Power cuts are part of summer here. A fridge handles them better than most people think, as long as you do a few simple things right.
Keep the door shut
This is the big one. A closed fridge keeps food cold for about four hours. A full freezer holds its temperature for roughly a day or more, a half-full one for less. Every time the door opens, that time gets shorter.
If you know a long cut is coming, take out what you need for the next few hours first, then leave the door alone.
A fuller fridge stays colder
Cold food and drinks act like ice packs. A packed freezer recovers faster than an empty one. If your freezer is mostly empty, a couple of bottles of water frozen solid will help it ride out a cut.
Protect it from voltage swings
The real risk is not the cut itself, it is what happens around it: low voltage before the power drops, and a spike when it comes back. That is hard on the compressor.
- Many newer refrigerators have built-in voltage protection and wait a few minutes before restarting. Check the manual or ask us about your model.
- If yours does not, a refrigerator stabilizer with a time delay is a small cost compared to a compressor repair.
- If you run the fridge on an IPS, make sure the IPS capacity can handle the fridge’s starting load. Inverter refrigerators are much easier on an IPS.
When the power comes back
Do not keep switching the fridge off and on at the wall. Let it restart on its own and give it a few hours to pull the temperature back down before you add a lot of warm food.
If something in the freezer has fully thawed and sat warm for hours, especially meat or fish, it is safer not to refreeze it.
Small habits that help every day
- Leave a gap of a few inches between the back of the fridge and the wall so heat can escape.
- Let cooked food cool before putting it in.
- Check the door seal now and then. Close the door on a sheet of paper; if it slides out easily, the gasket may need replacing.
If your fridge is making a new noise or is not cooling after a power cut, book a repair visit and our technician will check the compressor and gas pressure. Looking for a replacement? See our refrigerators.
