The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

ASBO fridge freezer

Message from the fridge

Message from the fridge

Danny has secretly slapped an Anti Social Behaviour Order on our fridge freezer. Last weekend we had a bit of a fright with the vociferous beast. It was suddenly struck quite dumb.
“I think that the fridge is very sick, Danny. The light goes on when I open the door but the motor does not hum.”
This fridge has been an adolescent for as far back as we can remember. Moody and prone to dramatic outbursts of weeping into the space that used to hold the crisper drawers.

Over the past couple of years it has been insisting that it’s a freezer and not a fridge-freezer. The ice clearing is a real chore.
“If I sweep up the leaves, will you do the ice in the fridge?”
“Of course,” says D.
He renegotiates a few hours later..
“If I fix the bug on the blog will you tackle the ice?”
“I’ll do it after I’ve cooked supper.” And then I think about it.
“Even though I’m cooking, it’s actually your turn.  So would you mind tackling the ice?”
So the task was batted back and forth. No wonder that the fridge finally gave up. No one wanted to deal with its dramas. Eventually it stopped chilling altogether. Gradually it had become an igloo with attitude.

When it stopped working we had a day wondering whether we should buy a replacement. Eventually I decided to give it a bit of a shock.

I pulled the plug out of the wall.

When I switched it on again it purred into action. The motor got louder and louder as the week progressed. By Thursday night we realised that it had been singing its final swansong. Despite being a cheap fridge-freezer, bought over 12 years ago and with a poor energy rating, we were sad to see it die.

“I bet that the effect of the fridge-freezer not working has shown up on the National Grid.” Danny chortled until the cost of replacing it finally hit him with an icy swat.

Over the past month, an enormous block of ice had formed at the back of the fridge compartment.

This hefty block saved our fresh food today, as we had inadvertently created a small ice house. The freezer stayed frozen until we found temporary lodgings for our frozen food. Our carrier bags of goodies are enjoying life in a massive chest freezer at Anne Mary’s. Thank goodness for trusty friends. The Old Farmhouse offers great B&B for humans too. Well away from the chest freezer.

Since Thursday, I‘d hoped that the fridge-freezer would spring into action. Over the past couple of nights I’ve even dreamt about it. In these dreams I’ve discovered that the fridge has recovered. But each morning the fridge gave no chirrup when I opened the larder door.

So this morning I finally searched for a new fridge-freezer on the Internet. Having endured twelve years of a FF that can’t cope with  deep frost or a heatwave we finally were going for an A rated, deluxe model. I found a very good deal. Having just settled a couple of large bills and ordered a tank of oil, buying a new companion fridge freezer was not a moment to be cherished. So I decided to order the replacement beast this evening and ventured into our garden to play for a few hours before darkness fell.

As I was cooking supper, I opened the larder door and heard a faint rumble. I raced up to The Rat Room.
“Danny. I think that the fridge freezer is alive.”
Danny shot downstairs to investigate. He opened the fridge door and enjoyed the gentle wafting chill.
“Let’s hope that it wants to celebrate its thirteenth birthday.”

If it does we’ll make a vast cake festooned with candles.


  Leave a reply

15 Comments

  1. Danny Carey

    Two years later, it is still going strong – thank goodness.
    Fiona’s sister defrosted it yesterday (hugs) after I put the task off for weekend after weekend.
    Long Live The King 🙂

  2. Hi Danny and Fiona, you do realise, don’t you, that the most likely date of demise at this point for the ASBO FF is 24th December at approx. 4.45 pm. At which point the FF will be bursting at the seams with Christmas goodies … of course though the sales will start on 26th December …

  3. Danny Carey

    ASBO fridge purred back into life 4 days ago, all by itself. But we do not trust it. All of our freezer contents are still in Anne Mary’s rescue freezer. We (Fiona) did clean out the escape hole, Michelle, and thanks for your tip. It seems eminently sensible to try out the simple and cheap options before calling in superman (at £45/hr).

    Thanks, Pamela, for that excellent suggestion regarding recycle stores. We had not considered that. I now think that they will be our first port of call should ASBO creature finally kick the bucket!

  4. Hello Fiona

    Have you thought of looking at those shops which sell returned or slightly damaged appliances. Usually the damage is only cosmetic a small scratch or slight ding in the casing which a full price paying customer has (quite rightly) rejected? Often they are without a box because they have been returned but unless you have a small child around to play with the box for a day or so they only have to be got rid of anyway. Usually you have to take the appliance away with you, I managed to get my 185 cm tall FF in my Kangoo and saved at least £100 on the price of a new Leibherr FF. I can’t give you a name of the shop but there must be such shops in your neck of the woods.

  5. michelle sheets

    Hi Fiona,
    Have you given the underside and back of your fridge a good cleaning? Some models have drip tray on the underside, and if its never been cleaned, that could be part of the problem. Also, a coil brush taken to the underside and the back to get all of the dust out of the works could help too.
    The service call sounds like a good idea, I hate giving up on a appliance when a little work and a part will do the trick.
    Good Luck!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.

2,297,673 Spambots Blocked by Simple Comments


Copyright © 2006-2024 Cottage Smallholder      Our Privacy Policy      Advertise on Cottage Smallholder


Skip to toolbar
HG