On Wednesday, 14 August 2019 05:07:01 UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
"NY" wrote in message
...
We have an Arctis freezer - not sure what model, but it's a tall one about
5 feet high, which was left by the previous owners of the house.

The temperature on the display used to be constant at -18 degrees C, but
over the past couple of weeks it's started fluctuating between -18 and -12
over the course of several hours. The times when it is showing a warmer
temperature are not necessarily when it has been opened; nor are they
times when the room is warmer, either because of sunlight or daily
variations in the temperature of the Aga (which also came with the house).
There are times when it's showing -12 but the compressor isn't running, so
it's not as if the refrigeration mechanism is struggling to achieve the
temperature that the thermostat is set at.

Do freezers tend to show a higher temperature on the display when they are
going through a periodic "frost free" thawing stage?

Thats not frost free, thats cyclic defrost. Frost free pumps very
cold air into the freezer and never have a thawing stage. Thats
where the name comes from, there never is any frost to thaw.

wrong as always. What's new.