What happens if I turn off my fridge freezer?

[Nopreservatives]

I have an old fridge freezer in the garage.

I've also just done a review of our fuel bills, which have gone up hugely this year, as you'd expect, so I'm looking at our efficiency.

The fridge freezer costs (according to Google) around £50 pa to run and every little helps. It's mostly used for wine drinks and overflow food at Christmas or other big gatherings, so it does seem daft to run it all year round, especially when the wine is cold enough just in the garage during winter.

However, if I empty it and turn it off will it go horribly manky and be unusable by next time I want it?

Empty, turn off, defrost, clean thoroughly, then (the absolutely crucial part) make sure the doors are left ajar.

So long as it can air, it won't go manky.

Maybe duck-tape a couple of blocks of wood to stop the doors closing accidentally.

Leave it open and it should be fine

what they said! I used solid blocks of foam taped in place, as mentioned if you don't leave an air gap it will be full of mould in no time at all.

when you do want to restart it, clean the dust off the vanes at the back for better efficiency.

Put a small cup of ground coffee beans on one of the shelves and then you can keep the door closed.

It works!