In article , Ian_m wrote:
I thought it was quite common knowledge that fridges/freezers
don't work in cold places, fridges usually being the worst.

I knew this, but thought that the problem was just confined to
single compressor fridge/freezers, not standalone fridges or
freezers or twin-compressor fridge freezers?

AIUI the analysis something like assume external temp 15C, fridge
5C, freezer -15C, which gives temp differences of 10 and 30, so if
the compartments are of equal size and insulation you put 75% of the
cooling into the freezer and 25% into the fridge and each bit
reaches the desired temp. But if the outside drops to 5C then the
fridge cannot get any warmer than this so the stat switches off and
the freezer part gradually defrosts. So why not let the stat measure
the freezer temp and let the fridge take its chances?

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Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm