A dynamic approach for the modeling, simulation and analysis of no-frost Refrigerator (RF) is dis-cussed. In Part Ⅰ, the complex interactions among the components in the cooling system are analyzed in detail, based on which the modeling simplifications are proposed. Then, the mathematical models for the evaporator, cabinet and duct-fan are presented. The whole system is divided into two subsystems-refrigerant cycling system and air cycling system. In order to simplify the model, two closed-loop systems are broken into the compressor component and the evaporator component, respectively. A general distributed parameter model is employed for evaporator with homogeneous flow to simplify the two-phase evaporating flow region. The z-transfer function model is used to describe the cabinet load. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is employed to obtain the pressure drop and flow rate curve of the duct-fan model.