Defrost the freezer and dust the coils to wake up a tired fridge
Your fridge runs 24/7, so small inefficiencies add up. Clear the frost, vacuum the coils and check the door seal to get the same chill for less power.
Your fridge is the appliance that never clocks off. Where a kettle runs for two minutes, the fridge-freezer hums away every hour of every day, which means anything that makes it work a little harder is paid for around the clock. Two things quietly do exactly that, and both are invisible until you look.
The first is frost. A thick layer of ice on the freezer walls acts like a duvet over the cold element, so the appliance has to run longer and colder to compensate. The second is the coils — the grille on the back or underneath that sheds the heat your fridge pulls out of the food. Over a year or two they collect a grey felt of dust and pet hair, and a coil that can’t dump its heat forces the compressor to labour. Neither problem announces itself; the fridge just gets gradually thirstier.
The honest caveat: if your fridge is fairly new and frost-free, the savings here are modest. This hack earns its keep on older appliances, busy households and anywhere a cat sheds near the kitchen. Even then, treat it as good housekeeping that nudges the bill down rather than a dramatic fix — and pair it with not blocking the airflow behind the unit, which is the mistake most people don’t know they’re making.
How to do it
- If there's more than a few millimetres of frost in the freezer, empty it into a cool bag, switch it off and let the ice melt with a towel underneath to catch the water.
- While it defrosts, pull the fridge gently away from the wall and find the coils — a black grille on the back, or behind a kick-plate at the bottom front.
- Vacuum the coils and the fan with a brush attachment to lift off the felt of dust; this is where the heat escapes, so a clogged coil makes the motor work harder.
- Check the door seal: shut it on a sheet of paper, and if the paper slides out easily the rubber needs cleaning or replacing.
- Leave a 5–10 cm gap behind and above the fridge so warm air can rise away, then switch back on and reload once it's cold.
Pro tips & pitfalls
- Don't pack the fridge wall-to-wall — cold air needs to circulate. A fridge that's too full and a freezer that's too empty both run less efficiently.
- Never chip frost off with a knife; you can puncture the cooling lines and write off the whole appliance. Patience and a bowl of warm water do it safely.
What it's good for
Good for the planet
- Saves energy Frost insulates the cooling element and dusty coils trap heat, so the compressor runs longer; clearing both can cut a fridge's draw noticeably over a year of round-the-clock running.
- Cuts CO₂ Less compressor run-time means less grid electricity, and that's emissions avoided every single day the appliance is plugged in.
Good for you
- Saves money Your fridge-freezer is one of the few things on every hour of every day — shaving its consumption shows up on the bill, often a handful of euros a year for an hour's work.
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