Leave room around the air vents inside
Cold air in most refrigerators comes from the freezer through small vents, usually high on the back wall or along the top of the fresh food side. When a turkey, a stack of casserole dishes or a case of drinks gets pushed against those vents, the cold air cannot get out. The back of the fridge freezes while the front gets warm.
Before a big shopping trip, find the vents in your fridge and freezer and keep a couple of inches open in front of them. Pack the shelves so air can move between items instead of building a solid wall of food.
Use a cheap appliance thermometer, not the dial. Keep the fridge at 40°F or below and the freezer at 0°F. The dial numbers are just settings, not temperatures.
Clean the condenser coils before the holidays
The condenser coils get rid of the heat your fridge pulls out of the food. When they are packed with dust and pet hair, the fridge runs longer and still struggles to stay cold, right when it has the most to do.
Unplug the refrigerator first. On many models the coils sit behind the grille at the bottom front, and on others they are on the back. Use a vacuum with a brush attachment or a long coil brush to pull the dust off. Do not remove inside panels, and do not reach into the fan area. Plug it back in when you are done.
If the fridge runs nonstop, feels warm on the sides, or you hear a fan scraping, stop and call me at (470) 999-7395. A $79 diagnostic is how I find out whether it is airflow, a fan or something bigger.
Go easy on the door and the leftovers
Every time the door opens, cold air spills out. With a full house, it gets opened a lot. Keep drinks in a cooler or a second fridge so the kitchen fridge stays closed more. Check the door gasket too. If it is torn or does not seal all the way around, warm air leaks in all day.
Get leftovers into the fridge within two hours. Spread them into shallow containers so they cool fast instead of warming up everything around them.
If the fridge is not holding 40°F after a few hours with the vents clear, move the most perishable food to a cooler with ice and give me a call.
Source: USDA — Leftovers and Food Safety
