British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON, Octopus customers must defrost freezer or risk £165 charge

Not regularly defrosting your freezer could be adding 20 per cent onto your energy bills if you're a British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON and Octopus customer in the UK.

A common freezer mistake is adding 20 per cent to energy bills. Not regularly defrosting your freezer could be adding 20 per cent onto your energy bills if you're a British Gas, OVO, EDF, EON and Octopus customer in the UK.

Over on TikTok, user @katsaves, who has 44,300 followers, said: "You're wasting so much money if your freezer looks like this! And how to actually defrost your freezer!" She added: "Just 2mm of ice will increase your energy use by 20%, that is going to cost and I definitely had way more than 2mm of ice in my freezer."

Confused.com warns a fridge-freezer with an energy rating of D might use 408 kWh per year. This could cost you £138.72 to run if you're on a standard variable rate. But when adding 20 per cent onto it, it could mean an extra £27 charge - taking the bill to £165.

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"I don't even remember the last time I defrosted it, basically when ice builds up in the freezer, it uses more energy to keep the food inside at the correct temperature. In the long run, this could mean a replacement freezer is needed a lot sooner and the other downside is more energy use means higher energy bills."

She explained: "Someone said put a pan of boiling water in the freezer and let that work its magic. That kind of works but not really. What you really need to do is turn the freezer off first and take all the food out. Then prepare the floor, you want to put down a few towels because it is going to get very very wet.

"Then you just want to let the ice melt on its own, so please learn from my mistakes." Joanna Flowers, a service and repair engineer with British Gas, says: "People often do this to prevent food waste, but it’s also a good way to be more energy efficient.

"If you’re going away for a long period of time, it’s worth defrosting your fridge and freezer to avoid using unneeded energy, or emptying them and powering down completely.”