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HOW A REFRIGERATOR WORKS

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Before refrigeration, preserving food was a big job. You could salt foods, and in winter, you could bury food in a snow drift and hope the critters didn’t find it. To stay stocked with the essentials, though, you had to work at it — or be rolling in money. Refrigeration is one invention that changed the way we conduct our daily lives. We can preserve food more easily nowadays, so we have much less to worry about when it comes to food-borne illnesses. The food supply is more stable, too. That gallon of milk can last a couple of weeks in the fridge as opposed to a couple of hours on your countertop. That’s huge. It means you don’t need to keep a cow in your backyard if you want a regular supply of milk.

The main function of the refrigerator is to keep fresh and perishable foods from spoiling as quickly due to the rapid growth of bacteria. This is attained when food is kept at a temperature that is lower than 40°F (4°C).

A refrigerant gas such as ammonia or chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is compressed and cooled so that it turns into a liquid. The liquid is then evaporated, a process that requires energy or heat from the surrounding area. The heat is drawn from the inside of the refrigerator, which thus loses energy, therefore decreasing the temperature inside that area. The whole process then starts again once the liquid becomes a gas and this is how the temperature of the refrigerator is maintained.

The normal temperature of a refrigerator is between -34°F – -41°F. Anything lower than this and it would be too cold and cause the contents of the fridge to freeze, whilst anything higher would mean that bacteria would multiply quicker and food would get spoilt faster.

The coldest area of the fridge is at the top, just under the chill tray or the freezer section and the warmest area is at the bottom, in the crisper drawers where vegetables should be stored and on the inside of the fridge door.

The refrigerator door should be kept closed at all times and should only be kept open for the shortest amount of time possible. Leaving the fridge door open or frequently opening and closing it will cause the temperature inside to rise, as warm air is being drawn in all the time, therefore making the fridge work harder and use up more energy and electricity to lower the temperature back down to where it should be.

Refrigerator buying guide

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Refrigerators have long been thought of as the boxy, boring behemoths of the kitchen, and buying one used to be as simple as choosing between eggshell and off-white. But times have changed, with manufacturers increasingly thinking outside of the icebox to try to redefine what the modern refrigerator is really capable of. Today’s shopper will find an ever-increasing range of color and style options, cleverly-designed units designed to disappear into your decor, and a wide variety of new smart features, including ones aimed at transforming your kitchen itself into an entertainment hub. It’s enough to make you wonder if the ol’ fridge might be going through a bit of an identity crisis.

This reinvention of the refrigerator comes with a daunting new reality: finding the perfect model for your needs and budget is no easy task. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place — a handy overview designed to help you narrow down the countless options and come out confident that the refrigerator you’re buying will give you the most bang for your buck.

In the end, finding the right fridge is all about understanding your own needs and asking the right questions, so let’s get started with:

What type of refrigerator is best for me?

Style-wise, you’ve got four options to choose from, and each comes with its own pros and cons. Figuring out which one is best for you is the first, most obvious step towards making a final buying decision.


Top freezer

When I say the word “fridge,” chances are good that this is the style that pops into your head. With the bottom two thirds dedicated to fresh-food storage and the freezer unit sitting on top, most of us probably struggled to reach the Popsicles in a top freezer unit when we were kids, or we at least used one in our first apartment. Tastes have moved forward since then, so if you’re looking for something modern, high-end, and feature-rich, then a top-freezer model probably isn’t for you. If, however, style isn’t as much of a concern, then you’ll find that top freezers offer some of the best bargains on the market. Plus, there are still enough being made to offer a solid variety of choices.

Bottom freezer

If you’re looking for something on the simpler side, and would enjoy slightly easier access to your fresh foods, then a bottom-freezer unit might be right for you. Bottom-freezer units aren’t much different from top-freezer units except for the fact that the freezer is located — you guessed it — on the bottom. This means that you won’t have to hunch over while rooting around for commonly used ingredients. However, it also means that frozen foods will be located down around your ankles — though a majority of models now come with drawer-style freezer doors, which can make getting the ice cream out a little easier. Bottom freezer units tend to be just slightly bigger than top freezers, but there’s also less variety of models to choose from.

 

Side-by-side

Side-by-side units split your fridge right down the middle, offering you frozen foods on the left and fresh foods on the right. Some models offer equal real estate for both sections while others allocate an extra couple of inches for the fridge. This can make for an especially narrow freezer section, so frozen-pizza aficionados might want to consider something a little less limiting. Side-by-side units come in a wide variety of models and tend to showcase more features than their horizontally minded counterparts. Many of these features are aimed at saving space, especially when it comes to the shelving inside the doors. Side-by-side units also require much less clearance to open the doors, making them ideal for narrow kitchens. Due to the vertical split, you’ll probably want to go with the widest model that will fit into your kitchen, and your budget.

French door

Highly popular, French-door models combine the drawer-style freezer of a bottom-freezer unit with the low-clearance doors of a side-by-side unit. This means that you’ll have a full-width, double-door fridge with plenty of storage space. With your refrigerator door effectively split into two, it also means that you won’t be letting as much cold air out when you’re opening just one door to grab the milk. Some models come with two separate freezer drawers, with the top one located about waist-high. This will keep you from bending down quite as far as you would with a bottom freezer. With the high demand for French door refrigerators, you’re sure to find a huge variety of options, including models with top-of-the-line smart features you won’t find with other styles. You can also upgrade the look of your fridge to match your kitchen or even camouflage itself entirely among your cabinets, but be aware that you’ll likely be tacking a few thousand dollars onto the already steep price tag.

The GE Cafe Series refrigerator now with a built-in Keurig brewer.

