Introduction
The refrigerator is a necessary appliance in every household as it helps preserve food products, protect perishable foods, and helps to keep meals for a long period. The disadvantage of a refrigerator lies in the constant operation, day and night, which increases energy expenses. However, if the appliance is not well-maintained, overcrowded, placed at wrong places, or used inappropriately, then the appliance will have to make additional efforts to maintain its working temperature that, in turn, can lead to energy loss and worsen the appliance performance.
Luckily, there are some easy methods to increase the efficiency of a fridge that do not require you to replace it with a new model. Such steps as the correct door closing, right temperature, cleaning of the coils, door seals checking, and leaving space for ventilation can have great influence on the efficiency of a fridge. It is also necessary to organize the food inside correctly since overcrowding will prevent the ventilation from performing well, while an empty fridge will lose cold air when the door will be opened regularly.
Maintenance of the refrigerator is another important step that will ensure its efficiency. The cleaning of spilled products, removing of the old food, checking the temperature inside, and clearing ventilation zones will help the appliance to function well. You should also not place hot food in your refrigerator as it will cause temporary increasing of temperature inside and extra efforts for your appliance to cool it down again.
In this guide, we will discuss efficient ways to make your refrigerator work better, decrease its energy consumption, improve its cooling ability, and maintain it properly.
Correct Temperature
Adjusting your fridge to the correct temperature is one of the easiest ways to make it more energy efficient. Having it set to too cold of a temperature will end up costing you more in your electric bill due to it having to use more electricity to maintain such a temperature.
A fridge that is set too warm will not be able to keep your food cold enough to avoid spoilage.
Most fridges set their main compartment to about 37 degrees Fahrenheit or 3 degrees Celsius while the freezer should be set to around 0 degrees Fahrenheit or -18 degrees Celsius. You should also use a thermometer to check that the fridge is at the correct temperature as the dial that allows you to set the temperature may not be accurate. You should also remember that different parts of your fridge will have varying levels of temperatures.
The shelves near the door tend to be the warmest part of the fridge as they are affected by the ambient temperature of whatever room the fridge is in whenever the door is opened. This means that more perishable items should be placed at the colder parts of the fridge rather than on the door shelves.
The temperature of your fridge should also not be changed often unless you have to without giving it enough time to adjust to the new temperature. Fridge temperature can also be affected by nearby appliances such as ovens and stoves that are used often. As such, try to avoid placing your fridge near sources of heat and make sure it is not exposed to direct sunlight.
Having your fridge set to the correct temperature not only helps you avoid using more electricity than you have to but also helps it provide a stable temperature for your food to stay fresh. Simply picking a correct temperature and double checking it with a thermometer is all that is needed to make a fridge more energy efficient without having to make any other modifications.
Organize Food
An organized fridge will make it easy for your kitchen appliance to keep constant temperatures and work effectively. The proper organization of the contents of the fridge will allow the cold air to move through the shelves, and not to be impeded by tight packages, bags, and containers. If you have too much food in one place, some parts of the fridge will become too cold while other ones might lack airflow, and your refrigerator will have to work harder to keep the proper temperature inside. Try to leave some space between items and do not obstruct air vents in your fridge with large packages or containers. Proper cold air circulation inside your kitchen appliance will help you maintain better cooling.
It will be also helpful to keep similar types of food together so that you can reach for them easily without opening your fridge door for a long time. For example, all dairy products should be stored in one place, fruits and vegetables in special drawers, ready-to-eat meals on certain shelves. You should store raw meat, poultry, and seafood in special sealed packages or keep them on the bottom shelf to avoid spillage on other items in the fridge. You should also avoid placing very hot food in the refrigerator, since it will increase the overall temperature in the appliance and make it use extra power to lower the temperature again. It will be better to cool food properly before putting it into the refrigerator.
An organized fridge will also allow you to avoid unnecessary door openings. If you have a regular place where every item belongs, you will be able to grab an item and close the door instead of looking through a crowded place. Regularly check your fridge and remove expired or rotten food to free some space. An organized and clean fridge not only will look nice but will also allow better airflow and save extra energy.
Don’t Overfill
There is one more thing you can do to make your fridge work more efficiently – try not to overfill it. You may feel like you need to place everything on the shelves in order to save space and get organized, but too many things inside will prevent the cold air from moving freely. The vents are installed in refrigerators to spread the cool air in the compartment, but if those vents are blocked by various containers, boxes, bags, or big food items, there will be areas that won’t be cooled. It means that the refrigerator will work longer trying to reach the required temperature, thus consuming more energy. Leaving spaces between the items allows cold air to move and keeps the temperature more stable.
An overfilled fridge can be very inconvenient because it takes a lot of time to look for something inside. If your shelves are stuffed with various things, you may need to keep the fridge door opened for a long time trying to find the thing you want. With every opened door, some warm air enters your fridge and your appliance should consume extra energy to cool the interior. Having not overloaded shelves will make it easier to see everything that you have and quickly take what you need. However, you shouldn’t leave your fridge almost empty, because food items are able to keep cold inside, so it is important to have a balance between the number of food items and free space in your fridge.
Check your shelves regularly and throw away old and expired food in order to have enough room for new purchases. Use neat containers that fit well into the shelves and don’t place large items right in front of air vents.
Clean Coils
Removing the dust from your fridge’s coils is a necessary maintenance procedure to ensure that it stays in good working condition for a long time. The coils are mostly involved in the heat exchange occurring inside the refrigerator, and thus, there is nothing surprising in that dirt, pet hair, and other foreign objects sticking to them will affect the way the appliance functions. To begin with, it is crucial to make the appliance unplugged or take any other safety measures that are recommended by the manufacturer.
