What to do if your fridge is not cooling properly

You had planned on serving fresh salmon steaks to your dinner guests tomorrow evening, but now it appears that your fish dinner may be in danger—your fridge is not cooling properly. The news throws a blast of cold air on your plans. Here's what to do.

Don’t worry; most fridge repair technicians are available for emergency repairs. But first, you should know that there are some minor problems you may be able to solve on your own. So, keep your cool and check the following elements—there will always be time for cold sweats later on!

It might just be that the temperature has not been properly set. When you’ve got a fridge that is not cooling, the first thing to do is check the thermostat and adjust it as required. However, if the thermostat is no longer working properly, you will have to call the repairman.

If you just plugged in your new refrigerator, you will have to give it about 24 hours to cool sufficiently. Of course, it could take longer if you keep opening the door every five minutes to check the temperature!

If your fridge is not cooling, the condenser may be the cause. If it is blocked because of an accumulation of dust, the heat isn’t being evacuated correctly and the cold output will be altered. Now, that’s one problem that’s easy to solve—just vacuum up the dust!

If your fridge is not cooling, you can also check to make sure that the light bulbs are going out when the door is closed. They should turn off when the door is about two or three centimetres away from being closed. If that isn’t the case, the switch undoubtedly needs to be changed.

You know what it’s like when your house door doesn’t close properly in the winter. Just a fraction of a second is enough for the cold to rush in. Well, if the fridge door isn’t airtight, the cold air escapes from the refrigerator just as skilfully in order to invade the kitchen. Take a look at the door and make sure the seal is airtight.

You can easily check the seal of your refrigerator door by closing it on a sheet of paper. If you can easily move the sheet along the door, that’s a true sign that it is no longer airtight. You will need to change your refrigerator’s door gasket to solve the problem.

Once you have run these checks, and if you still have a fridge not cooling properly, all is not lost. You just need to call an appliance technician. This professional will never fail to keep his cool when faced with your refrigerator’s stubbornness.