Quote:
Originally Posted by MN Renovator
You actually want the temperature to swing a bit...
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So, it looks like the 'defrost feature' is the real problem here...
I still maintain that a properly designed refrigerator will never need any defrosting at all, because the chill plate will be of sufficient size that it will be able to remove heat from the refrigerator without ever getting to 32 degrees F.
Implementing a precision thermostat may be an improvement, and manually controlling the defrost cycle may also be an improvement, but they are both partial compensations for poor basic design.
In addition to bad placement of the compressor & condenser coils, the glaring design flaw is the freezer/refrigerator 'combo feature'. With this 'feature' the chill plate that cools the freezer is the same chill plate that cools the refrigerator (lower production cost) and of course it must have a temperature much lower than 32 degrees F to function, which necessitates the 'defrost feature', which is just a bandaid for the 'combo feature'.
I have discovered that there is a class of refrigerators called "All Refrigerator" which means that they do not have the cursed 'combo feature', but are actually all refrigerators with no freezer at all... it also looks like the buying public is so hypnotized into thinking that the combo is the only way to go they they have to say it twice, "Full Refrigerator Refrigerator" to indicate the difference.
I just saw that these are also named "freezerless refrigerators".
Here, a company has taken the chest type freezer and put in a different thermostat:
LINK to chest type Full Refrigerator Refrigerator
These units may or may not use freezer grade insulation, and may or may not use a freezer grade compressor, but they do save the agony of installing a precision thermostat in a chest freezer.
And
HERE is a link to many models of All Refrigerators...
Even though almost all of the compressors are on the bottom (BAD), if the condenser coils are mounted on the back (MEDIUM GOOD), and not integrated into the sides (WRETCHED), some of these units might be pretty good. Since these do not have the 'combo feature', the chill plate should not need to go below 32 degrees F and the refrigerator will not need to do duty as a vegetable dehydrator, so it will not need the 'defrost feature'.
[EDIT: l have noticed that these configurations also offer the 'defrost feature', so it looks like they are sticking with the small, very cold chiller plate, and that frosting is still an issue... whether it is reduced, I can't tell... Sun Frost has found a way around the frost problem, so it is possible.]
Best,
-AC