Doing routine maintenance on your fridge or freezer can help extend its overall lifespan. If you have pets in the household, their hair can quickly cover the condenser coils. This can lead to your appliances needing to use more energy to work efficiently, which will can mean you’re paying an extra $7 a month on your energy bill (per each individual freezer and fridge).

This is a Safety Task!

Make sure that when moving the refrigerator, you keep the electric cord from being pinched between the floor and the refrigerator. Vibration from the refrigerator can cause the cord to fray, exposing wires that can arc and cause a fire.

This is a Health Task!

What you don’t see in your refrigerator could be contaminating your food and making you sick. Dirty fridges can act as a breeding ground for harmful bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. Proper cleaning should be performed regularly to avoid bacterial growth. Expired foods can grow bacteria in your fridge, so remove all expired food products.

This is a Preventative Maintenance Task!

Cleaning your refrigerator properly can increase its useful life by 40% or longer.

This is an Energy Efficiency!

Cleaning your condenser coils can also mean your freezer and refrigerator will work more efficiently, saving you up to $7 per month per unit on electricity.

Tasks can be done by: Homeowner, Handyman, or Cleaning Company

Task Steps

Step 1 – Inspect Freezer

• Go through and remove anything that is out of date. You can choose to dispose of out-of-date food however you see fit.
• Having removed all the disposable items, take out everything else and put it in coolers or cover it with blankets to keep from defrosting.
• Unplug the unit. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda in 1 quart of warm water to make a paste
• Use a rag to disperse the paste on all sides of the freezer. This will clean and deodorize it.
• Finally, make sure the freezer is immaculate and dry before returning any food to it.
• Make sure your unit is still unplugged, locate the freezer grille, open it, and find your condenser coils. Note only some units have coils you can reach. Otherwise, the coils are located within the freezer walls. At that point, just make sure to reference your owner’s manual for the specific unit.
• If you locate your freezer grills, grab a brush and lightly scrub the coils while also using a vacuum to clean up the excess dirt and dust that you’re scrubbing off.
• Clean your freezer fan the same way you did the condenser coils but be careful not to bend them
• Make sure you plug the unit back in.

Step 2 – Inspect Fridge

• Go through and remove anything that is out of date. You can choose to dispose of out-of-date food however you see fit.
• Having removed all the disposable items, take out everything else, put it in coolers, or cover it with blankets to keep everything still good.
• Unplug the unit—mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda in 1 quart of warm water to make a paste.
• Use a rag to disperse the paste on all sides of the fridge. This will clean and deodorize it.
• Finally, make sure the fridge is immaculate and dry before returning any food to it.
• After you’re finished cleaning out the refrigerator, change the water filter (if applicable)
• Now locate the fridge grille, open it, and find your condenser coils
• Grab a brush and lightly scrub the coils while also using a vacuum to clean up the excess dirt and dust that you’re scrubbing off.
• Clean your refrigerator fan the same way you did the condenser coils but be careful not to bend them
• Make sure you plug the unit back in.

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Also, check out another interesting article- How to properly test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors!