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Too Hot, Too Cold and Just Right: What to Do If Your Refrigerator Is Cooling Unevenly

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If your refrigerator is cooling unevenly, it can be frustrating, and some of your food may accidentally freeze or warm up and rot. Luckily, there are things you can do if your fridge is cooling unevenly. Take a look at these tips and troubleshooting ideas:

1. Check the temp.

If you suspect that your fridge is cooling unevenly, take the temperature in various spots of it. If you get different results, your fridge is cooling unevenly, and you need to take action using the some of the steps below.

If a thermometre tests indicates that your fridge is cooling evenly, the problem may not be with the fridge itself. Rather, the problem may be with the contents of your fridge, and you can solve that issue just by rearranging your fridge.

2. Rearrange your fridge.

Ideally, your fridge should be loaded relatively evenly. It should not have all of the food on one side or all of it located near the front or the back. If your food shows signs that your fridge is cooling unevenly, but your thermometre test doesn't indicate uneven cooling, rearranging the fridge may solve the problem.

3. Unblock the air vents.

It's also important to unblock your air vents. The position of air vents varies, but in many fridges, they are located near the produce drawers. Make sure that you don't have food blocking the air vents.

4. Check the seal around the damper.

Your fridge has a damper to control the flow of air in and out of the fridge. If the damper is not sealed correctly, it cannot do its job. Check the seals around your damper. This part is usually found near the top of your fridge, and it usually has a foam seal.

If the seal is broken, consider replacing the damper. It is a surprisingly easy fix. Basically, you remove the water filter and the light fixture. Then, you take out the old damper by removing a few screws. Finally, you fit in the new damper.

5. Check the external air vents.

In addition to checking the air vents inside the fridge, you should also check the air vents outside of the fridge. In particular, look at the return air vent. This is located outside your fridge, near the bottom in the back. If these vents are blocked, empty your fridge, unplug it and let everything defrost. That should allow air to flow more evenly throughout your fridge.

If none of these ideas helped you, contact a refrigerator repair person. They can check everything from your power supply, to your air damper, to your diffuser, and let you know exactly what the problem is.


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