--- title: "Freezers" description: "KitchenAid freezers — this make does not sell a standalone freezer, and that is worth saying plainly: the freezer here is the bottom drawer of a French-door…" url: "https://kitchenaidmiami.support/appliances/freezer/" date_modified: "2026-08-23" Appliance type: "Freezers" --- # KitchenAid freezers ### Where the freezer actually is On a French-door cabinet it is the lower drawer. On a side-by-side it is the left column, full height. On a bottom-mount it is the lower compartment, and on the undercounter units it is a drawer that can be set to freeze. There is no standalone KitchenAid freezer in the current line, so a page about one would be a page about somebody else’s appliance. ### What actually goes wrong - **The defrost system** — heater, bimetal thermostat, or the control that runs them. The single most common cause of a freezer that frosts and then stops keeping up. - **The defrost drain**, blocked, which is the sheet of ice under the drawer. - **The evaporator fan.** No air moved, no cold delivered, even with a compressor running perfectly. - **Door and drawer seals**, and drawers that are not closing because a basket or a bag of ice is fouling them. - **The sealed system**, last, because it is the least likely and the most expensive, and because it should be reached by elimination rather than assumed. ### Humidity is the local factor Every time the drawer opens in a South Florida kitchen, the air that goes in carries water. That water becomes frost, and the defrost cycle has more to remove here than the same cabinet in a dry climate. It is why a seal that is slightly proud matters more here, and why frost is worth acting on early. ### What to have ready when you call The model number of the whole cabinet, whether the refrigerator side is still cold, and whether you can see frost on the back wall or ice on the floor. Freezer drawers · Bottom mount · Side-by-side · Ice build-up · Frost Freezer repair Frost building on the walls or under the drawer Cold, but not frozen — ice cream soft and meat soft A drawer that will not close because ice is holding it Where the freezer actually is On a French-door cabinet it is the lower drawer. On a side-by-side it is the left column, full height. On a bottom-mount it is the lower compartment, and on the undercounter units it is a drawer that can be set to freeze. There is no standalone KitchenAid freezer in the current line, so a page about one would be a page about somebody else’s appliance. What actually goes wrong The defrost system — heater, bimetal thermostat, or the control that runs them. The single most common cause of a freezer that frosts and then stops keeping up. The defrost drain, blocked, which is the sheet of ice under the drawer. The evaporator fan. No air moved, no cold delivered, even with a compressor running perfectly. Door and drawer seals, and drawers that are not closing because a basket or a bag of ice is fouling them. The sealed system, last, because it is the least likely and the most expensive, and because it should be reached by elimination rather than assumed. Humidity is the local factor Every time the drawer opens in a South Florida kitchen, the air that goes in carries water. That water becomes frost, and the defrost cycle has more to remove here than the same cabinet in a dry climate. It is why a seal that is slightly proud matters more here, and why frost is worth acting on early. What to have ready when you call The model number of the whole cabinet, whether the refrigerator side is still cold, and whether you can see frost on the back wall or ice on the floor. ### Why is there frost in a frost-free freezer? Because "frost-free" means the cabinet melts its own frost on a timer, not that frost never forms. When you can see it building, the defrost cycle has stopped doing its job — heater, thermostat, control — or warm damp air is getting in past a seal or a drawer that is not closing. Both are common here and they look identical from the front. ### It is cold but not freezing. Different problem from "not cold at all", and usually better news. A freezer that holds around twenty degrees rather than zero is generally still cooling and failing to keep up — a coil partly iced, a fan not moving air, a door not sealing. A freezer that is at room temperature with the light on is a sealed system or a compressor question. ### How long is the food safe if it stops? A full freezer that stays shut holds for roughly two days and a half-full one for about a day, and every opening costs hours. The practical advice is the boring one: keep it closed, and decide with a thermometer rather than by feel when it comes back. ### There is ice on the floor of the freezer under the drawer. That is almost always the defrost drain. Meltwater is meant to run out through a small tube to a pan by the compressor; when the tube blocks, the water freezes where it sits and builds a sheet under the drawer. It is a clearable job rather than a part, and it comes back if only the ice is removed and not the blockage. --- **[Read full article: Freezers](https://kitchenaidmiami.support/appliances/freezer/)**