Is it dangerous???

Question

I have just noticed within the last 10 minuits that my 7 year old fridge/freezer (refridgerator) is very hot (about half the temperature of a hot radiator) in places externally, though the freezer and fridge compartments appear to be operating normally inside. Living in UK, it's about 1 hour from my bedtime and although I have about £100 ($200) of fresh and frozen food inside, I am worried could it cause a fire or give of CFC gases. I have never noticed the side of this unit this hot and the product is constantly trying to keep cold because of the high heat from it's external cabinet. My partner does not want it to be switched off because of the value of the food inside. Please let me know if this is dangerous. Thanks.

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

It is nothing to worry about.

Don't quote me on this exactly - I think it is the heat pump which converts the hot air into cold air and displaces it through the radiator

Answer 3

IF  you are really concerned  that it's on the blink  you  could  always  switch  off  at night  and  as long  as  you keep freezer door  shut  as much as poss  and fridge  use  as  little  as poss  then it might  do the trick  ALSO  it  may  give  it  time  to settle  down  and  poss  rectify  it self

Answer 4

HyperDog is right.  Fridges are fail-safe.

If you can increase the ventilation to the room in any way, particularly to the area at the rear of the fridge, this will help dissipate the heat.  

Also, have you de-frosted the freezer recently?  If not, the fridge/freezer will have to work harder to keep the contents frozen - hence the heat.

Answer 5

It is normal for a refigerator to dispose of heat from more than just the condensor coils, so there's nothing to worry about.     Also, if it's a self-defrosting unit, it might be running the defrost cycle, and in some units, they turn on heaters to quickly melt ice from the evaporator coils, so they can get the defrosting job done quickly, before frozen food begins to melt.

If the refrigerator stays hot like that, and never shuts off, or only shuts off for very short periods, it's possible the self-defrosting system is broken, and in that case, you should bring in a refrigeration person.

In any case, even if there is something wrong with the refrigerator, virtually all appliances have safety mechanisms, most notably circuit breakers and fuses, to prevent any kind of catastrophic failures, fire, etc., so no worries!