Your refrigerator is the biggest energy consumer in your home. Older fridges generally use more electricity than new models. When a fridge starts to break down, it will use more energy as it tries to maintain a consistently cold temperature. Basically, a broken fridge will work harder than it should have to. You may think you are saving money by keeping your old refrigerator instead of buying a new one, but the opposite may be true. Here is how you may be paying monthly for a broken fridge.
The Struggle to Stay Cold
The sole purpose of a refrigerator is to keep your food cold. There are a lot of components in the appliance to make this happen. A condenser, evaporator, fans, timers, and thermostats all work together to keep your fridge at the temperature you set. All these components use electricity. In addition, your fridge is heavily insulated to keep the cold air inside the appliance. It uses door gaskets to do this. If any of these components are beginning to break down or fail, they will use even more energy to keep up. Sometimes the working components will work twice as hard to make up for the work not being done by the failing component. This can add quite a bit onto your monthly energy bills.
A Faulty Thermostat
Whatever temperature you set your fridge to is controlled by its thermostat. It operates as an open switch that closes when the temperature gets too high. This causes the cooler air to be forced through fans to the freezer. It is possible for your thermostat to fail and get stuck in the closed position. This can eat up quite a bit of energy until it is replaced.
If you suspect your refrigerator has become an energy sucker, it may be time to replace it entirely. The experts at Express Appliance Repair can assess your current fridge and let you know if it is fixable, or time to upgrade. Give us a call today!