Temperature Range Inside Refrigerator?

16 years ago

What is the typical difference in temperature between the lower part of a refrigerator and the upper part?

I started measuring temperature at different points in my refrigerator, using an electronic thermometer with two probes (that I verfied read within 1.5 degrees of each other when side by side).

This is Frigidaire Gallery side by side, maybe 10 years old. It is pretty full, but not crammed tight.

It is 37-38F on the top shelf of my refrigerator when it is 29-30F at the rear of the bottom shelf (that is, the shelf right above the veg/meat drawers).

That makes me rather unhappy. Is it normal? I've always read that refrigerators are warmer up high than down low, and that very full refrigerators have greater temperature variation, but I didn't think the range was that great.

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Comments (4)

mcmann
16 years ago
The preferred way to measure the temperature inside the refrigerator is to put a thermometer inside a glass or jug of water. Wait a few hours until the water has time to reach the same temperature as the refrigerator- then read the temperature. That way you aren't dealing with temperature changes due to opening the door.

If the temperature really is 29-30 at the rear you'll have frozen lettuce and celery, anything with a high moisture content will freeze easily. You could even have thin ice form on the top of beverages.

The temperature does vary. My old SubZero is coldest on the top shelf. It depends on how the air is circulated. Where are the air baffles located on yours?
John Liu
Original Author
16 years ago
I will try that. I'm not sure I should immerse my temp probes, will have to get a regular thermometer. My probes are wired to the readout outside the door, so I'm not getting "open door" readings. I'm not sure where the air baffles are, but will look. Yeah, I have been getting frozen lettuce, that's what started me checking on this. Looks like I should be keeping veg up high and meats down low, but both drawers are down low. The good part, stuff seems to keep for a good long while in there, the bad part, the texture suffers.
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mcmann
16 years ago
John- sorry I didn't realize that you weren't opening the door to read the temperature. A temperature range of 7 to 9 degrees is too great. Have you tried to change the temperature by one to two degrees? If you do that does the temp in the upper area go above 40?

GE replaced my side by side at our vacation house under the extended warranty because we were having trouble getting a consistent temperature in the refrigerator compartment. The temp varied between 34 and 40 and we had to throw out the food on two occasions. The repairman explained that the refrigerator gets it's cold air from the freezer. In most side by side units there are small vents or baffles on the interior wall between the freezer and fridge that open and close to regulate the temp in the fridge. Usually the coldest part would be closest to the baffles.

Initially he thought the baffle wasn't opening properly so he replaced it. When that failed a different GE tech admitted that GE changed the design of this SxS and added a second baffle to help maintain a consistent temp throughout the fridge. I was lucky I could replace mine under the warranty.

If your refrigerator was working properly before then the problem might be the baffle.
3katz4me
16 years ago
I think it also makes a difference if the fridge is quite full and you are blocking the baffle.