Refrigerator not cooling: repair costs and what the technician needs

Keep the doors closed. A refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours, and a full freezer keeps its temperature for about 48 hours. Throw out food that has reached 40 degrees or higher.¹

The figures here are published national ranges from cost guides. They aren't quotes. Each one is a range at least two independent cost guides agree on.

The refrigerator and freezer ranges are for a typical repair. A new compressor is priced on its own. Ask whether the service call is part of the repair price or charged on top. A refrigerator's ice maker is priced in What dishwasher, garbage disposal and ice maker repairs cost.

The compressor and the refrigerant lines are part of the sealed system. Opening it has a federal rule of its own, the same in every state.

A technician who opens the sealed refrigerant system of a household refrigerator or freezer, for example by attaching hoses and gauges, adding or removing refrigerant, adding or removing components or cutting the refrigerant line, needs EPA Section 608 Type I (small appliances) or Universal certification when the fridge uses an ozone-depleting refrigerant or a non-exempt substitute such as an HFC. Fridges and freezers made with isobutane (R-600a), propane (R-290) or R-441A are exempt from these rules. Certification belongs to the technician and doesn't expire. Work that doesn't open the refrigerant circuit, such as rewiring an external electrical circuit, doesn't need it.^10-12

EPA doesn't issue the certification cards. The organization that gave the technician the test issues the card and keeps a record of it.^12-13 If the repair means opening the sealed system, you can ask the technician to show you the card.

• A freezer's compressor, or a refrigerator's evaporator fan motor. Only one cost guide prices each.
• Prices by symptom. Cost guides price a repair by the appliance and by the part, not by what the fridge is doing, so these ranges aren't a diagnosis.
• Prices by brand.
• Emergency and after-hours visits. Only one cost guide prices them. Ask the company what it adds for an evening or weekend visit.

• Ask for a written estimate before the work starts. Some states require one, and Your right to a written estimate before an appliance repair lists them.
• Ask which license or registration the company holds, where your state or city has one. How to check an appliance repair company has each state's rule.
• What appliance repair costs has the ranges for every appliance.

Each company on this site is listed with its phone number where it has one, so you can call two or three and compare. You can also send a request through the request form.