While people have been using refrigerators since time immemorial, according to refrigerator repair professionals, many of these people make plenty of mistakes that not only cut the lifespan of the machines, but also make the machines keep on breaking down. To help you out, here are some of the most common mistakes that many people make:

Packing the fridge too full

People make this mistake when they have come from the grocery store. Since they come with a lot of food, they want to preserve all of it. Since the refrigerator is often smaller, they have no way out, other than to pack it too full.

In addition to packing the fridge to capacity putting it at the risk of getting damaged, it has also been shown to overwork the machine. What is the end results of this? It spends a lot of energy thus you have a high energy bill at the end of the month.

For you to keep the refrigerator working optimally you should avoid packing it too full. It’s okay to fill the shelves but avoid overstocking. A tell-tale sign that you have packed the fridge more than its capacity it’s your inability to comfortably reach the back. If you can’t reach the back of it, its time you think about getting rid of some of the items.

Failing to clean the fridge properly

It’s common for the fridge to have spills and leaks. When the messes come about, you should clean them as soon as they happen. While many people know that they need to clean the fridge, they don’t clean them as properly as they should, which is wrong.

The FDA recommends that you clean the fridge as part of your regular kitchen cleaning routine. One of the best way of doing it is mixing a little bit of water with a little bleach. When doing the cleaning, remember to also clean underneath the fridge.

Has your fridge been warmer than it should? The coils might be dirty and require some cleaning. For the unit to function optimally, you should clean the condenser coils a few times a year. The best way of going about it is unplugging the unit, snapping the grate and cleaning the coils using a coil cleaning brush.

Turning the temperature too low

It’s common to leave the refrigerator door open from time to time. When many homeowners do this, they turn the refrigerator too low in order to compensate for this. While there is nothing wrong with this, you should note that you can easily forget and leave the settings too low.

When you let the fridge function at extremely low temperatures, it tends to spend a lot of energy thus you have a high energy bill at the end of the month.

Many people lower the temperature settings as they deem that by doing so they prevent the food from getting spoilt. While it’s true you prevent the food from spoiling, you should know that as long as the fridge isn’t overstuffed and is sealed properly, the fridge can catch up with the temperature loss on its own; therefore, there is no reason for you to reduce the settings.

Even if you have to lower the settings, avoid doing so abruptly. The best way of going about it is making gradual adjustments and give the unit an hour or two for it to catch up.

You keep hot food in the fridge

Refrigerators are designed to take a little heat thus you can store small amounts of hot food in it. While this is the case, it doesn’t mean that you should put a whole pot of soup in the fridge.

When you put extremely hot food in the fridge, you raise the temperature. According to appliance repair Fairfax professionals, when you raise the temperature above 40 degrees F, the bacteria start multiplying rapidly, making the food unsafe to eat.

If you want to keep the food hot and safe, you should divide it into smaller containers. Food in small containers allows more air circulation which cools the food more quickly allowing the temperature in the fridge to remain ideal.