Depending on the design of the fridge, coils can be located at the back of the appliance or under it. In any case, a person should consult their refrigerator’s owner manual to learn how exactly the coils are placed there. Using a coil brush, one can carefully dislodge the particles that have adhered to the coils with moderate pressure. A vacuum cleaner can be used to suck the debris that will inevitably appear during the procedure. It is necessary to ensure that no wires, tubes, or other objects are present near the working zone to avoid causing any damage to them. Finally, the appliance should be plugged in again after the cleaning and maintenance work has been done.
The matter of coil cleaning should be considered important to any owner of a refrigerator since it is of great benefit to the proper functioning of the appliance. Apart from the fact that dirty coils will inevitably lead to suboptimal heat exchange inside the refrigerator, this will also cause the fridge to consume more electricity to compensate for the inefficiency of the cooling system.
Therefore, the appliance will perform worse and be unnecessarily noisy while working. Moreover, the electricity consumed will be measured in extra kilowatt-hours, which means that the fridge owner will have to pay more bills for the fridge’s functioning over time. A regular coil cleaning will enable the refrigerator to maintain a stable cooling capacity and save energy. Hence, one should invest more time and effort in the maintenance of a refrigerator to make it last much longer.
Check Door Seals
Checking door seals is an important part of increasing energy efficiency of the refrigerator. The rubber strip, or gasket, that is installed around the edges of the refrigerator and freezer doors helps to maintain the air temperature inside the appliance. In case the gasket becomes loose, cracked, damaged, or dirty, the cool air starts leaking out, and the warm air gets into the refrigerator. Thus, the appliance works much harder in order to reach required temperature. In addition, the spoiled seal can affect the cooling process negatively causing the food to spoil faster. That is why it makes sense to check the condition of door gasket from time to time, especially if your refrigerator is relatively old.
You can easily check the state of the seal by examining its condition carefully along the whole perimeter of the door. Make sure that there are no food remnants, grease, or any other dirt that does not allow the gasket to make contact with the refrigerator frame. In case the seal is dirty, you can simply clean it using soft cloth and mild soapy solution. Then, dry it carefully. Another test that can be performed in order to check whether the door closes well or not is the paper test. You should put a sheet of paper between the gasket and the frame, close the door and try to take the paper out gently. In case it offers some resistance, it means that the gasket makes good contact. In case the paper slips out of the door easily, the gasket does not close properly.
Finally, do not place too much stuff near the door since it can prevent it from closing properly. Make sure that shelves and containers are arranged correctly. In case the gasket is seriously damaged, cracked, deformed and does not seal even in case of cleaning and adjustment, it needs to be replaced. Properly sealed door is one of the things that help to save energy in the refrigerator.
Reduce Energy Waste
Reducing unnecessary energy consumption can help your refrigerator run efficiently and decrease your monthly electric bill. As a refrigerating device works almost continuously during 24 hours a day, any improvement in the way you use it will be effective in the long-term perspective. One of such steps is to open the door of your refrigerator not too often as it results in escaping the cold air and entering of the warm one. It makes your fridge work to cool the space inside back. Try to plan your needs before opening the refrigerator door so that you could take everything you need quickly. It is also a good idea to place those products that you consume frequently in places where you would easily reach them.
The location of the refrigerator can impact its energy consumption. Try not to place it near the source of heat such as the sunbeams, oven, stove, dishwasher, or other devices generating heat. When your refrigerator is heated, it works harder to cool this extra heat. Make sure there is enough space around your device to provide good ventilation as prescribed by the manufacturer. Do not place it too close to the wall, if needed for ventilation.
Maintenance of the refrigerator is also important. You should clean its coils, check the door for leaking, and organize the space inside the fridge so that cold air could circulate well. Do not put the food that is still hot inside because it raises the temperature of the fridge interior, thus making its cooling system work harder. However, do not keep it empty either, as the food stored appropriately can help to stabilize temperature inside the refrigerator. Finally, make sure that the temperature is appropriate.
You might also be interested in reading:
8 Energy-Saving Tips for Kitchen Appliances
Reduce Electricity Bills at Home: 8 Easy Ways
How to Clean and Maintain a Dishwasher: 7 Easy Tips
Home Energy Efficiency: 7 Easy Ways to Save Energy
Conclusion
There are simple steps to improving the efficiency of a refrigerator that do not require any special equipment or expensive upgrades. They include good organization of food, regular cleaning, and paying attention to where the appliance is located. First of all, set the right temperature settings of the refrigerator and the freezer; avoid overcooling. It is also recommended to organize the foods in such a way as to allow good ventilation. However, overpacking should be avoided, since it might lead to clogging of the vents and poor operation of the fridge.
There is no doubt that maintenance will help to improve the efficiency of the appliance. Cleaning the coils will allow the fridge to release the heat in a more efficient manner, and the check of the seals will prevent the loss of the cold air. If the rubber gasket is damaged and prevents the fridge from creating a proper seal, replacing it might help. Furthermore, one should pay attention to where the fridge is placed. It is necessary to avoid placement in the area where it is subject to the influence of sunlight and other appliances generating the heat.
Avoiding the waste of electricity is also a good way to take care of the refrigerator. Open the door of the fridge only when necessary, close it promptly and store the often-needed things within easy reach. Do not put very hot food into the fridge and leave the room free for ventilation. Although each individual step might not seem significant, their combination will help to improve cooling of the appliance and to save energy.