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Even people who don’t love to cook seem to get excited about high-tech kitchen appliances. Combine that with people who love coffee, and I’m pretty sure that covers nearly the entire population. Or at least all of us geeks here. If you count yourself among us, you’ll be interested to know that GE and Keurig have teamed up to release a first-of-its-kind refrigerator with a single-serve brewing system built right into the door.

Crazy, right?

The new GE Cafe French door refrigerator is an evolution of a previous model with a hot water dispenser built in. I love the idea of being able to make hot drinks on demand, since I’m not a hot water with lemon kind of girl.  Apparently, GE Cafe fridge owners felt the same: Their repeated requests to turn the hot water dispenser into a tea or coffee dispenser inspired the partnership between GE and Keurig.

 

While I haven’t tried the fridge myself yet, I have to admit that my first thoughts as a parent went right to safety. I kept imagining that my little one would burn himself and my older son would have wayyyyy too easy access to hot chocolate. However given the hot water dispenser in the existing model, I’m going to guess that scalded little hands haven’t been a major issue. But if you’re seriously considering this fridge, I’d definitely look into child safety features. The lock control button on the console seems like a good indicator that GE has looked into it too.

As for having hot chocolate on tap, Willie Wonka style, you might want pretend those Swiss Miss K-Cups don’t exist; at least if you want the Keurig to be all about your morning joe.

The next question I had was about the waste factor of K-Cups in general, since I’m new to that world. If you didn’t know (I didn’t!), K-Cup pods are not recyclable through municipality programs, and Keurig doesn’t currently offer their own recycle program–though they do say that they are working on one. Which makes sense considering how huge the market is.

In the meantime, our editor Liz found these awesome refillable Ekobrew cups that work with some K-Cup brewers. There are also biodegradable coffee pods from San Francisco Bay Gourmet Coffee. I’m really hoping either of these options will be compatible with this fridge’s Keurig brewer, since I know how much busy families all love our kitchen time-savers, and we’re sometimes willing to turn a blind eye to the eco trade-offs of our choices. So whatever GE can do to help us on that front would be great.

 

 

HYBRID APPLIANCES

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In these modern times, wouldn’t you figure that everything that needs to be invented already has been invented? There are now more than 7 million patents. And that should be plenty, right? Perhaps.

But as the world changes, so does the need for innovation. For instance, we’re running out of fresh water, so many new inventions come on the market in an effort to save water. We’re also running out of clean air, food, space and time, so new inventions aim to save those as well.

And that’s why so many hybrid appliances are either on the market or on the drawing board. Hybrid appliances are devices that have several purposes, like a combo toaster and egg cooker, or a clothes hamper that also washes and dries the clothes in it. Some are just for fun, like a refrigerator equipped with a keg.

 

 

REPAIRING A REFRIGERATOR

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A refrigerator is one of the few appliances in your home that runs continuously, day or night, keeping your food cold. If you consider how hard a refrigerator has to work, it is actually quite amazing that they break down so infrequently. On the rare occasion your refrigerator does stop working, you may face a high repair bill and the expense of replacing all your lost food. Have no fear! This article is here to tell you everything you need to know about repairing your refrigerator and freezer yourself. You might be surprised to learn that repairs are actually quite easy, requiring only a little knowledge about the appliance and a little patience. Let’s get started with some basic information.

Refrigerators and freezers consist of two basic components: a condenser coil and an evaporator coil. A liquid coolant is circulated through these coils by a compressor and a motor. The refrigerant liquid is cooled in the condenser; it then flows to the evaporator. At the evaporator, the air in the unit is cooled by contact with the liquid-filled coil. The condenser of a refrigerator or freezer is the coil on the outsiof the unit; the evaporator is the coil on the inside. The coolant is circulated through the system by a compressor.

Most refrigerators and freezers are frost-free. In this type of unit, a heater is automatically turned on by a timer in order to melt the frost inside the unit. Frost is melted by the heater at several different spots in the unit, starting with the coldest and most frosted areas. When the frost is completely melted, the thermostat automatically switches to a cooling cycle in order to maintain the standard freezing temperature. Because this process is automatic, frost does not build up inside the box.

The unit’s compressor system, which forces the coolant through the coil system, is driven by a capacitor-type motor. Other basic parts of the cooling/defrosting system include switches, thermostats, heaters, condensers, and

fans. A do-it-yourselfer can test and replace many of these refrigerator components. However, there are exceptions, as explained later, that are best left to a professional repair person.

Caution: Before doing any work on a refrigerator or freezer, make sure it’s unplugged. After unplugging the unit, check to see if the motor/compressor has a capacitor; this component is located in a housing on the top of the motor. Capacitors store electricity, even when the power to the unit is turned off. Before you do any work on a capacitor-type refrigerator or freezer, you must discharge the capacitor, or you could receive a severe shock.

 

Call Absolute Appliance Repair NOW if you have any problems with your refrigerator!

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(415) 831-1259 San Francisco
(415) 388-0690 Marin County
(650) 525-0512 South SF / Daly City / Pacifica

 

 

 

How to Avoid Refrigerator Repairs

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Spend 30 minutes on these simple maintenance steps to keep your fridge running in tip top shape. It’s hard to believe, but six simple maintenance steps will prevent almost 100 percent of refrigerator breakdowns and eliminate those service calls.

Step 1: Clean the condenser coils (5 minutes)

Step 2: Clean the condenser fan (5 minutes)

Step 3: Wipe down the door gasket (2 minutes)

Step 4: Clear the freezer vents (5 minutes)

Step 5: Set the temperature controls to the middle settings (1 minute)

Step 6: Clear and clean the drip openings (2 minutes)