Fix It and keep it

The refrigerator is a much unnoticed appliance as long as it is running well and no one really thinks about cleaning the cooling coils underneath it. With most refrigerators the cooling coils are underneath the unit completely out of site of the homeowner. So, quite naturally, no one ever thinks of cleaning the coils, nor do you ever see the dust and animal hair that builds up around them month after month reducing the air flow around the coils that is used to cool the refrigerant.

First,, unplug the refrigerator to avoid any electrical shock, or fan starting unexpectedly. Most refrigerators have an easy access grill attached to the front bottom of the unit. That grille usually just snaps off without the use of any tools. Once the grill is removed you can look in and see just how much dust has accumulated around the coils. You will need to remove all of the dust with a vacuum cleaner and a long soft brush. You really have to be careful not to bend or puncture any of the tubing. So the key is to take your time and don’t force anything into an opening that it doesn’t easily go into. For example, it is real tempting to shove your vacuum cleaner wand in between the coils, it almost looks like it should fit, but it doesn’t. For that part of the coils you will need the brush to loosen the dust so it can be pulled into the vacuum cleaner.

Simply leave the vacuum cleaner wand on the floor near where all of the dust is stuck to the coils and start brushing the dust out of the coils and into the waiting vacuum cleaner nozzle. Move the brush along the entire coil to loosen all of the dust so it can be picked up by the vacuum cleaner. Once the coils are cleaned you will still need to vacuum all of the nooks and crannies all around where the coils are. There is also a small fan in the back of the refrigerator that is used to move the air around the coils. You will need to clean around the fan and its blades also be careful when you do this because the fan blades are extremely thin and will bend easily.

Once you have thoroughly cleaned under the refrigerator clean the walls near where the refrigerator sits as well. After you have finished your refrigerator will sound a lot quieter when it is running because the air is moving freely around the coils it is not being forced between small dust covered openings any longer.

Mark your calendar when you cleaned the refrigerator and plan on doing it again every six months.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Home Owner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.