Refrigerator Design Temperature


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Old 10-19-10, 10:25 AM
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Refrigerator Design Temperature

What temperature range might I resonably expect a refrigerator to maintain under normal conditions? I am not asking about the recommended temperature. I am asking about the minimum and maximum temperatures I might hope to achieve by adjusting the thermostat.
Thanks,
 
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Old 10-19-10, 05:49 PM
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Interesting question. I really do not know. I'd venture to guess somewheres near the mid-high 20's, to low-mid 40's. And that be at factory stat setting (not the dial setting with the numbers on it, rather the factory adjustment screw setting). THEN one could even further adjust the stat adjustment screw (if your model has that) colder or warmer yet.

Out of curiousity, why do you need to know this?
 
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Old 10-21-10, 10:56 AM
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I don't NEED to know. I am just analytical by nature (some might say weird). Our refrigerator seemed to be a bit warm, so we were adjusting the dial, and I got to wondering how big a change we might expect if we moved the dial from 4 to 5. And that lead to thinking about what temperatures might be possible. Clearly, when refrigerators are designed, some range is designed for.

This is a new refrigerator, and it turns out that something is not quite right. A technician has been out several times (actually two technicians). The most knowledgeable thought that the range might be about 34 to about 42. But he did not seem to be too confident in that answer. Several parts have been replaced.

Thanks for your comments,
 
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Old 10-21-10, 11:14 AM
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Well...because of the airflow routing of ours (side by side)...certain things put on the back of the top shelf will freeze. So the temp has to be lower than 32...more likely in the high 20's as stated earlier.

Much depends on arrangement of foods in both the freezer and fridge I would imagine. Need to make sure that the cold air from the freezer is unobstructed.

Just my observations of my specific appliance.
 
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Old 10-21-10, 12:48 PM
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Frost free refrigerators often have two adjustments.
One will be a thermostat that controls the cycling of the compressor and the other a damper that will often have a knob to control how much air enters the fridge compartment from the freezer.

For a refrigerator you would need between 35 and 40 degF for best shelf life of what is in there.
A freezer in a fridge should be no colder than 5 degF
Any colder and you will increase the shelf life of some foods but at the expense of a fridge that runs too much.

Also, the freezer compartment of a fridge is not meant for long term food storage, only to keep things for a few days.
If you adjust the fridge settings to have the freezer say freeze ice cream into a solid brick (around -5 degF or colder) you will be causing it to run way too long and drying out what is in the fridge and freezer and not fully sealed.
 

Last edited by GregH; 10-21-10 at 01:18 PM. Reason: Typo
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Old 10-23-10, 09:33 AM
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My particular unit is an all-refrigerator (i.e. no attached freezer).

The repair man was out again today. He is ordering more parts. He said that his next stop was a new freezer. How common is it for new refrigerators and freezers to malfunction? How do we decide when our unit is just a "lemon", and push for a new one?

Thanks again,
 
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Old 10-23-10, 12:48 PM
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You need to be specific with terminology..........You say you have an all fridge but that the next stop was a new freezer?

There are two types of "all-fridge".
One that has a fan and a cover over the evaporator coils.
The other has a cold plate that when cooling will develop a thin layer of frost that defrosts each time the compressor stops.

Which do you have?
When the fridge does not cool enough does it run continuously or does the compressor shut off?
Exactly what parts has he replaced and intend to replace?
When he comes to look at the fridge does he hook up guages at the back to measure refrigerant pressure.

In order for us to help we need detailed answers to these questions................(or a plane ticket! )
 
 

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