The apartment I’m in at the moment has a bar fridge which I have to use for general use. The fridge temperature is fine with the thermostat set halfway, but the freezer is not cold enough to keep frozen goods. If I turn the thermostat to max the freezer gets just about cold enough, but then the entire fridge is too cold. Is it possible to get the freezer compartment freezing nicely without making the whole fridge too cold? (the freezer compartment is within the fridge and opens with a flap)
Those are really meant for ice packs or ice cubes and not much else, i.e. higher freezing-point things with high water content. If setting the fridge to colder makes everything freeze around the edges, there’s not much else you can do. Is that what you mean by too cold? If the fridge portion isn’t making things freeze, then it’s not too cold. If you have any extra money and space, you could consider a small freezer-only that could stack on top or under the current fridge, they start around $150.
The cooling coils surround the freezer compartment, and cold air flows from the freezer down, plus some cold comes directly from the bottom of those coils to cool the fridge compartment. If you put something insulating just below the cooling coils, it should keep the freezer compartment colder relative to the fridge. Something like a sheet of cardboard should work.
Assuming the thermostat is in the fridge compartment, you’d set it to make the fridge be as cold as you can tolerate it, then add cardboard to make the freezer be colder. You might have to experiment a bit to get the right balance. Not sure if you’d be able to tape it in place. You might need to just set it on something like cans of pop on the top fridge shelf.
Correct, everything in the fridge gets icey around the edges. At the moment don’t have the space or cash ;(
Cool (no pun), I’ll try that.
If the cardboard doesn’t work, try padding it with something a bit more insulating, like a piece of an old winter coat, or one of those space blankets, or whatever.
I wouldn’t go round the sides, though, or your fridge might not get cold enough.
using 1/2" or 1" rigid insulation around the freezer could work and it stays in place easy and doesn’t deteriorate.
Feedback: The cardboard seems to be working a treat. I’ve got the thermostat a bit below max, and the freezer is proper cold. The fridge is rather chilly, but contents are not icing. I’ll experiment with some additional insulation materials as suggested so I don’t have to have the thermostat set so high. Thanks everyone!