can you leave a mini-fridge on 24/7?

I just bought my husband a 4 litre mini fridge from Argos to keep drinks cool in his office at work. The instruction manual says to turn it off when not in use (but he plans on leaving drinks in it all the time), but it doesn't say whether or not you have to turn it off after X hours of use. It's something he wants to plug in and leave on all the time. Should that pose a problem?

Yes you can leave it on, it just means that if you don't have anything in it then don't leave it on unnecessary

Hi Groovy yank,

Is it a 'true' mini fridge? as in it uses a compressor and refridgerant based system? or is it one of those 'mini cool boxes' that you connect up to a little power supply and it 'fans' the inside of the box?!

either way, yes you can leave it on - but if it's one of the 'mini cooler' box types you'll probably find the internal fans will give up in a comparitively short space of time - i'm talking months here of course. A true 'refridgerator' will last much much much longer of course.

Although minimal, will his employers allow it's use? over the course of a year, it will cost maybe £20-30 or so if it's run continuously (i'm not sure of the exact calculation though, depends on it's power supply ratings and unit of electricity prices at the business!).

I operate a switch it off policy at our company - so as I'm usually the last to leave, I switch off anything I don't want left on and includes a member of staffs 'mini cooler box' on her desk!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Thanks for the responses. It is really a mini-cooler with a fan (even though it's marketed as a mini-fridge). The employers will allow its use (and it's in his private office anyway), but because the fan gives out quickly I will suggest he turn it off when he goes home. The problem with that is any drinks will get warm overnight, and he can't leave yogurt in there, so he may ignore me and leave it on anyway.

We had one of these from Argos and left it on all the time for the same reasons.  After about 6 months it died and started warming things up instead!


Vicky

It's all very much dependent upon quality.  Some of those units are designed down to a price rather than up to a standard, in which case they tend not to like being run continuously.  A good quality compressor cooler should run non-stop for years without any problems.

This one was 15 quid at Argos, so I'm betting the hubby better turn it off when he leaves work or it will go belly up in six months, too!

Ours was this

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2717102/Trail/searchtext%3EMINI+FRIDGE.htm

and only lasted six months, so I wouldn't hold out any hope for yours!


Vicky

Ours was this

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2717102/Trail/searchtext%3EMINI+FRIDGE.htm

and only lasted six months, so I wouldn't hold out any hope for yours!


Vicky

That's basically a nicer, larger model of what we got. Oh well, hopefully he'll get some good use before it dies. So far he says it keeps the drinks ice cold.