5 Tips to Make Your Refrigerator More Efficient

These are simple tips that should help any home!

1. Vacuum the Back: The idea of pulling your refrigerator away from the wall isn't exactly at the top of anyone's to do list, but it can help so much. So much dust and dirt gets trapped behind your refrigerator (especially if you have pets) and this collects on the condenser coils. Once you've cleaned them off, the heat from your refrigerator will be able to be carried away without as much resistance, making your cycles run for a shorter period of time.

2. Check the Door Seal: Use a thin piece of paper or dollar bill to check whether your seal is losing air. Hold it up next to the closed refrigerator door and see if it flutters at all. The rubber or plastic door seal on your refrigerator can be easily replaced and although it might seem like a pain, we promise it's not. No one wants to pay to refrigerate their entire kitchen, especially when it's only a few bucks for a new gasket!

3. Cover Everything: Unless you're keeping crackers in your fridge, most foods in there contain moisture. When left uncovered, foods will leach this moisture into the air and the compressor in your refrigerator will have to work twice as hard to remove it. (Plus, most foods will suck up smells of other foods and that just gets weird.)

4. Let Your Food Cool Before Putting it Aaway: So you made a big batch of soup and you're really tired. Sleep needs to happen ASAP, and you just don't want to wait up any longer. Sure, you can toss it in the fridge, but your refrigerator will have to pull double duty to cool it down. Try to let foods sit as long as possible (without bacteria cooties growing) before putting them in the chill chest.

5. Fill Empty Space with Water: Using empty soda bottles, juice containers, or even store bought water jugs can help keep your fridge full when you aren't packing it to the gills. It helps keep things cold so your refrigerator doesn't have to work as hard. As an added bonus you will always have water for the zombie apocalypse.