Hotpoint Automatic No-Frost 14 Refrigerator

[maggie~hamilton]

Yes, I have one of them. In turquoise. It's lovely. Small problem: It's not frost-free. Never has been. Every six months or so, I have to clean everything out of the freezer, insert a hair dryer to melt not only frost but solid ice all around the back and bottom of the freezer compartment, then replace everything.

Also, it dribbles. Every couple of weeks I have to line the bottom of the refrigerator compartment under the pull-out drawers with "incontinence pads" to soak up the water.

Also, I have a constant and ongoing argument with my partner that this "old klunker" -- as he calls it -- consumes vast amounts of electricity; that if we got rid of it we'd be able to vacation in the Canary Islands on the money we'd save. "But seriously folks" ... I do know that newer refrigerators are more energy conservative but is the difference really THAT vast? I mean, is it worth to spend, what, $700-800 on a new refrigerator in order to save $5-6 a month on the electric bill?

See photo below.

btw, our kitchen USED to be all turquoise, copper and white. Until the new owner decided to paint. Which we thought was lovely until we saw the color he chose -- battleship gray. UGH. Could there be a more uninspiring, unappetizing color for a kitchen than GRAY??

 

[maggie~hamilton]

 

[maggie~hamilton]

 

[maggie~hamilton]

 

[maggie~hamilton]

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Here's what it looks like now. Told you it was a pukey color!

That's my "sigot" of 24+ years btw, Arlee. He's an insurance something-or-another, a muckety-muck with ING. What he does there is a complete, arcane mystery to me. All I know is, he has an office, goes there every day 7-3 like clockwork, and wears a shirt and tie. Ugh.

As far as work goes, we're polar opposites. I am a freelance graphic artist and musician, I wear what I feel like wearing to work (especially when I'm working at home!), and my hours can be anytime of the day or night depending on what I'm doing. Sometimes I'll work 2-3 days without stopping. It's just the nature of the work I do.

 

[panthera]

There's only one way to know for sure

And that is worth the investment: A consumption meter (kill-a-watt I think is currently popular in the US, no?).
It may well be that this refrigerator eats less than an equivalent size "modern" unit.
It is certainly more reliable and could well be quieter.
A thorough defrosting and cleaning every six months probably means it is very well maintained; refrigerators back then were not yet toss-away - I'd keep it.
But do the tests and then you'll know. And then, hopefully we'll all know.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Hey Charles--I have that same kitchen clock! I don't have an outlet nearby so I had to convert it to battery, but it looks really good against the yellow wall.

veg

 

[rp2813]

Possible Fix

I had a problem with my early 70's Whirlpool 15 cf top freezer model and did some research and found a fix that worked for me. You have to pull the panel/cover off the back of the freezer interior (assuming you can do this with your Hotpoint) and access the defrost heating element that melts the frozen condensation off the evaporator tubing. Take a length of fairly thick (maybe 10 gauge) copper wire and wrap one end around the part of the heating element closest to the drain hole, and place the other end well into the drain hole. The copper will conduct the heat and keep the drain hole from freezing over, which is what was happening with my fridge. I did this and haven't had a problem since. This is all going under the assumption that your defrost heater itself isn't the problem.

Ralph

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Ralph, that's a great idea! I'll try it. I can access the defroster coils, the back panel of the freezer compartment comes off with four phillips screws and there it is.

Thanks!

But no one has answered my ? about cost differential between keeping the "old klunker" and spending money on a new one...

Now ... "Discuss." (Pretty pleeeeeze!)

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Veg, that is a neat clock isn't it! I found it at a thrift shop for $2.92! It looked a lot better when my kitchen was white and turquoise ... the more I think about it, the more I am coming to the conclusion that I am simply going to just have to repaint my kitchen. I HAAAAAAAAAATE the color it is now. I feel like I am on a battleship.

 

[selectomatic]

I replaced my old Coldspot refrigerator last year.

Even though I don't like the new GE very much, it has already paid for itself in energy savings. I forget the exact numbers, but I'm recalling that the Coldspot was taking around $30 of electricity each month.

On the other hand, my late-'80s Amana S/S takes quite a bit less than the smaller Coldspot did.

The only way to tell is to get a Kill-O-Watt / Watt's Up meter (your power company might let you borrow one for free, our library system checks them out like books) and measure your actual power use.

It's my feeling that very old refrigerators (1950s and earlier) didn't use a great deal of power, but 1960s and 1970s units were much more power hungry.

-kevin

 

[scott55405]

Ok, I'm confused. RP2813 mentioned something about a fix for defrost coils, but if this is a manual defrost unit, I don't imagine it has such a thing? I would think a manual defrost fridge would use less energy than a frost free one, which I think in the 60s when this unit was made was what accounted for much of the power usage. Now, if this was a frost free unit and the frost free feature is not working, that is a horse of an entirely different color.

 

[scott55405]

Oh, and for the love of God, repaint the kitchen. The before is so much better.

 

[scott55405]

If you do buy a new fridge (now or ever, though I hope you don't have to for a long time since this one is cool), be sure and measure the depth (front to back) of any unit you purchase. Refrigerators have become deeper and deeper over the years, and your kitchen appears pretty "tight", so that could well be a consideration.

 

[scott55405]

Ah!

Sorry for the repeated posts, but now I see your title. It says "Automatic No Frost." The kicker here, however, is at the time this unit was made, sometimes this term was used to describe automatic defrosting only in the refrigerator section. The plot thickens (LOL).

 

[kenwashesmonday]

"No Frost" means just that. Your drain is clogged.

If the compressor is still healthy, a new fridge would wear out before it pays for itself in energy savings.

Ken

 

[maggie~hamilton]

THX for all the info. One day I'll take everything out of the reefer and freezer, totally thaw it out, then try the copper pipe fix described above.

 

[rp2813]

It would be great if it's just the drain clogged with debris (just one stray frozen pea can do it) but my experience has been that it's a more common occurrence with side-by-sides than with top freezer models. Once you de-ice it you can dump some hot water down the drain and see if it flows freely into the drip pan under the fridge. If the drain hole is frozen solid with ice it could take a few tries with the hot water to clear it. The thick gauge copper wire mentioned above will conduct the heat from the defroster element and keep the drain hole from allowing the melted ice to collect and refreeze. If the defroster element itself is bad, then there is no easy fix. If that's the case maybe you can find another vintage frost-free model to replace the frost-friendly model yours has become, although a turquoise replacement will be no small undertaking to locate.