Refrigerator Maintenance – How to Keep from Having to Replace that Expensive Appliance

Your refrigerator is probably your most expensive appliance to purchase, and it can also be your most expensive appliance to own. You refrigerator is about the only appliance that you own that runs non-stop, therefore it is also the biggest consumer of energy that you own. To keep your energy cost down, and to avoid having to replace that expensive appliance, it is essential that you take proper care of your refrigerator.

The most important thing that needs to be done to keep your refrigerator running efficiently – and to simply keep it running – is to take good care of the coils. The coils on your refrigerator are located in the rear of your refrigerator, on the bottom. These coils attract dust, and when they are covered with dust they have to work harder to maintain a cool temperature within the refrigerator. The harder they have to work, the higher your electricity bill will be. Cleaning these coils is quite simple. Simply pull your refrigerator away from the wall and then vacuum the dust off of them.

The next thing that needs to be cleaned is the drip pan of the refrigerator. The drip pan is located beneath the refrigerator, and simply needs to be pulled out, emptied, and cleaned with soapy water. If you have an automatic defrost refrigerator, the water from the defrosting process flows out of a drain in the floor of the refrigerator and into the drip pan. The water remains there until it evaporates. Small particles of food can either flow through a tube to the drip pan or they can get caught in the tube and clog it. To clean the tube, simply stick a pipe cleaner into the tube and flush it with water. Do this before removing the drip pan so that the water is caught. Then, of course, remove the drip pan and clean it.

The gaskets on your refrigerator seal the cold air in the refrigerator, and keep the warm air out. If proper care is taken of the gaskets, they should last the life of the refrigerator. All that is necessary to keep the gaskets in good shape is to wash them down with soapy water from time to time.

Last but not least, if your refrigerator does not have automatic defrost, be sure to not let the frost in your freezer compartment get any deeper than a quarter of an inch.