Beyond the size and appearance of your fridge, one criterion is particularly important: the type of cold created by the fridge. Three types of cold exist on the refrigerator market;
- Ventilated cold
- The static cold
- The brewed cold
Ventilated cold or No-Frost cold fridge (no frost)
Among the technologies diffusing the cold in the refrigerator, the ventilated cold, also known as No-Frost, offers advantages but also some disadvantages.
What is ventilated cold?
In the ventilated cold fridge, also called no-frost cold, cold, dry air is created and diffused by a column at the back of the fridge. It is a modern technology that cancels the formation of frost, and the development of bacteria while improving the shelf life of food (3 times longer than the static cold system). The other strong point of this technology is, as its name subtly suggests, the absence of defrosting carried out. No frost in English means “no frost”.
Disadvantages of ventilated cold
However, despite these advantages, the ventilated cold tends to dry out the food in the ตู้แช่เย็น refrigerator. It is therefore strongly recommended to cover fragile foodstuffs such as meat with cellophane paper. Some fridge models with a ventilated cold system offer compartments specifically dedicated to this type of food. Their main function is to retain moisture in order to prevent drying out.
The static cold refrigerator
Static cold is among the technologies for creating cold for refrigerators, the one that is the most classic, the oldest too.
What is static cold?
Static cooling works on a simple idea: to circulate the cold air in the refrigerator without any ventilation. The main strong points of this type of cold are above all economical. So-called static refrigeration consumes little electricity and is most often used in the least expensive fridges. Moreover, unlike ventilated cold, the air present is not dry, and the food is not dried out.
Disadvantages of static cold
Due to the lack of ventilation, the cold will tend to stay at the bottom of the fridge, and the homogeneity of food preservation is therefore affected. It will therefore be essential for you to store your most fragile foodstuffs in the compartments at the bottom of the appliance (meat, vegetables, charcuterie, fish, etc.) And the least dangerous at the top (yogurt, juice, water, etc.). Another disadvantage of static cold is the obligation to carry out regular manual defrosting.
Circulated or dynamic cold fridge
What is brewed cold?
Stirred cold improves food preservation compared to static cold by an average of 2 weeks. How? The humid air from the fridge is circulated by a fan placed at the back. It circulates the air so as to ensure the homogeneity of temperatures and hygrometry each compartment.
Unlike ventilated cold, the food is not dried out. The direct advantage of this homogeneous cold is the flexibility of the placement of your food, you can place it where you want it, the cold is identical everywhere. Another strong point to highlight for this type of cold is its energy consumption.
It consumes less than a ventilated cold fridge because the fan only comes on when there is a temperature difference, that is to say when you open and close the fridge door. Moreover, with this type of cold, the return to the cold level occurs quickly after opening the door. For information, the ventilated cold for its part is in constant movement, which makes it more energy-consuming.
Disadvantages of brewed cold
Since the air in the fridge is humid and the fan circulates it, the formation of frost is inevitable. It is for this reason that it is generally not used in the ตู้แช่ freezer part of the fridge. Regular defrosting is essential, fortunately, an automatic defrosting function is most often present. Another point to take into account for the cold-brewed is the mixture of odors. The moving airflow irremediably causes odors to be transported through the appliance.
Fridge freezer: cold mix
When buying your refrigerator, if it includes a refrigerator part and a freezer part, be sure to check the type of cold used for each of the two parts. Two options are generally available to you: either the two parties use the same technology or they use two different technologies, ventilated cold refrigerator and static cold freezer or brewed cold refrigerator and No-Frost freezer.
