How it Works
Combination refrigerator-freezers safely
store food at 37°F in the fridge section and 5°F in the freezer section. Some
units come with a built-in ice maker, instantly
producing ice cubes from a water line.
What Can Go Wrong?
Both units can suffer from temperature drop, causing rapid
discoloration and obvious smells from warming food products. This can be an
indicator of a thermostat problem (failure or improper setting), compressor
issue or fan failure.
Failure of the ice maker is
another common problem. Water may not be getting to the ice maker because of a
kinked or frozen fill tube, a bad tap valve or a defective solenoid. A
professional repair technician may be needed to diagnose and fix these
problems.
Environmental Impact
Newer refrigerator models are
built for superior energy efficiency: They use
about 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, producing about 760 pounds of carbon
dioxide (CO2)