Freezer gets hot?
Question:I just bought a used, quite old Kelvinator upright freezer. When I plug it in it goes on and begins to cool, but the sides and the top became very hot. Does anyone know what could cause this and if there is something I can do to fix it without spending alot of money, as I said it is quite old. Thanks
Answers:
Are you talking about the outside of the unit or interior? If the outside is getting hot this is normal.
Many fridges and freezers use what is called a yoder condenser loop. The heat that is absorbed from the interior of the freezer is rejected on the metal exterior.
The exterior of the fridge acts as a giant heat sink. After a unit like this is first turned on it gets really hot. This is because the interior is the same temperature as the outside air. It has a lot of heat to remove. If the freezer has been on for several hours then the inside is real cold and there is less heat to remove.
in freezer and refrigerator there is ventilation system but insted of air there is a kind of gas that gets the heat from foods and ... and carry out so when the freezer works u can fell the heat in the back or one side of the freezer . a warm air blowing but if its hot there must be some thing wrong .
My hubby said to set it outside before it blows up on you. And
he said he's serious.
At the very least, it could be a worn out thermostadt. They
regulate the freezing temp. And you'll need a new part. And
hopefully that's all.
In the future, always try out an appliance, even small ones,
to make sure they work before buying them. I think, someone
may have taken advantage of your naivete.
Better luck next time.
It's an old freezer. It likely was pretty efficient to begin with and is much less so now that it is old. It has less insulation than a modern freezer and a less efficient compressor and is probably low on freon.
It is generating a lot of heat because the compressor is probably running continuously.
I'd throw it away if I were you. It's not worth it. Several years ago, my parents got rid of an old freezer (a Kelvinator, I believe) which they had had running in the basement for 35 years. My dad said his electric bill dropped by about $60/mo as soon as they unplugged it. I guess they really weren't saving any money buying frozen food in bulk, if they were spending >$700 per year to keep it frozen.
If it is just heating up around the door seal that is an old way of keeping frost from building up.
Doug was almost right. Some old units routed hot gas around the door openings, but the reason is to keep moisture from rusting up the freezer. If its cooling ok, inside - forget about it and stick in a pint of ice cream for me when I come to visit. None of the others have a nice hat like we do.
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