Why isn't my new fridge cold enough?

[Ghostlyglow]

I got it last week because my old one broke, which was bad enough. This new one: the freezer is fine well maybe even too cold because it looks like it snowed in there! But the fridge, particularly at the top seems barely above room temperature. Has anyone any experience of this and knows what to do? I've tried contacting ao, who I got it from and the manufacturer but obviously it's Bank Holiday weekend. 🙄

Mine has a dial that goes 1 - 6 and controls the temperature. Have you had a good look in the fridge to see if there's one?

Have you set the temperature?

You might have read the temp dial the wrong way round so try to turn it all the way the opposite way. Come back in a few hours to check if it’s colder.

What are the settings set to? Your freezer should not be icing over.

Have you read the instructions to work out which number the dial should be set to?

Mine's digital but I do have to adjust the temp in the summer.

Yes the temp dial is right. It was set to coldest to chill it down because it was new. I was just hoping the fridge would get colder too. I've given it a few days but doesn't seem to be happening.

Have you checked the manual though? Because if the freezer is working as it should but the fridge isn’t cold then it’s likely the dial is on the highest rather than lowest setting.

(Only double checking that you’ve actually checked the manual as dials aren’t calibrated the same way in all fridges)

And if you have checked the manual and the dial is definitely set correctly, then I’d buy a cheap little fridge thermometer to get a hopefully correct reading, and if it’s not cold I’d be calling up and getting another fridge sent out.

I was going to say, my fridge dial is 1-6 but the higher the number it is, the colder it is. Its not like a temperature dial, but a "how much refrigeration" dial, so if you want more refrigeration, you turn it up not down. Are there actual degrees on your dial or just numbers?

It actually says cold and colder. With numbers that go up to 7. It's on 6 now. I think it's not right but bank hol weekend means no reply/answerphone when I ring . Honestly, my life is going through one of those anything that can go wrong will go wrong phases at the moment!

Do you have a fridge thermometer? The reason I ask as I don’t think mine feels super cold but it’s apparently cold enough.

Are drinks that are stored in the fridge cold or room temp when they come out?

I don't have one, no. Drinks don't seem cold enough, certainly not as cold as old fridge.

The top of the fridge won’t be all that cold. It never is.

Meat and poultry on the bottom shelf, veg and salads in the drawer(s).
Ham cheese pâté milk etc in the lower half of the fridge, drinks, jars etc towards the top.

I had one like this. The fridge was fucked, but it took ages to convince them. Meanwhile my milk and cream and similar went off :(.

What brand is it?

Really? Is that how they are now. There's a wine rack at the top but I feel like I need to put wine in the freezer for 30 mins to chill it properly

Ugh how annoying if it’s actually fucked, though! Maybe get yourself a thermometer to at least accurately gauge how warm/cold it is, as you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that it’s faulty.

General temp advised for serving white wine is between 7-12 degrees, so you might just used to having it a lot colder than that?

Maybe check temp at bottom, middle and top, over several days?

It's Hisense. Never heard of them before but price was reasonable I wanted one quick and ao could do next day delivery.
Buy cheap buy twice possibly

I haven't read bad reviews about them ...

I do think that checking the temperature will help. I did this and reported back and eventually got a replacement.

Maybe turn it off and leave it for 24 hours ? Sometimes the refrigerant needs to settle.

You need to get a thermometer and measure the actual temperatures at the top, middle and bottom of the fridge. Then adjust the temperature control, leave it for a few hours and measure again. Continue until you have some representative data for high, medium & low settings, then if there is a problem you can send your data to the manufacturer.

Yes, I’m a nerd .

I can't turn it off. I've already lost 1 fridge freezer full of stuff when the old one broke last week. Oh well, there are people with far worse problems

All these suggestions to buy a thermometer 🙄

Adults can generally tell if a fridge is cold or not. I believe you OP.

Have you got a meat thermometer? You could change tack and check whatever raw meats you’re going to use each day for dinner this week - take it out, check internal temp straightaway. That will at least give you an idea of whether it’s keeping your meat at a safe temp.

Yes, because the shop is just going to take a fridge back without any evidence of whether or not it’s actually faulty. 🙄🙄