Buzz
Your refrigerator is practically the hardest-working electrical appliance in your home, running 24/7 without a break, yet it often goes unnoticed in terms of maintenance and care. The typical lifespan of a refrigerator is 13 years, but do you want to use it longer or shorter?
1. How to Maintain Your Refrigerator for Durability?
Your refrigerator is practically the hardest-working electrical appliance in your home, running 24/7 without a break, yet it often goes unnoticed in terms of maintenance and care. Popular refrigerator brands include Hitachi, Toshiba, Sharp, and Sanyo. The typical lifespan of a refrigerator is 13 years, but do you want to use it longer or shorter?
Monthly Maintenance
- Ice Replacement: Ice trays in the refrigerator are sometimes left unused for a long time, leading to odor absorption and the formation of hard layers of ice at the bottom. Replace the ice tray every month to keep both the ice compartment and the ice fresh and clean.
Regularly use a vacuum cleaner to clean the condenser coils with a brush attachment, and use a refrigerator coil brush to remove dust from the fan blades and the rear walls of the fridge. Pet owners should clean the coils monthly.
Use a specialized brush to clean the refrigerator coils frequently.
Check the balance of the fridge: If it's not balanced properly from side to side or front to back, it can cause sealing issues and put pressure on the compressor, leading to internal condensation. You can test by placing a level on top of the fridge; if it's unbalanced, adjust the leveling feet until it's balanced.
Maintenance every six months
Replace the water filter regularly to ensure clean water and ice and prevent leaks. Refer to the fridge's manual to locate the water filter and follow instructions to replace it. After installing a new filter, flush it with water to remove any residual carbon.
Different fridge models have water filter compartments in different locations; consult the manual to locate it.
Clean the drain tube and water tray at the back of the fridge to ensure they're not clogged or overflowing.
Daily Maintenance
- Seal food tightly to prevent odors from spreading throughout the fridge and freezer compartments. Additionally, most foods have some moisture content, and if not sealed properly, this moisture will spread into the fridge's air, causing the compressor to work harder to remove it. Foods also absorb each other's odors, affecting their taste and smell.
- Place an open box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb odors.
- Maintain adequate spacing between food items and all fridge walls to ensure proper airflow.
- Allow food to cool before storing it in the fridge, which reduces food odors and saves energy, protecting the compressor.
- If your fridge contains few items and has plenty of empty space, place water bottles to fill those gaps. This helps keep everything cold without the fridge needing to work too hard, plus you'll always have chilled water on hand when needed.
- Think about what you need before opening the fridge; don't open it and then decide. Every time you open the door, up to 30% of the cool air inside can escape. This small action also helps prolong the lifespan of your fridge.
- To maximize food preservation and minimize energy usage, keep the fridge temperature in the fresh food compartment between 2-4°C and the freezer compartment no warmer than -17°C.
- Place the fridge in a location away from direct sunlight or near the kitchen stove.
