S Viemeister wrote:

Edgar Iredale wrote:

You do seem to have been rather wiser than me. May I ask what make and
type the fridge and freezer are and if you had to go to any special
efforts to find them? Presumably they are class SN machines rather than
the N than mine is. It'll be useful information for when this one packs
up, and for our fridge and freezer in the kitchen which are on their last
legs.

It was a number of years ago - late 1997/early 1998. They're Hotpoints, a
matched pair, undercounter height. I don't remember the model numbers,
but
I doubt if they're still available. So far (touch wood) they've been
completely reliable, even with the frequent power outages we've had. One
was bought from Scottish HydroElectric, and I think the other was from
Curry's - not exactly specialty suppliers. But I did a LOT of research
before ordering them.

It seems to me the fridge-freezers are the real problem because of the
way they work. They seem to fail quite expensively if they run (or fail
to run) long in a too cold place. I've been hearing about such disasters
this afternoon and am now quite determined never to buy a fridge-freezer
unless it has separate mechanisms for the two parts.

That was one of the reasons I bought two separate units - the other was
the need for counter space.

I remember making bread in the late seventies when there was a bakers
strike or something of the kind. I had a Raeburn in those days and really
enjoyed taking the finished cottage loaves to my elderly neighbour who
had been worried that he'd miss his bread. I'd never made bread before,
or since. I was quite proud of myself.

I make bread several times a week - it still seems almost magical to me,
and I've been doing it for at least 30 years.

Sheila

We bought our last freezer about 14 years ago. It was a Hotpoint from the
local electricity company shop, where we were talked through the displayed
models. In the end the choice was determined, as in this recent purchase,
by size and the need to get it quickly (the previous Electrolux had a failed
motor after 14 years). The Hotpoint still looks good and works, but a
couple of weeks ago I found there was a solid block of ice under the
machine. I defrosted it until the ice was gone and put it back into use but
I wasn't able to dry out the case fully so ice soon started to build up
again. It's likely ice has been building up over a long period. Colder
temperatures outside the case will encourage ice build up if moisture can
get in and that could be one reason for the new environmental requirements.

I'm going to try to mend the Hotpoint once the contents are rehoused. Silly
thing to do really but I'll enjoy trying and if I'm successful in fitting
suitable new insulation I intend to switch to the old machine from time to
time to allow a long defrost period for the new one. That might help reduce
the moisture build up in the case.

I think one lesson I'm learning from all this is that after about 10 years
of use we should start to consider changing our fridge and freezers before
anything goes wrong. That would allow time to do some preliminary
investigation and selection. It would also give us the opportunity to
change both kitchen machines at the same time and get a matching pair.

Edgar