• Keep fridges and freezers full but not overcrowded.
Here are some tips to keep things energy-efficient in there:
• Arrange contents in a way that lets air circulate.
• Keep the freezer full by filling plastic milk bottles with water.
• Make sure doors fit tightly. Here’s a test: Close the door on a dollar bill. If you can pull the dollar out easily, the gasket isn’t sealing properly.
• Don’t open the doors unnecessarily.
• If you’re going away for a long period of time, remove perishable food from the refrigerator and turn the thermostat up a few degrees.
• Don’t put uncovered liquids in the fridge; they force it to work harder to remove the moisture.
• Let cooked food cool to room temperature before refrigerating it.
• Don’t put foil on fridge shelves; it blocks the flow of cold air and makes the unit work harder.
• Don’t put a fridge or freezer near a stove, dishwasher or other heat-producing appliance, and don’t place them in direct sunlight.
• Set the thermostat in your fridge at 40 degrees and your freezer at 0 degrees. If your fridge has an “efficiency” setting, make sure it is on.
• Defrost frozen foods in the fridge.
• Clean dust from refrigerator coils.
• Don’t store anything behind the fridge. This can cut airflow to the coils, making the fridge work harder.