Temperature Control

Evaporator Coils and Fan

The evaporator coils absorb heat from the freezer section of your refrigerator. The evaporator fan moves the cold air around to both the freezer and refrigerator sections.

Freezer Control

Some of the freezing cold air from the freezer section is diverted down to the refrigerator section. The air diverter control is usually called the freezer temperature control. Warm air from the top of the refrigerator section is drawn into the evaporator coils by the evaporator fan, cooled down and a portion is pushed back down into the back of the refrigerator via the diverter control. Therefore the coldest spot in your refrigerator may be the top shelf, all the way to the back - good place to put the milk. The warmest spot is the top shelf in the door - good place for the butter or margarine.

Refrigerator Thermostat

Balancing the Controls

Why does this refrigerator run all of the time?

The refrigerators of decades ago would fire up their compressors with a loud snarl and dimming of the lights. After running for a half an hour or so they would shut down and be noticeably quite only to repeat the whole scene in 10 or 20 minutes. This was the way refrigerators were supposed to run.

Now days our new refrigerators come on quietly but it seems like they are running all the time. Is there something wrong? No, the compressors are small, the coils are large and the Styrofoam insulation is thick so the machine is more efficient. When the compressor is running, the inside temperatures are not only constant - they are consistent throughout the refrigerator and freezer sections. So keep the condensor coils clean and don't worry about the refrigerator running all the time.