Fire safety of fridge-freezers

[Peaklass]

I need to buy a new fridge-freezer. I saw a TV programme with fire safety advice from the London Fire Brigade which showed an ordinary fridge-freezer catching fire in minutes, because the back was made of hard plastic insulation in which the pipes were set. They compared this to a fire-retardant one with a metal back, enclosing the refrigeration pipes, which was much safer, but said this was not the standard for the industry. I can’t find information on-line about which units have metal backs.

I’ve ruled out the cheaper ones, Beko etc as they are built to a price.

The manufacturer you recommend most is Liebherr, but I do not live near one of their outlets. They state their housing to be steel. Are they enclosed at the back with metal like the Fire Brigade reccomend? I’m looking at the CUP 2221, low-frost, manual defrost, free-standing.

I would be grateful for your advice.
Peaklass

[kwatt]

Re: Fire safety of fridge-freezers

There was a discussion of this in the trade area.

The upshot and consensus was that this is a bit OTT as it would normally only be a danger in extremely limited circumstances and, we’re talking stupidly remote here other than if there was already a fire in progress. If that is the case, there’s bigger issues to contend with.

In all honesty I would not advice basing your buying decision on that factor.

So far as I am aware but, I could be wrong, there and no metal backed ones as it isn’t considered to be necessary anywhere in Europe or indeed the rest of the world. Mainly as appliances bursting into flames isn’t exactly common at all, extremely rare in actuality.

That said, the Liebherr is a good machine and well worth the money over the normal stuff out there.

K.

[Martin]

Re: Fire safety of fridge-freezers

kwatt wrote:So far as I am aware but, I could be wrong, there and no metal backed ones as it isn’t considered to be necessary anywhere in Europe

I saw several with full metal backs on a recent visit to Currys. The problem is that in their showrooms most are displayed with their backs to the wall so you will have to ask their staff if they have an metal back or not. The Currys ‘superstores’ stock so many you can easily spot those with metal backs, as I did in their Reading store.

[Peaklass]

Re: Fire safety of fridge-freezers

Thanks VERY much for your advice. It is reassuring. I will have a look in Curry’s for ones with metal backs.

But I think I have fallen in love with Liebherr. They seem worth the investment and do 55 cm wide. And, better made, will hopefully be safer.

Would you get the Liebherr low frost or frost-free one? I think you usually advise that manual defrost is preferable. Does that apply to Liebherr ones too?

Sorry to ask you another question, but I am just not technical.

Thanks,
Peaklass

[kwatt]

Re: Fire safety of fridge-freezers

To be honest, the Liebherr frost free machines give very little trouble so I’d think you would be safe enough there.

There’s more that can go wrong than on a standard type unit but, with those, it’s rare.

K.

[Peaklass]

Re: Fire safety of fridge-freezers

Thanks so much. Currys do the frost free 180cm one. I hope to view it this week-end and will almost certainly order it. It is worth paying a bit more to get a quality product which will work well and last; and peace of mind. Thank you for your expert advice.
Peaklass.

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