the
>>> unit becomes more and more inefficient. I've owned the kind of
>>> refrigerator freezer that needed defrosting and I can attest to the
>>> fact that they do not save power, and due to the ice build up they
>>> don't hold foods very well, and most folks don't defrost them until
>>> the ice builds to an intolerable level. There's no savings, none.
>>
>>
>>This I will agree with you 100%!
>
> The real reason that people buy those old style manual defrost units
> is because the initial outlay to buy them is substantially less than
> frost free, yet they rationalize (falsely) how they save energy. I
> have two refrigerator freezers with top freezers, between both
> freezers I have more than enough storage space (9 cu ft of freezer)
> plus I have tons of fridge space... I find the extra fridge space far
> more valuable than just freezer space in a huge stand alone freezer...
> and what if that monster dies in summer. I don't see the point in
> stocking up on frozen foods anyway when you can let the stupidmarket
> freezers hold your food until you need it and save your money in an
> interest bearing account rather than give it to the storekeeper for
> something you won't make use of for months and it may even spoil... in
> the US meat and frozen foods are on sale every day. I think people
> who are obssessed to the point of needing a ton of frozen foods to
> feel secure do so because of fear, they grew up very impoverished and
> went to bed hungry... there's no other logical explanation.

I have a side by side refrigerator. It isn't really enough room. When it
is just the two of us, it is fine. But when my husband is home, it is not.
We have a little fridge. The freezer in that is pretty useless except to
store blue ice in and we do at times need a lot of that. This time of year
we keep drinks that don't require refrigeration in the garage. It might not
be a safe temp. for things that require refrigeration but it keeps drinks
cold enough to be suitably drinkable. This time of year we use the little
fridge for excess room.

Part of our problem now is all the insulin I use. That alone takes up most
of one drawer in the big fridge. The only other things that ever go in the
drawer are excess butter, margarine and flat packs of meat like lunch meat
and bacon. Really nothing else would fit. I can't put the insulin in the
little fridge because from time to time it will freeze inside. The little
fridge does require defrosting. At the time we bought it there were no
little ones that didn't require that. But because the freezer is only used
for blue ice, I don't care if is icy. It's only a problem if the ice
reaches the fridge.

I would have loved a second large fridge/freezer but the only place we could
put one is in the back house. Not only is that not convenient but not
recommended because we do not normally put heat on back there. There is
heat in the building and my husband will use it on occasion if he is in
there. But most of the time during the winter it gets very cold in there.
It is not recommended to put a fridge in a very cold room because that could
cause the fridge to run too cold.

In the garage is a chest freezer. An upright would have been preferable but
it wouldn't fit in there. Again, we could have put an upright in the back
house but again it wouldn't be convenient. The only small chest freezers we
could find were not self defrosting. I don't know why.

We didn't buy these because they were cheaper than the self defrosting. We
bought them because they were the sizes that would fit in our house.

My parents have an upright fridge with little crappy upper freezer in their
laundry room in the basement. They bought is solely for drinks. When the
whole family goes over there they need a wide variety of drinks. Each of us
has our preferred drink. And they buy us each what it is that we like.
Highly inconvenient to have to keep going down there for drinks though. I
always sneak an extra one or two of mine into the fridge upstairs even
though my mom has told me that is forbidden.