Holiday mode of refrigerators: a useful but little-known function

Before leaving for a few days of well-deserved vacation, it is sometimes necessary to prepare your household appliances by unplugging them or cutting off the water supply for the washing machines, for example. The refrigerator is the only equipment to have a “holiday” mode – or “absence”, at Samsung -, specially studied. However, not all are equipped with it: this option only exists on appliances with separate freezing and refrigeration compartments. In addition, the two cold circuits must be independent: a total No Frost model will have no holiday mode.

What happens when you turn on vacation mode?

The highest temperature in a normally functioning refrigerator can reach 9°C. When you switch on vacation mode, the temperature will rise to around 15°C: “This allows you to keep some non-perishable foodstuffs such as eggs or drinks“, specifies Alexandre Klutchko, household appliance product manager at Eberhardt Frères. Some fruits and vegetables that are not very fragile (tomato, zucchini, lemon, etc.) also support this type of preservation. The most fragile (especially lettuce) cannot be stored in this way. This is also the case for meat and fish which must be consumed before leaving on holiday. It should also be noted that the ventilation circuit continues to operate to prevent the formation of bad odours.

The freezer, for its part, is operating completely normally and no rise in temperature is expected. It must stay cold enough to store frozen foods. Indeed, according to Alexandre Klutchko: “We estimate that when the food has risen to a temperature of -9°C, we must either consume everything, cook everything, or throw everything away.”

Why not just unplug the refrigerator?

First of all, let us specify that for Alexandre Klutchko, there is no problem in disconnecting and reconnecting the current handsets. Holiday mode is primarily used to save energy by turning off the refrigerator while the freezer stays at a temperature low enough not to spoil the food stored in it. By turning off the device, or by unplugging it, we do without these two storage areas: we must then consume what is in the refrigerator and in the freezer.

Is vacation mode essential?

As we have seen, holiday mode is essentially used to save energy. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to estimate the real benefit of this function since the energy needs differ according to the seasons, the insulation of the house, the device itself… Finally, the usefulness of a vacation mode is essentially measured by the owner’s habits.

If this one is a fervent follower of frozen products, the purchase of a model equipped with this option can be conceived. But a good organization before the holidays makes it possible to do without it quite easily by consuming frozen products before departure. You can therefore completely unplug your handset, leaving the doors open to avoid unpleasant odors, and thus no longer consume electricity.