Why Your Refrigerator is Getting Too Cold

In many cases, you don’t know if your refrigerator is “too cold,” but the good news is that if you don’t notice any symptoms, it really isn’t too cold. However, when you start noticing things like vegetables icing up or food on the top shelf frozen solid, then your refrigerator is indeed too cold and you may need refrigerator repair.

When you start noticing symptoms of a refrigerator that is too cold, the very first thing you should check is the temperature dial on the appliance. If it is set to a higher number or its coldest setting, you simply need to turn it down. Some people need a very cold refrigerator for a very narrow range of reasons, but most people do not. It is best to choose a middle or even a low setting to avoid freezing food. In most cases, this dial is turned to the coldest setting by accident.

But what about if the dial isn’t turned to the coldest setting?

If that first common and easily fixed issue checks out, many will find themselves at a loss on what to do next. The next suspect should be the damper. The cool air in your refrigerator actually comes from your freezer. While it is pushed in by a fan, that also requires a damper in your refrigerator to open and allow the cold air in. If that damper is malfunctioning in such a way that it is stuck open, the cold air will drift and settle in your refrigerator even without a fan to push it in.

The best-case scenario is that damper is just stuck with some ice or food particles. The worst-case scenario is that it is a true malfunction and you will simply need to replace it. This is an invasive repair, but relatively simple to do.