CozyNet Blog

Journal (2026-10-01) - Defrosting my early 1950's fridge

Publish Date: 2026-10-01

Made in May of 1952. 74 years and still running!

It was a rainy kind of day today, which was the perfect occasion to defrost the old fridge! I'd been falling behind in this particular task which I should be doing every two weeks or at least a month. But I can't recall the last time I defrosted the fridge, so it's probably been around a year, and it's quite evident given the amount of ice buildup around the ice box.

The extra build up of ice is really not ideal because it can actually cause the fridge compressor to run more frequently than it should just to keep it cool.

Anyhow, these old units are unlike a modern fridge because they don't have a defrost cycle which surprisingly makes them quite efficient despite what energy-star or modern appliance manufacturers say. It's left up to the owner to defrost the fridge and you can do it whenever you feel like, but there's a reason why you want to defrost sooner rather than later.

The method I use to defrost my fridge, which was also instructed in the original General Electric manual, is to boil a few pots of water and set em inside to steam it up. I pull out the bottom drawer to sit beneath the ice box and layout a towel in the bottom to soak up condensation drips. This method can take about 30 minutes, which rather than melting all the ice away, it causes it to break off in sheets. This is enough time for perishable items to sit out on the counter and not go to waste, but I also have additional fridges and freezers so that helps.

It took about three hours for the ice to start breaking off the ice box in mine since there was so much. It was also a good moment to throw out old stuff I didn't want and to reorganize the fridge.

The light does work in mine, but the little switch for it is very finicky and basically broken. I've been meaning to bypass the switch and connect the light to a motion sensor, but that's a project for another rainy day.

Also if you're familiar with these old fridges and are wondering why the thermistor is sticking out like it is, it's because I had to replace the original thermostat (which does still work, but is missing a part) for a new one, and the newer one isn't calibrated what-so-ever to be attached to the side of a freezing cold ice box like the original one was because it cuts off the compressor too early.

Thanks for reading my blog!