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I have a small and cheap refrigerator that I use to store beers. It has a small freezer that is of no use to me.

I am only using this refrigerator 5 times a year (during "events"), and I measured that it costs me around $10/month. Not that cheap in the end...

I was thinking of leaving it unplugged for several weeks, plugging it in for an "event" weekend, and then unplugging it after. Hopefully reducing the energy waste.

  • Is there any risk of flooding my floor? I had experience with big fridges putting water everywhere when unplugged, but it may not apply here.
  • Is there a sanitary risk (eg mold) in doing that? I don't think so as I only store bottled beer/wine.
  • Are there any other tips/things I should know?
chicks
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ChipsMyName
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4 Answers4

42

There is no problem doing this. The water if any would come from melting ice. If ice is forming inside, check/ replace the seals.

Keeping the door closed when unused usually forms mould. We hang a towel on the door, so that it cannot close fully.

Community
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Rohit Gupta
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24

I do this with a drinks fridge, as well as with the fridge in my campervan.

It's important to leave it clean and dry when you turn it off, so keep the door open a little for at least a few days, and if there's any chance of any spills, give it a good clean.

It's unlikely to produce large amounts of water, unless it's very iced up. That in turn is unlikely if it's only on for a few days at a time, but if people keep leaving the door open and letting in humid air you might have to deal with some melting ice.

Chris H
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$10 a month seems expensive. Should be less than that. I had the same arrangement, but ended up using the fridge as the 'proper' place to actually keep water, beer, cider, white/rose wines all year round. As well as any excess shopping that needed to go into my already full always-in-use-fridge. The small freezer compartment is used for ice-cubes, which can't be made in the latter fridge.

But to directly answer, no problems to use it spasmodically, with the door open in between. The water problem came from build-up of ice in the freezer compartment, which usually takes a few weeks to gather, depending on number of opening times.

brhans
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Tim
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3

Is there a sanitary risk (eg mold) in doing that? I don't think so as I only store bottled beer/wine.

Yes, bigtime! Refrigerators tend to pick up humidity. Every time you open the door, you let in a bunch of humid air, and the water in the air condenses on cold surfaces. That's fine while it stays cold.

But when you unplug it, the water is still in there. And it creates a petri dish for mold. Worse, a lot of it is on the backside of the interior liner where you can never access it.

I unplug fridges all the time, and I block the door open for a couple weeks to let all that stuff dry out completely. This requires you to resist the lizard-brain urge to close every refrigerator door that you see open :)

Is there any risk of flooding my floor? I had experience with big fridges putting water everywhere when unplugged, but it may not apply here.

That comes from ice which has built up - most of these mini-fridges are not defrosting! The ice should be completely obvious, so you know perfectly well it will turn into liquid water after you unplug. And you have a good sense of how much you'll get, too. Catching/cleaning up this melting ice is part of the job of turning off a fridge.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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