Are you a person who also thinks that why to keep any appliances on when they are not in use?
Everyone likes saving money by not wasting electricity.
Most of your home appliances can be easily unplugged when they are not in use and you do not have to worry about that. But when it comes to a refrigerator the situation is not the same. A refrigerator is designed to keep your food cool and fresh for 24/7.
You might have heard this a lot that one should always keep the refrigerator plugged in because it helps in increasing the efficiency and performance of the refrigerator. Many questions might be arising in different situations.
Say, if you are thinking of going on a vacation and you do not want to keep any home appliance connected. In such cases, if you are not going out for more than 4 weeks you can keep the refrigerator plugged in however if you’re out for more than a month then you can consider unplugging it.
The question that pops up is: Does unplugging a refrigerator damage it? Or is it really bad to unplug a refrigerator?
Today, I am going to answer these questions. And talk about what will happen when you unplug a refrigerator and also the care and precautions you need to take when unplugging it.
What happens when you unplug your refrigerator?
If you unplug your refrigerator and immediately re-plug it in then you might notice the compressor may not restart. This usually happens due to the pressure that gets accumulated.
When you do this there is a huge risk of damaging your compressor as it is at the center of the refrigeration cycle and a very essential part of the fridge.
So when you unplug it its best to keep it that way for at least 15-20 mins before re-plugging.
When you keep your refrigerator unplugged the temperature inside rises and then the moisture is retained. This can create bacteria and microorganisms on your food. The bacteria reproduce fast and become very bad when the fridge door is closed which might lead to a bad door too.
Precautions to be taken while unplugging a refrigerator
While going on a vacation for a longer period that is more than a month, you might be thinking about your appliances and worried about your fridge too.
It’s very easy to unplug other home appliances as they won’t do any kind of damage. But while unplugging a fridge you have to keep in mind these precautions.
Remove all your food
Thinking of unplugging your fridge then the first thing to do is remove all your food and turn off the circuit breaker. Food items are perishable so it’s better not to keep them in an unplugged refrigerator.
Turn off the ice maker and temperature control
If you have a fridge that has got an ice maker then turn it off and also bring it in a cleaning position so that it also gets cleaned. After this turn of the temperature control, and water supply on your fridge too. Read the manual to know how to do this.
Clean it properly
Before going out and unplugging clean your fridge properly once because there might be food particles on some parts that may attract pests like cockroaches. So that it is essential to clean it properly and thoroughly to prevent bad odor while it’s unplugged. Consider cleaning the ice maker too. You can use baking soda for cleaning it along with vinegar.
Keep your fridge dry
Make sure you clean your fridge properly and make it dry as bacterias attract moist and warm places and they easily reproduce so keeping your fridge dry is important.
Keep the door open
Once you are done with the steps and cleaned it, just keep the doors open so that air circulates and prevents bad odor and molds.
Conclusion
Keeping your refrigerator plugged in always is recommended but in certain situations when you need to unplug, just make sure to follow those instructions.