Have you ever heard of the tinfoil trick In the freezer to prevent the annoying one from forming frost on the walls? According to this “method”, lining the walls and drawers of the freezer with aluminum foil would cause the ice to deposit only on the foil, thus keeping the appliance clean and more efficient.
But works Really? Spoilers: No, on the contrary, it risks causing damage to the freezer. First of all, we can find the answer to this doubt directly in the user manuals of these appliances, which they clearly advise against it the use of aluminum foil:
The appliance container must not be lined with aluminum foil, greaseproof paper or absorbent paper. Coatings interfere with the circulation of cold air, making the appliance less efficient.
Aluminum foil, in fact, risks compromising the correct circulation of cold air: this means that the freezer motor will have to work much harder to cool in the same way, with greater energy consumption and, therefore, costs for the user.
At the same time, aluminum would risk block the ventilation vents, trapping thehumidity, which is exactly there cause whereby the frost. In fact, every time we open our freezer, it comes in from the outside warm, humid airwhich in contact with cold internal surfaces condenses into water and yes freezes forming ice crystals.
In short, in the best case scenario the consequence is that the freezer consumes more, since the engine would work harder; at worst, the appliance could break, or otherwise reduce its useful life.
But why has this fake “trick” spread so easily? Because it leverages the – real – properties of thealuminuma material that conducts heat well and therefore it would be ideal to prevent the freezer from filling up with frost. In reality, this trick doesn’t work because aluminum is also highly reflective in the infrared band: this means that when it is positioned near the freezer temperature sensors, its operation could alternate, with the risk of continuous cooling cycles and subsequent overheating of the mechanical components.
