Should you unplug your fridge when going on vacation? The right answer depends on how long you will be away, what is in the freezer and whether you can leave the appliance clean, dry and slightly open. For a weekend or a few days, it is usually better to leave the refrigerator plugged in and remove fragile food. For three or four weeks, unplugging it can make sense if the fridge and freezer are empty.
The practical rule is simple: do not unplug a full fridge just to save a little electricity, but it is reasonable to switch off an empty appliance that has been cleaned and dried. If your model has a holiday mode, that is often the best middle ground.
Quick decision by length of vacation
| Time away | Safest option | What to do before leaving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 days | Leave plugged in | Remove fragile leftovers, check use-by dates, keep the door closed |
| 4 to 10 days | Leave plugged in or use holiday mode | Empty perishable fresh food, check seals, avoid overloading |
| 2 to 3 weeks | Holiday mode if available | Empty the fridge compartment, keep the freezer at -18 °C if it stores frozen food |
| More than 3 to 4 weeks | Unplug if the appliance is empty | Empty, defrost, clean, dry and leave the door ajar |
If the freezer contains valuable food, keeping the appliance running is often more sensible than losing everything. An unnoticed power cut is still a risk: the FDA and CDC say that a closed refrigerator keeps food cold for about 4 hours, a full freezer for about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours.
When it is better to leave the fridge plugged in
Leave the refrigerator plugged in if you are away briefly, if the freezer is full or if you cannot empty and dry the appliance properly before leaving. A rushed shutdown creates extra problems: defrost water, odours, mould, forgotten food and a restart that happens before the appliance has cooled down again.
Before you leave, do these checks instead:
- Remove meat, fish, prepared dishes, opened milk and leftovers.
- Keep the refrigerator at a suitable food temperature. For energy saving in Switzerland, SwissEnergy recommends 7 °C for the refrigerator and -18 °C for the freezer. For very sensitive food, follow food safety guidance or the product label.
- Close the doors properly and check the seals.
- Avoid an unnecessarily cold setting that makes the compressor run harder.
- If you have had power cuts before, leave a thermometer inside or read our guide on how to check whether your refrigerator turned off while you were away.
To lower the bill without switching the fridge off, start with low-risk steps: dust the rear grille, leave enough ventilation space, avoid unnecessary door openings and set the temperature correctly. We cover these habits in the guide to reducing refrigerator energy use.
When unplugging the refrigerator makes sense
Unplugging is useful when the absence is long and the appliance can stay completely empty. This is common before a long trip, in a home closed for several weeks or in a seasonal property.
Use this order:
- Eat, give away or discard perishable food.
- Empty the freezer too. Frozen food that thaws and then refreezes after a power interruption is not reliable.
- Defrost if needed.
- Clean the inside with warm soapy water, then rinse.
- Dry the walls, drawers and seals.
- Unplug the appliance.
- Leave the door ajar with a stable spacer to prevent odours and mould.
The most common mistake is skipping the drying step. An unplugged but closed fridge quickly becomes damp, especially in summer. If you need to defrost first, see our guide on defrosting a fridge-freezer safely.
Holiday mode: often the best compromise
Holiday mode, when available, reduces or pauses cooling in the refrigerator compartment while keeping the freezer running. It works well for absences of several days or weeks if you want frozen food to remain at -18 °C.
Before activating it, empty the refrigerator compartment of perishable food and check the user manual. Depending on the model, holiday mode does not treat every compartment the same way. Do not use it to keep milk, leftovers, meat or fish in the fresh food section if that section warms up.
How much money do you actually save?
The saving depends on the appliance's annual consumption and your electricity price. A refrigerator using 200 kWh per year consumes about 16.7 kWh per month. Even with expensive electricity, one month switched off is a modest saving if you then throw away and replace a lot of food.
So the question is not only "how much will I save", but "can I switch it off without waste and without food safety risk". An old, power-hungry fridge that is empty for a month is a good candidate. A recent fridge-freezer full of food is much less so.
When you return: do not refill immediately
After a planned shutdown, plug the appliance back in and let it cool before refilling it. Depending on the model, room temperature and food load, that can take several hours. Ideally, use a thermometer: add fresh food once the refrigerator compartment is back at its set temperature, and add frozen food only when the freezer is properly at -18 °C.
If the fridge does not restart properly, gets unusually hot or makes a strange noise, do not load it straight away. The first checks are covered in our guide to a fridge not restarting after a power outage.
In short
For a short absence, leave the fridge plugged in, remove fragile food and check the temperature. For a long absence, unplug it only if the appliance is empty, clean, dry and left ajar. If your model has holiday mode and the freezer contains food, that is usually the most balanced option.