I was monitoring my fridge temperature using a basic dual mode thermometer [broken link removed] with the probe measuring the temperature inside the fridge itself. The thermometer displays the current inside and outside temperatures and also stores the min/max reached since last reset. I found that the fridge temperature (with the fridge set at about 5 on its control knob) could vary between -1.7C and 5C. I realise that opening the door will affect temperature but is such a variance normal with a domestic fridge?
Anybody ever monitored their fridge temperature?
- Thread starter ClubMan
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Guest111
Guest
I'd imagine with the door open the air in the fridge would easily reach 5 degrees, given room temperature is about 20.
-1.7 sound about right.
-1.7 sound about right.
[broken link removed] fridge temperature should ideally be between 0-5C. It certainly should be above freezing anyway. I guess opening the door every so often just means that the temperature range will vary quite a bit. I think I need to adjust it so that it at least stays above 0! Everything froze over Xmas when we were away for the best part of two weeks and the door remained shut! 
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Guest111
Guest
Yeah, I think the problem is that although they all seem to have gauges with a 1-6 the effect varies greatly. I've a Whirlpool fridge and 4 works for me...well I haven't died yet! Although bottles of Miller and salsa tend not to go off anyways
Yeah - it was more curiosity than anything else that prompted me to check. None of us has been poisoned - yet! The dial goes from 1-8 and 4-5 seems to be the best setting obviously depending on outside/environmental temperature. Just that I turned it up a notch or so when we were storing the turkey and ham for the mother in law before Xmas and forgot to turn it back down and everything froze while we were away!
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Guest111
Guest
Yeah - it was more curiosity than anything else that prompted me to check. None of us has been poisoned - yet! The dial goes from 1-8 and 4-5 seems to be the best setting obviously depending on outside/environmental temperature. Just that I turned it up a notch or so when we were storing the turkey and ham for the mother in law before Xmas and forgot to turn it back down and everything froze while we were away!
Subtle attempts to give your mother-in-law food poisoning...crude, difficult to trace. I like it!
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cochese
Guest
Clubman, I trust you just put the probe inside the fridge and kept the display unit outside of the fridge so you could read it without opening the door. Please also note the accuracy of your thermometer is plus or minus up to two degrees therefore your thermometer could read anywhere between three and seven degrees when the actual temperature is five degrees. I'm not an expert on fridges but do check the temperature periodically using a thermometer similar to yours and once a year using a calibrated one I borrow from my job. Obviously my main concern is food safety but if one considers that their fridge/freezer is plugged in day and night for years then having it too cold can considerably increase the running costs. The variation in temperature that you got is presumably to do with the thermostat within the fridge which cuts out when the fridge reaches the desired temperature and then kicks in again when it goes above a set temperature. +4c is correct for a fridge and approx -16 to -18c for a freezer.
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Yes.
It's not the actual model linked above but I suspect that the +/- 2 degrees accuracy may apply to the one that I have too based on playing around with it elsewhere.
Thanks - that all makes sense alright.
Anybody else who is a sad as me and wants to monitor their fridge temperature might be interested in [broken link removed] this Thursday (1st Feb 2007). The website doesn't mention it but the brochure says that it is a dual mode thermometer with a separate "external" probe.
The best way to monitor a fridge compartments temperature is to immerse a probe in a solution (i.e. alcohol, so it won't freeze) adn monitor the solution temperature, then there is no issue with other people opening the fridge at any time altering the temperature.
This method gives the best possible indication as to the temperature of items being stored in the fridge adn not the air in the fridge.
Also if you wanted to be very picky you could check the temperaturre at different possitions i.e top shelf front, top shelf back, middle shelf front and so on.
This should be done over 3 days to get a good idea of each setting
To check the different settings the fridge should be left for 2 days to acclimatise befroe taking any readings.
But maybe this is over kill........................
This method gives the best possible indication as to the temperature of items being stored in the fridge adn not the air in the fridge.
Also if you wanted to be very picky you could check the temperaturre at different possitions i.e top shelf front, top shelf back, middle shelf front and so on.
This should be done over 3 days to get a good idea of each setting
To check the different settings the fridge should be left for 2 days to acclimatise befroe taking any readings.
But maybe this is over kill........................
Yes. So I'll probably do it!
Z
z107
Guest
The more stuff you have in a fridge, the more efficient it is (not less)
It's harder to cool air than solid stuff.
In fridges, you don't want to stop the cold air from circulating, but having it full is beneficial.
When you open a fridge door cold air will escape and be replaced by warm air. If you have cold food or "goods" in the fridge these can't escape and will help regulate the temp within the fridge when the door is closed again.
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/refrigerators.html
also some interesting reading...
[broken link removed]
In my house they just keep escaping.... just when you think you won't need to go shopping again for a few days, you open the fridge and NOTHING there!!
Did you omit a link there? I'm interested in having a dual probe indoor/outdoor thermometer with a min/max memory and I like the "ice alert" feature on the Lidl one. And I'm a sucker for useless gadgets. Or as my sister says - "typical man..."
Sorry about that. [broken link removed].