There’s a reason freezers tend to load up quickly. Freezing foods so they last longer saves time and money. Overripe bananas? You can save them for tomorrow’s smoothie. Made too much chili sauce? It’ll be Thursday’s dinner. But as with anything else, you can have too much of a good thing. An overfilled freezer will become less efficient, and it can harm the quality of your food.
The obvious reason is that the overflow of products can prevent the freezer door from closing properly, which will cause some of the food to start thawing, especially whatever is closest to the door. But even if the door is shut all the way through, a packed freezer can be a problem.
If the air can’t circulate properly inside the freezer, the air-cooled by the freezer’s coils won’t find its way to the thermostat. The thermostat will then register a higher temperature than it should, and it will “tell” the coils to keep working. Some parts of the freezer will remain too warm, which could eventually cause your food to spoil. Moreover, the cooling motor is getting overworked, which harms the freezer itself in the long run.
It may be time to check what’s at the bottom of the freezer and make some space so that you can truly enjoy your frozen products later.
