Scary and New: Cleaning my Fridge Coils

Today I did something I've never done before. To be perfectly honest, it was a bit scary, though I don't know why I should be nervous over something so trivial. But trying new things is always a bit scary. Especially when it involves what lurks underneath your refrigerator.

I've read in several sources that cleaning the coils of your fridge two times a year can help your fridge run 6% more efficiently. More if it's really dirty.

Years lived in this apartment: four. Number of times I've cleaned the fridge coils: zero. I have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with whatever is under my fridge. I don't try to figure out what's under there, and whatever is under there pretty much keeps to itself. It's an arrangement that works for both of us.

But that all changed today when I found an opportunity to save energy. Here's how to clean the coils under your fridge:

1. Switch off the power to your fridge
This is just a precaution since you're messing with its inner workings. Don't bother taking out all of the food - it will only be unplugged for 20 minutes or so.

If you can pull the plug, great. Mine is inconveniently located in the back, so I opted to use the circuit breaker. Now there's another thing that I haven't touched in four years. For instance, I didn't know that I have a "garbulator" (Canadian for garbage disposal, I think?). And why is my dishwasher circuit locked into place?

Whatever. I flicked the fridge switch and went to verify that the lights in the fridge were off. It worked!

2. Take out the kick plate
I double checked my fridge manual to figure out how to get the kick plate out. Mine just pulls out when I yank on it, which was nice. On inspection, even the kick plate itself was coated in dusty goo, so I knew that had to be a bad sign for what was to come.

3. Scream in horror
::Cringes:: This is pretty gross. I'm wishing a bit I could go back to my "ignore it, and it doesn't really exist" policy. Not only are there dust bunnies everywhere, but there's a build-up of gunk and residue all over the springs and tubes in there. I'm not sure which are the coils, but I'm certain everything needs cleaning.

4. Vacuum with your "skinny" attachment
Screaming completed, and neighbors subsequently mollified, I grabbed the vacuum and put on the skinniest attachment I had. This is a small area we're talking about. I did as much vacuuming as I could and was able to suck out a lot of the dust. I couldn't get a lot of the caked-on grossness though.

5. Clean with dish soap and water
If it's really caked on, like with mine, you may need to get down there with a rag and some dish soap to get it squeaky clean. This was an absolute must in my case. Here's a shot of it starting to look a little better.

6. Put the kickplate back on
I admit it. This took me twice as long as the entire rest of the exercise. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to fit it back onto the fridge. It turned out that I had to open both my fridge and freezer doors to slide it on, and once I did that, it fit quite handily.

7. Turn the power back on
Flick! Lights? Check.

8. Do the happy-energy-saving dance!
For those of you not in the know, this dance looks something like the Cabbage Patch and is an important part of the process.

Seriously, cool! I did something I've never done before. And it won't be hard or scary next time.

By doing this regularly, my fridge will run about 6% more efficiently. I estimate my fridge uses about 700 kwh/year, so I'm saving 42kwh/year. That's enough energy to power a standard CFL lightbulb for 125 days.

Carbon saved? 40 pounds, or about the same amount as if I'd planted a seedling tree and let it grow for 10 years.

It's a small change, but one that took very little of my time. Give it a shot in your own home!

Comments

[Living green For Life]

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[Bellen]

Great post, great pictures and good for you.
Now that the bottom's done, is it possible to pull out the fridge and clean behind and under it? Ours has glides and once a year we pull & clean (even grosser than the coils the first time).

[Julie]

Funny and useful! Thanks!

[Ask Prof. Cricket]

Hi,

I also live in an apartment AND I just cleaned behind my refrigerator. I didn't remove anything though, unless it was already missing. I did some vacuuming too.

I have an environmental blog, Ask Prof. Cricket.

http://ask-cricket.blogspot.com/2008/07/save-energy-clean-behind-your.html