Is it necessary to keep the refrigerator on 24 hours a day??

Question

Will switching it off for a couple of hours a day would have some harmful impact on it functioning??

Answer 1

I thought unplugging the fridge would be a great idea, so I checked with the efficiency expert at our local utility. He said that switching the refrigerator off would promote mold and be hard on the compressor.

If you want to save electricity with your refrigeration, the most effective thing to do is make sure your refrigerator is a modern, energy-efficient model. Great strides in efficiency have been made over the last few years, so if your refrigerator is more than five years old, consider replacing it. The payback for replacing even a working refrigerator will come remarkably soon if you replace an older model with a new energy-star model.

If your refrigerator is already up-to-date, or replacing it isn't an option yet, then make sure it is full. Believe it or not, refrigerators are most efficient when fully loaded. If it's not full of food, then fill it up with one gallon containers of water. The reason for this is that a full refrigerator will have a lot of stable thermal mass so that when you open and close the door, most of the cold will stay in. But with an empty refrigerator, the cold air falls on the ground every time you open the door, and then the refrigerator has to get back to work on cooling a new batch of air.

If you're willing to go to extremes, consider using a root cellar or cold room instead of a refrigerator for at least part of the year. Find a place in your house that is cool, and monitor it with a good high-low thermometer. If you can reliably maintain a temperature between 33 and 40 F, you can use that space as an energy-free alternative to a refrigerator. When you think about it, electric refrigerators haven't been in common use for very long. That's why old houses had unheated pantries near the kitchen--for food storage back before electric refrigerators were invented.

Answer 2

Most of the time, things are kept in the fridge. By switching it off, the things inside will spoil and the cool air doesn't circulate the whole fridge instantly when you on it. What's the purpose of wanting to off the fridge for a few hours a day? To save money? I don't think it will amount to that huge a sum of money. As for harmful to the fridge or not, I haven't come across any proof but I do know that leaving the fridge door open for too long (not shutting it properly) will over heat the motor and damage the fridge.

Answer 3

Those idiots! You can turn off your fridge at night, so as long as you don't open it. The fridge must also be well insulated to keep the cold in. If you're not sure how long you can leave it off, try turning it off for an hour or so during the day and check to see if the temperature changes, then gradually increase the time to about 10 hours so you can safely turn it off at night but make sure you don't open the door at least 20 minutes before you shut it off to ensure the proper temperature.

Best of Wishes!

Answer 4

If you have a frost less refrigerator, You will throw off the defrost cycle.

If your fridge is nearly empty, it will work harder over the long run to keep food chilled to the proper temp. If It is packed full, the negative impact is less as long as the doors are Kept shut.

Answer 5

Think about the food inside! Wouldn't flipping it off and on ruin it? And if you have to ask, then did you ever play with the door to see if the light goes off when the door's closed? IF you listen to the refrigerator, it cycles around by itself, so no need for you to do it. Ain't that cool? (g) By the way, if you're gonna get touchy about an electric bill, try turning off your lights when you're not using them! Tell public places to cut back on *their* unnecessary electrical usage. Now *that* would certainly help more than playing with a major appliance!

Answer 6

If your fridge reaches a certain temp and gets cold enough, it automatically takes a break before the motor kicks in again. So you shouldn't need to worry about switching it off.

Answer 7

I would not do that b/c everything in the freezer will start to thaw and you could run the risk of food going bad. And, it would probably take more energy to get the thing running at the correct temp again once you plugged it back in.

Answer 8

it definitely won't function as well. and because it is being turned off you are risking food warming up and going bad. not to mention it takes a lot of energy for the fridge to re-cool, so you will be wasting money by it having to do this.

Answer 9

you could get food poisoning by eating food that isn't properly cold the way it should be. If you forget to turn it back on you can spoil all of you food and have to buy more. It is much easier to leave it on and much cheaper in the long run.

Answer 10

Are you really that cheap? It costs less to keep something at an even temp than it does to let it get warm and have to cool it again !So don't be stupid , leave your damn fridge on!!!