Fifteen minutes, twice a year, on the one maintenance job that pays for itself in electricity alone.
Condenser coils are how your refrigerator sheds the heat it pulls out of your food. When they are wrapped in dust and pet hair, that heat cannot escape, so the compressor runs longer and hotter to reach the same temperature. You pay for the difference every month, and the compressor wears out sooner.
Finding the coils
On most modern fridges they are behind a snap-off grille at the bottom front, or behind a panel at the lower back. Older units often have them exposed across the entire back of the cabinet.
The job, step by step
- Unplug the refrigerator — not optional.
- Remove the base grille or rear panel.
- Vacuum loose dust with a brush attachment, then use a long coil brush to reach the back of the coil pack.
- Vacuum the condenser fan blades and the floor underneath while you are there.
- Check the drain pan for standing water or cracks.
- Refit the panel, plug in, and push the fridge back with a few centimetres of clearance.
How often
Twice a year is right for most homes. With shedding pets, make it every four months — pet hair mats onto coils faster than anything else we see.
“Dirty coils are the most common reason a healthy fridge runs constantly and still struggles in a heat wave.”
If the fridge still runs non-stop with clean coils, the condenser fan, door seals or defrost system are the next things to check.