How long does our new fridge need to settle for?

January 6, 2018 4:48 PM

Our new fridge arrived today. When we bought it, the salesperson told us to let it sit for 24 hours before plugging it in due to the extreme cold (around -20 celsius) we have been experiencing, to let it get back up to a normal temperature. However, the delivery person told us to let it sit for just 2 hours. We'd like to put some things in the fridge, but we don't want to mess up our new fridge or anything. Is the salesperson's advice excessive, or the delivery person's advice not cautious enough?
posted by synecdoche to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Did it sit outside in -20 for more than an hour or two? Honestly, I'd feel the back of it and if my hand didn't stick to the metal it I'd plug in in and use it. 99% of a fridge is designed to be cold and the parts that aren't are all on the bottom and the back. They shouldn't take much more than an hour or two to get up to temperature. Back in the day I used to keep laser printers and computers in the back of my truck all day in the freezing cold and plug them in as soon as I got to a customer's location. Maybe something in a fridge is different, but I doubt it.

I would trust a delivery person's advice over a sales person's advice any day.

Disclaimer: I am not a refrigerator engineer, nor am I your refrigerator engineer. I do, however, own a fridge and I live where it is often cold outside.
posted by bondcliff at 4:56 PM on January 6, 2018

The "let it settle" advice I've heard is not related to temperature; it's related to the unit being turned on its side, which can (apparently) cause the compressor oil to run up the coolant lines. It needs time to run back down into the compressor or you'll end up running the compressor "dry". The time needed is proportional to how long the fridge was on its side. The delivery person would know this, so I'd tend to go with their suggestion.
posted by smammy at 5:00 PM on January 6, 2018 [18 favorites]

Our local appliance company sometimes loads the trucks the night before so the delivery crew can start out early the next morning. In this type of weather, it's totally possible that your unit has been at subzero temperatures for a very long time.

I could see a situation where the compressor oil freezes up at -20C and might need some time to thaw out before operating. Looking at the manual for my own fridge, it says it's not designed to operate below 55F/12C ambient temperature.

I'd lean towards the 2 hours suggested by the delivery driver, but perhaps waiting overnight might be the best choice.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:34 PM on January 6, 2018

With the cost of a new fridge, I'd be tempted to err on the side of caution--especially if the fridge was at all cool/cold inside. Given the fridge is just a big cooler anyway, why can't you put stuff in with a bag of ice until tomorrow morning?
posted by BlueHorse at 6:11 PM on January 6, 2018 [15 favorites]

Yeah it's the compressor oil not being drained to the bottom that's the usual issue for waiting xx hours, even in the summer. But I'm sure the cold doesn't help, I'd err on the side of caution somewhere in between the two estimates if it's been vertical the whole time. Delivered on it's side and I'd say all 24h.
posted by TheAdamist at 6:15 PM on January 6, 2018 [4 favorites]

Even if the compressor oil didn't freeze solid per se, it may have become significantly more viscous in the cold temperatures and taken long to settle back down into the compressor after the fridge was turned back upright. I'd wait.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:18 PM on January 6, 2018 [4 favorites]

bondcliff: "Maybe something in a fridge is different, but I doubt it."

A fridge uses a single weight oil that turns to molasses or worse when it gets cold. If the fridge has been sitting outside or in an unheated space for a few hours then best practice would be to wait for the fridge to warm up to operating temperature.

PS: the let it settle thing (barring extreme cold and that isn't really about settling) is mostly an old wives tale). 20 minutes is more than enough time unless you've turned the fridge up side down or something. Also a fridge should when ever possible be transported standing up. When transported on their sides one risks stretching/breaking the suspension springs inside the hermetic unit causing shudder or clunking on start/stop.
posted by Mitheral at 10:10 PM on January 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

If it is so cold outside that you are being asked to let your frig settle for whatever reason and you want to start using it asap, when my frig broke one winter during the two days it took to get the right repair person to appear, we used our garage for frozen food and a closed cooler in the garage for stuff we wanted to be cold but not freeze.

If it is not cold outside and this recommendation was for some other reason, I would probably wait twice as long as the delivery guy suggested so 4 hours. Waiting the full 24 seems like overkill to this person who has owned 8 different refrigerators over the course of home rental and home ownership.
posted by AugustWest at 12:31 AM on January 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've seen 24 hour settling periods for fridges that have experienced non-uprightness recommended in refrigerator users' manuals. Yes, this is probably conservative. Personally, I'm all in favour of conservative when it comes to expensive appliances.

Yes, the interior of a fridge is supposed to be cold. No, the compressor assembly is not.
posted by flabdablet at 4:33 AM on January 7, 2018 [2 favorites]