Tag Archives: fridge

How to Know a Good Refrigerator

If your fridge is old and you are tired of hiring a refrigerator repair professional, the best way to fix the problem is to get a new appliance. Of course, when buying a refrigerator, you must get a good one.

How do you know that you are buying a good refrigerator? There are several things you can look out for. These things include:

Size of the fridge

You want a fridge that will adequately fit your kitchen. Before you head to the stores or place your order, measure the space you want to place the unit. Pay attention to the area’s depth, width, and height when calculating.

You also should consider your storage needs. If you have a large family, you will need a large unit, but a small appliance will get the work done if you live alone.

If buying the appliance online, carefully compare the specifications given in the descriptions with your measurements and place the order only after you have ascertained that the new unit will fit your space.

The efficiency of the fridge

If you have had your old fridge for a long, you must have noticed that it consumed a lot of energy, right? You don’t want your new unit to do the same, do you?

To ensure this doesn’t happen, buy an energy-efficient appliance.

Besides ensuring that the unit is suitable for your needs and space, ensure that the appliance has a high-energy star rating. While at it, pay attention to the annual energy consumption and always go for a unit with low consumption, often quoted in kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Certain brands are known to be more energy efficient than others so take your time to buy one with a good reputation. The brand might be a little expensive, but it will save you a lot of money.

Reputable brand

As mentioned, you should always buy a fridge made by a reputable brand. This way, you not only have a highly efficient unit but a unit that will also last for a long time.

To tell whether a brand is worth it, check the customer ratings. After all, they are the ones that have already used the appliance, right?

It’s rare to even for the best brand to have a perfect 5-star rating, but you should pay attention to several positive and negative reviews. Of course, you should go for a brand with more positive ratings than negative ones.

When you come across a brand with perfect ratings, you should be wary of it, as chances are it’s cheating. This is because it’s rare for even the company to make the best appliance to please everyone. There is always someone that doesn’t like what they do.

Besides the brand having high-quality appliances, it also should provide warranty and service at a local service center. This way, you are sure you are covered in an accident and can quickly fix your unit in your local store.

The right type

There are many brands to buy from in the same way you can purchase many types of fridges. Of course, for the refrigerator you are looking to buy to be the right one, it has to be of the correct type.

The different types of fridges in the market are bottom freezer, top freezer, side-by-side, compact, French door, built, and so on.

We all have different tastes, and all you need to do is to choose the one that is best for you.

Aesthetics

Besides the functional fridge, it also needs to be good-looking for it to be the right one to buy. The appliance should also have several attractive features, such as automatic defrosting.

You may need to visit different stores and compare various devices to buy the best appliance. If there is something that you are doubtful of, get the input of a commercial appliance repair Fairfax professional.

Appliance Repair: When Should You Replace The Refrigerator?

Virginia Refrigerators Repair

The refrigerator is designed to last for a few years, after which, you have to replace it. Even the people that have stayed for years with the appliances don’t know the right time to replace them—which is tragic as they end up spending a lot of money maintaining them.

To help you out, here are signs given by appliance repair professionals that you should look out for to tell that your refrigerator is ripe for replacement:

The refrigerator is causing excessive condensation

The fridge is designed to cool food, but it shouldn’t be excessively cold. If your fridge looks as if it’s sweating in the middle of a heat wave, it might not be cooling the food properly. If your appliance has this problem, you should inspect the rubber sealing around the door and confirm if there are water droplets or signs of mildew or mold.

If the sealing isn’t too damaged, you can go ahead and fix it, but if it’s too damaged, you should hire an expert to help you with fixing it.

When your unit is having excessive condensation, you might notice signs of condensation inside the fridge. When you notice this, it means that the temperature setting isn’t working as properly as it’s supposed to.

If you have tried fixing the issue without success, chances are that the inaccurate temperature will start ruining your food. To protect the food, you are better off replacing the unit.

The motor is running hot

It’s common for the back of the refrigerator to feel hot when you put your hand there, but when you feel excessive amounts of heat, you have a reason to worry.

The coils in the back of the refrigerator are usually insulated; therefore, you shouldn’t feel a lot of heat. When you are having this problem, contact a fridge repair professional to inspect the coils and if spoilt, replace them.

While the contractor can replace the coils and the unit will continue functioning optimally, sometimes you are better off replacing the unit. This is if you have an old fridge that is showing other signs of dying.

Your energy bills have skyrocketed

Have you noticed that your energy bills have gone up and yet you haven’t any new appliance in your home? It could be due to the old and malfunctioning refrigerator. Old fridges tend to work harder to compensate for their age. As you might have guessed, this translates to high energy bills.

For you to tell that your fridge is the source of the problem, you only need to track it. This calls for you to plug a watt-hour meter into the fridge and you will be able to tell the amount of electricity that the appliance is consuming.

If you are spending too much on your electric bill, there is no point in keeping the fridge with you as you will end up spending too much on the long haul. The best way out is to invest in a new appliance.

The refrigerator is leaking

Minimal condensation and moisture on your fridge are normal but liquids should never pool in and around the appliance. Leaks are a signal that the refrigerator is going bad. In most cases, the problem is due to broken or cracked seals. The issue could also be due to a slipped hose.

Malfunctioning of these parts isn’t a death knell for the fridge. You can easily and cheaply replace the parts. Other causes of leaking include: failing heater, broken tune channel, and bad insulation.

You should attempt fixing these parts. If you do all of your best and still the fridge leaks, you have to way out other than to replace it.

Your fridge is old

As mentioned above, the fridge is designed to last for a few decades. At most, 20 years. This means that if your unit is more than 10 years and it’s developing problems every now and then, you should highly consider replacing it.

This is because the cost of refrigerator repair Alexandria will outweigh the replacement cost. When buying the new appliance, buy one with a high energy rating. The appliance should also from a reputable brand.