Filling your fridge may seem like the most straightforward process: just take your stuff and put it in the refrigerator. But, in reality, there is much more to it than just this.
The truth is you can overfill your fridge and damage your appliance, spoil your food and drinks, and waste valuable electricity. It is important for you to fill your refrigerator in such a way as to maximize the space available while meeting your storage needs. By balancing your refrigerator’s storage you can guarantee it runs well and efficiently.
It’s important that you leave the vents clear of clutter which could harm the cooling system and make your fridge work overtime for no reason. It can lead to slime and mold build-up, which may not only impact your health but also the smell of your kitchen.
Therefore, pay attention to not cram your food and drinks in there haphazardly. There is a certain system you should follow if you want to keep your food and fridge in good condition. We are here to tell you all about it!
How Full Should You Fill a Refrigerator?
The key number you should keep in your head about filling your refrigerator is 75%! This means you should aim to keep your refrigerator stocked to 75% capacity. If it is below or over this amount it can cause the machine to overwork in maintaining a good temperature.
This is because items in your fridge absorb the cold and become cool themselves. Therefore, they actually help keep the temperature regulated.
If you have too few items in your fridge then there aren’t enough items “storing” the cold temperature and actually helping the machine keep the thermostat at an even level.
If you have too many items then the fridge won’t be able to produce enough cold air to keep everything at a cool temperature. The machine will struggle to bring the temperature down, cool the articles off sufficiently, and never reach a stable setting.
But, for those of us who aren’t the best at math, what would 75% capacity look like?
How Much is Too Much?
There is no one size fits all answer to how much is too much in your refrigerator. It depends upon the type of refrigerator you own and what you want to store in it.
Fruits/Vegetables: For most refrigerators, you can keep about 12-15 fruits and vegetables in the drawers and bottom shelves. This would mean keeping a bag of kale/washed bagged greens, a head of lettuce, several apples/oranges/lemons/other loose fruits, 3-4 packages of berries, and a medium-sized tub or two of pre-cut vegetables.
Meats: For meat, you want to avoid keeping raw meat on the top shelf if they are not in a properly sealed container. This is because you do not want the liquids from meat to leak onto the vegetables or other items in your fridge. You can fit 4-5 types of raw meat in your fridge.
The best place for meat is the middle shelf which is usually too narrow for drinks and vegetables to be stored. If you move your raw meat into Tupperware it will store even easier and you will be less likely to have it cross-contaminate.
Drinks: Storing your drinks on the door of your fridge is the most popular place. However, a better place is on the top shelf of your fridge. The door can be held open or improperly sealed if there’s too much weight on it.
The top shelf is an ideal place for a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, maybe a carton of juice, and a small pint of half and a half or coffee creamer.
Ideally, the door of your fridge should be used for condiments and other small containers.
Can a Fridge Stop Working If It’s Too Full?
Filling up your refrigerator too much can seriously damage your fridge’s ability to circulate air and eventually cause it to stop working. This is because your fridge will be working extra hard to circulate air.
When you overfill your fridge you run the risk of blocking the air vents which circulate the cool air around the interior. If the vents are blocked they won’t be able to operate completely.
Additionally, the fridge will need to work harder than is intended. As it tries to lower the temperature it will be unable to push out cold air into the fridge if the vents are jammed by groceries.
This can lead to your motor overworking and eventually breaking down. An overcrowded refrigerator puts a lot of unnecessary strain and wears on the motor which can be avoided so long as you regularly clear out your fridge.
Tips for cleaning and clearing your fridge
The best advice for cleaning out your fridge to prolong its lifespan is to do it regularly. As a way of determining a schedule for yourself, try to clean your fridge out before every trip to the grocer This will also help you avoid wasting food and plan your shopping trip.
You will also want to check on the build-up of water and decayed produce. This is usually found at the bottom of the fridge and can be a sign that your fridge’s cooling system is struggling.
Cleaning this up can help ease the work of the refrigerator’s motor and help prevent produce from rotting faster. Last, be sure to decrease the load of your fridge since this is a tell-tale sign that you have too much in there for your fridge to handle.
Does a Refrigerator Stay Colder When It’s Full?
The answer to this may surprise you, but yes indeed. A refrigerator does not need to work as much when there are items within it to help maintain the temperature of the fridge. Items that store the cold temperature by becoming cool themselves.
If a fridge is empty then there is nothing there to hold the coldness of the whole unit and keep it balanced.
One illustration of this is when you hold open a fridge door for an extended period of time. If you have an empty fridge the air escapes rather quickly and the motor must work extra hard to get the environment cool once again.
If you have items there then they hold the cold and the motor does not need to overwork to cool the space once more. But, this is true even when the fridge is not open.
These items prevent the fridge from overworking and actually freezing more fragile items (such as kale, greens, lettuce) while other more solid items struggle to reach the right temperature.
Does a Full Freezer Use More Energy?
Similarly to refrigerators, balance is the key to having your freezer function well. You do not want too much or too little in your freezer.
A properly filled freezer actually helps to keep the temperature regulated. An empty freezer is extremely hard to keep cool because there is nothing to hold the cold temperature.
Additionally, when your articles freeze they bring down the overall temperature of the freezer, and thus your motor does not need to work so hard.
One of the best ways you can help keep your freezer regulated so it does not waste so much energy is to add ice in your freezer. One of the best ways to do this is to add a carton of water or a plastic sealable bag
Likewise, if you put too much in your freezer it can negatively impact your freezer’s ability to stay cool.
An overfilled freezer can negatively impact the entire system and lead to a waste of electricity and energy. Freezers are actually an important factor in the function of the whole refrigerator.
If a freezer is too filled then it can block the coolant system’s vent and impact its ability to keep the items at a healthy temperature. The best way to prevent this is to maintain an evenly balanced freezer with some frozen water gallons/bags to alleviate the workload of the motor.