Refrigerator - Adjusting Temperature Controls

At initial startup both the fresh food and freezer controls should be set at the normal settings or mid point settings. Temperature controls can be found in the back of the fresh food compartment, near the top of the fresh food compartment or on the exterior dispenser control panel.

 

Normal Temperature Settings

  • Models with two controls - Normal settings would be 5 and C or 5 and 5.
  • Models with a single control - Normal setting would be 5 or mid-point on the dial.
  • Models with electronic controls - Normal settings would be 0 and 37.
 

Wait 24 hours for the temperature to stabilize after initial start-up or after making an adjustment. Then, you can check the temperature in each compartment. At this point additional adjustments may be made, if needed.

 

In times where there is a high food load in the fridge, such as holidays, or during the hotter Summer months, you may find it more effective to turn up the controls to make the entire refrigerator colder. You will find the best settings to suit your needs through experimentation.

 

Bottom Freezer Controls

  • Fresh Food Controls: The freezer supplies cold air to both compartments. Cold air is circulated from the freezer to the fresh food compartment via a damper. The fresh food control regulates the damper between the two compartments by controlling the amount of cold air that flows into the fresh food compartment.
  • Freezer Controls: The higher the setting, the longer the compressor runs and as a result the colder both sections become. The freezer setting determines the compressor and freezer fan running times.
  • On models where you press the Fridge or Freezer pad to adjust the temperature (does not have separate up and down selections), the temperature adjustment only goes in one direction. When you keep pressing the Fridge or Freezer pad, the temperature setting will go up until it reaches the maximum limit and then starts over at the lowest limit.
 

This video demonstrates how to use the temperature controls on French Door refrigerators for temperature settings:

 

French Door Refrigerator Temperature Controls

 

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Side-by-Side (Prior to 1995) and Top Mount Controls

  • Freezer Controls: The freezer supplies cold air to both compartments. Cold air is circulated from the freezer to the fresh food compartment via a damper. The freezer control regulates the damper between the two compartments by controlling the amount of cold air that flows into the fresh food compartment.
  • Fresh Food Controls: The fresh food control regulates how long the compressor runs, and in effect, how cold both compartments can become.
 

A normal fresh food temperature range should be roughly between 32°F and 45°F and between -5°F and +8°F in the freezer section. You generally want to keep the refrigerator around 37°F and 0°F.

 

These models have a fresh food and freezer control where you set "5 and C" or "5 and 5", or even a point between 0 (Off) and 9. These set points control the run time and air flow through the two sections, as described above.  Keeping the control at the midpoint keeps the compartments near the "ideal" temperature; however, they do not equate to an exact temperature. Factors like food load, door openings, temperature of the room, and more can affect the temperature inside the refrigerator.

 

This video shows how to adjust the temperature controls on Top Mount refrigerators:

 

Temperature Controls - Top Mount Refrigerators

 

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How to Adjust Dual Temperature Refrigerator Controls

 

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Side-by-Side (After 1995) and Monogram Controls

  • Fresh Food Controls: The freezer supplies cold air to both compartments. Cold air is circulated from the freezer to the fresh food compartment via a damper. The fresh food control regulates the damper between the two compartments by controlling the amount of cold air that flows into the fresh food compartment.
  • Freezer Controls: The higher the setting, the longer the compressor runs and as a result the colder both sections become. The freezer setting determines the compressor and freezer fan running times. Turning the freezer control to OFF shuts off the compressor and consequently shuts off cooling in both the fresh food and freezer compartments.
  • Note: These are the models with numbered controls. On single control models, insert a coin into the slot in the middle of the dial and adjust the control.

This video shows how to adjust the temperature controls on Side-by-Side refrigerators:

 

Adjusting Side-by-Side Refrigerator Temp Controls - Actual Temp

 

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The simplest way to determine which control determines how long the compressor will run, and in effect, how cold the entire refrigerator can become, is to look for the control with the OFF indicator on the control.

 

Additional Appliance Support

Visit our GE Appliances Video Gallery to view short videos on setting the temperature controls for your style of refrigerator. The Video Gallery has maintenance and support videos available for many of our appliance products. Simply select an appliance category or style to see all that we have to offer.