Island Answers
Should I Leave It Running All Winter in an Empty House?
No — not in a house nobody will be in. A unit left running through storm season works until the power goes, and then warms with a full load inside and no one to see it. Shut it down instead, the way the guides set out. Driftwood Appliance Service, (206) 785-2960.
What an outage does to a running unit
A running unit is only as safe as the power behind it. When a winter line comes down in January the cabinet holds its cold for a few hours, then warms with a full load inside, and nobody is there to read a thermometer or decide about the food.
What the returning owner finds
Weeks later the power is back and the unit is running again, so the panel reads normal. What happened in between is in the compartments, not on the display. An empty, switched-off cabinet has nothing in it to go through that.
Switching it off, and what that involves
Off, emptied, and left open enough that the cabinet dries rather than sitting damp. The whole closing-up order is written out under Older-Unit Care rather than repeated here.
If it has to keep running
Perishables out, ice maker stopped, and someone looking in with a thermometer; the FDA’s marks are 40°F or below for the refrigerator and 0°F or below for the freezer.
- Written by
- Bjorn Aaltonen
- Trade
- Refrigeration technician, 15 yrs
- Holds
- EPA 608 certified
- Dated
