How do you really know if the light inside the fridge has really gone out when you close the door? I know that if you press the button and the light goes out, you are positive that the light is out when you close the door but can you really be sure? Could someone shed some light on this question?
Sure, there are 2 ways to tell:
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Crawl in there and pull the door closed behind you (with a name like insider i would think that you’ve tried this by now).
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Pick up one of those glow-in-the-dark thingies that ‘charges’ in light. Leave it in the dark until it no longer glows and throw it into the fridge and close the door. A couple of hours later, pull it out and stick it in your pocket as quickly as possible, hie to the nearest closet, close the door, and pull it out of your pocket. If you can’t see the doorknob, the light works as advertised.
For the record, mine doesn’t go off. When I told the complex manager, their first response was “How do you know?”
I know because the light bleeds up into the freezer when the fridge door is closed. Also, there’s not a great seal around the fridge (yes, they’re working on it, and I’m working on them. I just haven’t been able to convince them that I need a new fridge yet), and you can see the light at one corner, just a little, and only when the kitchen light is out.
The simplest way to tell is to drill a hole through the door and observe it directly.
I’ve got this digital camera that takes short movies.
I set it to record a video, put it in the fridge, and closed the door,
opened it, took the camera out, downloaded the memory to the computer, and watched the video. - Sure enough, when the door closes, it’s completely black.
The light in mine turns off when the door is about two inches away from being closed… probably more. That’s how I know 
You could also hook up some kind of electricty meter up to the power cord for the fridge. Open and close the done many times in rapid succession and note the change in power consumption that correlates perfectly with the opening and closing of the door (Before the motor starts again. You have to track that too of course).
(The above wasn’t a real suggestion but the question reminded me of the stuborn physics student that was asked the question: How could you use a pocket barometer to measure the height of a tall building? He gave about ten different answers like: Climb the side of the building marking it off in barometer lengths as you go, throw the barometer off of the top of the building and time it to see how long it takes to hit the sidewalk below, or something about using string to make the barometer into a really long pendulum)
The professor was furious that the brilliant student didn’t even give the simple answer of using the barometer as an altimeter at the top of the building that he failed him. However, the student later successfully argued for an ‘A’ because his answers were all feasible and technically correct and imaginative.
Mine is off because I can’t keep a bulb in the SOB.
I swear that damn 'fridge eats more lightbulbs than you’d believe.
That and the one over the stove.
BTW when you first open the refrigerator door, feel the bulb to see if its cold…simple!
Of course, Shagnasty, the right way to solve the problem is to find the building manager and trade him the barometer fr the answer.
[/hijack]
I’m reminded of the Cecil post where he blew up at the person asking why record sets with two disks had sides 1 and 3 together and 2 and 4… ah… that made me laugh…
The light is controlled on many refrigerators by a large button that closing the door depresses. Push the button. See what happens.
Failing a button, get something that will melt if left on a lit bulb for 10 minutes. A piece of wax or an ice cube. Place on bulb. Close door. Open door 10 minutes later. Carefully scrutinze results. Write to SDMB to explain that light really turned off.
Hijack:
How do you know the light goes off when you close the refrigerator door? You open the door and ask the elephant.
What? How do you get the elephant in the fridge in the first place?
Simple. Open the door, put in the elephant. Squish him a little, and close the door.
How do you know when an elephant was in your fridge? From the elephant tracks in the butter.
How do you put a giraffe in the fridge? Open the door, take out the elephant, put in the giraffe, and close the door.
But maybe, just maybe, it then comes back on again once the door is fully closed. And reverses the process when opening. You can’t be too careful with Evil Human Hating Technology.