How To Extend Your Refrigerator"s Life
Good housekeeping entails responsible use of your home appliances, especially those that affect your day-to-day life.
A perfect example is your refrigerator.
It is undoubtedly one of the most important you have, but it can also be a source of problems when it starts messing up.
To extend the life of your refrigerator, you need to make a few, practical steps, beginning with maintaining certain components that have a significant impact on its performance.
COILS Your refrigerator's coils, which are located at the bottom of the frame, are designed to suck in air to help insulate the compressor.
That means you have to clean your floor regularly and free it of dust, pet hair and other particles that may be pulled along with the air into those coils.
Dirty coils mean an overworked motor, and that's not going to be a helpful scenario when you want your fridge to live long.
SEAL Refrigerators are designed to be cool inside.
If there's anything that makes the cool air leak, again, that's going to put an extra load on your compressor and can cut its life unnecessarily.
The point is, make sure your seals are intact and working just right to keep the cold air where it should be.
It's a good idea to wipe on some olive oil on your seals to protect them from tears and cracks that may be brought about by an accumulation of spillages.
PLASTIC Cleaning your refrigerator is one of the best ways to keep it working well, but you don't want to overdo it by using abrasive materials that scratch all that plastic.
Instead, use a gentle sponge with a mild detergent or baking soda solution or vinegar to wipe off those greases and stains.
Damaging those plastic drawers and shelves may not directly affect motor performance, but when you have them all cracked and chipped off, you're still going need to buy a new fridge, so that still counts.
INTERIOR Because the object of all fridge life-extending tips is to prevent overworking its motor, then how much you put in your fridge also matters.
That's because when there's too much stuff in there, the cold air is actually kept from circulating freely.
And when that happens, expect the motor to overwork itself again.
Remember that for anything that keeps your fridge interior less cool that it should be, the motor will try to compensate by working more than it's supposed to.
If this becomes a frequent scenario, you can burn it out way before the end of its natural lifespan.
A perfect example is your refrigerator.
It is undoubtedly one of the most important you have, but it can also be a source of problems when it starts messing up.
To extend the life of your refrigerator, you need to make a few, practical steps, beginning with maintaining certain components that have a significant impact on its performance.
COILS Your refrigerator's coils, which are located at the bottom of the frame, are designed to suck in air to help insulate the compressor.
That means you have to clean your floor regularly and free it of dust, pet hair and other particles that may be pulled along with the air into those coils.
Dirty coils mean an overworked motor, and that's not going to be a helpful scenario when you want your fridge to live long.
SEAL Refrigerators are designed to be cool inside.
If there's anything that makes the cool air leak, again, that's going to put an extra load on your compressor and can cut its life unnecessarily.
The point is, make sure your seals are intact and working just right to keep the cold air where it should be.
It's a good idea to wipe on some olive oil on your seals to protect them from tears and cracks that may be brought about by an accumulation of spillages.
PLASTIC Cleaning your refrigerator is one of the best ways to keep it working well, but you don't want to overdo it by using abrasive materials that scratch all that plastic.
Instead, use a gentle sponge with a mild detergent or baking soda solution or vinegar to wipe off those greases and stains.
Damaging those plastic drawers and shelves may not directly affect motor performance, but when you have them all cracked and chipped off, you're still going need to buy a new fridge, so that still counts.
INTERIOR Because the object of all fridge life-extending tips is to prevent overworking its motor, then how much you put in your fridge also matters.
That's because when there's too much stuff in there, the cold air is actually kept from circulating freely.
And when that happens, expect the motor to overwork itself again.
Remember that for anything that keeps your fridge interior less cool that it should be, the motor will try to compensate by working more than it's supposed to.
If this becomes a frequent scenario, you can burn it out way before the end of its natural lifespan.
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