What’s for dinner? A common question that leads many people looking into the freezer, chipping away at frozen shelves of food, and trying to find something before frostbite sets in causing them to abandon their quest. Gas Fridge would like to discuss with you about defrosting your natural gas or propane refrigerator.
All gas refrigerators are manual defrost, why?
Those who have owned a newer electric freezer know of their auto defrost feature. In order to accomplish this, the unit’s defrost cycle includes timers and heating elements, this puts a large load on the electric supply. For this reason, the manufacturers of propane gas refrigerators elect not to include this feature.
Frost build-up inside of a refrigerator compartment is inevitable and will eventually lower the efficiency of any refrigerator. You will need to defrost your gas fridge manually. Depending on a few factors your application and time will help to determine when and how often the off-grid refrigerator will need to be defrosted.
How do I know when it’s time to defrost my Gas Refrigerator?
A non-electric refrigerator has aluminum cooling fins located on the back wall of the refrigerator compartment. Humidity collects on these fins and turns to ice. Monitor these fins and when the frost builds up between these fins to the point where there is no air space between the fins it is time to defrost.
The humidity in the air, number of door openings, and moisture on groceries will all contribute to frost build up and will vary depending upon the owner and climate. We find that a defrosting schedule can be as often as every 3 months or as little as once a year even within the largest propane refrigerator. EZ Freeze has developed a defrosting method that takes all of the work out of defrosting. It is as simple as turning a dial. The EZ-Defrost System is available on all models.
How does the EZ-Defrost System work?
The EZ-Defrost System includes multiple parts. First is a pan under the cooling fins inside the fridge compartment with drip spout that directs the water to a funnel mounted on the back wall of the fridge interior. The water then funnels out through the back wall and down into a removable tray on the rear of the unit. The tray is designed to either be removed and emptied or left in place where the water will evaporate due to the heated tray holder.
This is as close to automatic as it gets. In order to defrost, all you need to do is turn the temperature thermostat dial to a minimum setting in the evening and in the morning the frost in the fridge will be defrosted and drained through the above process. At this point in time all you need to do is turn the thermostat dial back to where it was prior to defrosting. No need to empty the contents of the fridge. No need to turn off the unit. No need to use a hair dryer or hot water to defrost. This is why we call it the EZ-Defrost System.
At GasFridge we have been using propane refrigerators for over 30 years. We have many time saving tips and tricks when it comes to operating and maintaining your gas fridge. For more information regarding propane refrigerators contact us today by calling 928-636-6674.