Looking for the best selling refrigerator in India from a reliable brand? Well, refrigerators, being essential, long time investments, can’t be purchased only by judging their looks and capacity. You need to consider the storage capacity, height, power consumption, your lifestyle and food habits for home improvement, etc.
However, post-purchase comes proper maintenance. To ensure that your fridge’s efficiency continues for years, you as a consumer should be aware of certain essential things about the appliance.
Take a look at the 5 most important facts about your refrigerator.
- Maintaining the correct temperature:
Setting the correct temperature of a refrigerator is essential to prevent yourself from foodborne diseases.
Harmful bacteria can double in every 20 minutes when food is kept at room temperature. Therefore, maintaining proper temperature to chill foods can significantly lower this bacterial growth.
What’s the ideal range?
The standard range is between 35 and 38° F. Remember, a temperature beyond 40° is unsafe as foods stored becomes vulnerable to harmful bacterial growth. The refrigerator freezer should be set at 0° or below.
**Tip: Make changes in your fridge’s temperature slowly. Do it by one increment every 24 hours, till you set the correct range.
- Ensuring food safety:
Besides the fridge’s temperature, you can take some other steps to ensure the safety of the stored foods.
- Always keep the foods covered. You can either use sealed storage bags or covered containers.
- The fridge freezer always functions better when full. If it isn’t, you can store water-filled plastic bottles in it.
- Do not overpack. Foods remain properly chilled only when the cold air inside the refrigerator gets space to circulate.
- Do check for leftovers regularly to avoid spoilage. Also, wipe up all stains and spills instantly to control the Listeria bacteria growth and prevent cross-contamination.
- Foods left for marinating should always be refrigerated; or else, bacteria multiply rapidly when kept at room temperature.
- Create your own cleaning schedule from Day 1, even if it’s a new fridge.
- Functioning of the crisper drawers:
You must be wondering – what’s there to talk about crisper drawers, aren’t you?
Well, science says, correct usage of the crisper drawers can help you preserve food items for long.
For fridges with 2 drawers, designate one for low humidity and the other for high humidity. Use the former for storing fruits, leaving its vent almost open (or else, ethylene gas can build up). Store vegetables (except mushrooms) in the latter, leaving its vent slightly open.
**Tip: For your convenience, label the drawers (and other storage compartments too) to make your work easier.
- Is your new fridge running efficiently?
Although it’s new, certain frequent checks are essential to ensure, the appliance is running efficiently.
- Is the door seal releasing cold air
- Has it become weak?
- Have you vacuumed condenser coils? If not, make it a habit of vacuuming periodically.
- Check ratings to save on electricity bills:
In case you aren’t aware of, the energy ratings on refrigerators indicate the appliance’s energy consumption capacity. Although today’s fridges are designed for functioning on low energy, you must always check on the ratings. The equation is – more the rating, lesser is the energy consumption.
So, if you buy a 5-star rating refrigerator, you would save the most on your electricity bills.
With the above-mentioned points, you can ensure to have a proper functioning refrigerator for years. Now, as you’re to purchase a new one, here’s something for you.
Purchase the latest fridge from the best brands with up to 100% EMI financing from Bajaj Finserv. Again, you might already have a customized loan offer to shop refrigerators. You may be eligible for a pre-approved loan offer to shop for top refrigerators on EMI.