Refrigerators perform as good as you take care of them. If you have ever noticed your eatables getting rotten and your milk spoiling quickly then the most prominent reason for this can be the temperature settings of your fridge. Most refrigerators work best under the 5-degree Celsius mark and are advised to be set at 4-degree Celsius for the fridge and 1 to 2-degree Celsius for the freezer or lower if required.
Correct temperature setting is very essential for keeping the food fresh for longer and keeping the food from getting perished sooner. Here are a few tips to make sure that you make the most out of your refrigerator.
1. External thermometer – Nowadays mostly all new refrigerators come with an inbuilt thermometer that shows the current operating temperature of the refrigerator. But there is always a chance that the inbuilt thermometer may malfunction and you will never know about it until your food items start spoiling. So its always better to have an external refrigerator thermometer to keep an eye on the actual temperature of the refrigerator and set the temperature accordingly if the need arises.
2. Don’t leave it empty – Always try to keep your refrigerator full if you are using it regularly. Keeping more stuff in the refrigerator significantly decreases the amount of air that can be replaced every time you open the refrigerator door. This mostly helps whenever you open the refrigerator door as, if the fridge is almost empty then with every instance of the door being opened, warm air from the outside will replace the cooler air on the inside continuously increasing the temperature inside the refrigerator. Therefore if the air circulation is less, then the refrigerator has to work less to keep the air inside it cool.
3. Don’t overstuff it – In the previous tip we advised you not to leave the fridge empty, but you should also keep in mind not to overstuff it. If the items are placed to closely there won’t be enough empty space for the cool air to pass through. Moreover, the food items will start to act as an insulator and will get warm. So it is important to keep the number of food items in a balance.
4. Ideal temperature – Make sure that your refrigerator is always operated in the temperature range of 5-degree Celsius to 0-degree Celsius. Higher temperatures can cause the food to spoil quickly and too low temperatures can make the refrigerator to work overtime increasing the power consumption.
5. Airflow – A unhindered airflow between the refrigerator and the freezer is required for the proper functioning of the refrigerator. The air flow helps to moderate and balance the temperature differences and avoid any kind of sudden frosting or heating of the refrigerator. If you find your refrigerator to be heating more than usual or the freezer having frost in it then make sure that there is nothing blocking the air vents and the air can pass freely throughout the refrigerator.
6. Avoid the refrigerator doors – Some food items are more prone to spoilage than others and the door of a refrigerator is an area which usually receives the least amount of cold air and gets warm pretty easily as compared to the other regions. So always make sure that you avoid putting any easily spoilable products on the refrigerator door. Food items such as butter, cheese, etc which can benefit from little less cold temperatures can be put in the door while keeping the other food items such as eggs much closer to the colder regions.
7. Know the cold regions – In the previous point, we talked about the temperature conditions of the refrigerator door and food items suitable for that kind of temperature. Here we will talk about which regions of the fridge are the coldest and what kind of food items you should put in which locations of your fridge. The ideal temperature for the refrigerator should be kept between 1 to 2 degree Celsius as it is neither too warm or nor too cold. Usually, the bottom and the back side of the refrigerator are the coldest.
The back, because the cooling coils are located at the back of the refrigerator and the bottom because warm air rises up so usually the bottom area, has much cooler air.
Considering this you should keep the food items according to their tolerance to warm temperatures. The items which are less likely to be affected by warmer temperatures should be kept in the top shelves of the refrigerator while the ones that require cooler temperatures should be kept at the back or at the bottom of the refrigerator.