FridgeNot Cooling?
Your groceries are on a clock. A closed fridge keeps food safe for about four hours after it stops cooling. Most causes are fixable — but the wrong diagnosis on a fridge is the expensive kind of wrong. Here's what's likely happening and why proper diagnosis matters more than usual on this one.
What's probably wrong
A fridge that stops cooling almost always points to one of six things: dust-clogged condenser coils, a failed evaporator fan, a defrost system fault, a door seal leak, a drifted thermostat or sensor, or a damper / control board issue.
What makes fridge diagnosis tricky is that several of these have overlapping symptoms. A “not cooling” description over the phone narrows it to maybe three possibilities. A real diagnosis takes ten to fifteen minutes for a tech who’s seen the failure mode before — and on a fridge, getting the diagnosis right matters more than usual because the wrong repair on a sealed-system fault can cost more than a new fridge.
The most common causes
Ranked by how often we see each one. The diagnostic that actually matters isn’t a guess from a list — it’s a tech listening to your machine, looking at the install, and checking the right things in the right order. But it’s useful to know what’s on the menu.
Dust-Clogged Condenser Coils
The coils at the back or underneath shed heat. When they cake with dust and pet hair, the system can’t lose heat — so it can’t cool. The fridge runs constantly, food gets warmer. Often a fix that doesn't need any parts at all.
Failed Evaporator Fan
The fan inside the freezer compartment moves cold air from the freezer evaporator into the fridge section. When it fails, the freezer often stays cold but the fridge warms up because air isn't circulating across.
Defrost System Failure
Modern fridges run a defrost cycle a few times a day to melt frost off the evaporator coil. When the defrost timer, heater, or thermostat fails, ice builds up on the evaporator. Eventually it blocks airflow and the fridge stops cooling.
Door Seal / Gasket Failure
A torn or warped door gasket lets cold air leak out and warm air in. The fridge runs far more often than it should but never quite catches up. The cabinet feels warmer than the setpoint.
Thermostat or Temperature Sensor
The fridge decides how hard to work based on what its sensor reports. A thermistor reading a few degrees off, or a mechanical thermostat that has drifted with age, will hold the cabinet at the wrong temperature while insisting everything is fine. It is a small part with an outsized effect, and it is easy to confirm with a proper reading rather than a guess.
Damper or Control Board
The damper between freezer and fridge can stick closed; the main control board can send wrong signals to the fans or the defrost system. Both require a tech to diagnose properly because the symptoms overlap with the simpler causes.
Before you call
Before you book the call, a few things worth ruling out — quick wins if any of them apply, and a faster diagnosis if none of them do:
Open the door — is the interior light on? If no, check the wall plug and the breaker. Some fridges share a circuit with a counter outlet that a kettle can trip.
It happens more than you'd think — the dial got bumped. Confirm the fridge is set to mid-range (3–5 on a 1–9 dial, or about 4°C digital) and the freezer is around -18°C.
Stand near the fridge for thirty seconds. Total silence means a power or control issue. A constant hum with no cooling points toward airflow — a blocked evaporator or a failed fan. Either way, the tech wants to know.
Save what you can while you wait. Calgary garages are useful freezers from November to March.
Why a real diagnosis matters
Fridge repair is one of the easier places to lose money on a wrong diagnosis. An evaporator fan failure, a defrost fault, a drifted sensor and a dust-choked condenser can all look identical from inside the fridge, and they are four different repairs at four different prices. Working out which one it is, before anyone buys a part, is most of the job.
A blocked evaporator and a failed fan motor produce the same warm cabinet, and so does a sensor reading a few degrees off. A few minutes of proper testing tells them apart.
If it’s just dust on the back coils, you don’t need a $500 repair. We tell you and we don’t bill a full diagnosis for it.
A defrost cycle that’s running too rarely (or stuck on) shows specific patterns. Most people assume the worst when it’s really a $40 timer.
Sometimes the honest answer is that the appliance has reached the end and a repair isn’t the right spend. We say so, and we don’t charge a full diagnosis for the bad-news visit.
What the repair typically costs
Kodiak quotes labour as a flat rate per repair type, after diagnosis but before any work begins. Parts are quoted separately on your invoice. Typical labour ranges:
Condenser coil cleanout, door seal alignment, defrost cycle reset — labour starts from $220. No parts needed.
Evaporator fan replacement, defrost heater or thermostat, damper assembly — labour typically falls in the $220–$350 range. Parts are quoted separately — fridge parts vary widely by brand and model (here's why).
Applied toward the repair if you proceed.
Your firm quote comes from your tech after diagnosis, before any work begins. You approve before we touch anything. Full pricing details.
Ready when you are
Kodiak Appliance Repair covers Calgary and area. Send us the details, or call with a question — we pick up.
More resources
Fridge Repair Calgary
Main fridge service page — all brands, all symptoms, full pricing.
Is It Worth Repairing?
Repair-vs-replace economics, especially relevant for fridges.
Find Your Model Number
The first piece of info any tech asks for.
Why Parts Pricing Is Wild
Why a fridge part for one model is $80 and the same part for another is $300.
Honest, flat-rate appliance repair in Calgary and area. Run by a working tech who wants to do it right.