Just about everyone has a freezer that does one primary thing — it freezes. While this doesn’t seem that interesting, it bears mentioning because we tend to look at our freezers in a very mundane way. We don’t think about them until they stop working.The name of the game is saving money when it comes to the upkeep of your freezer. You save money by being able to buy & store bulk food, and you also do your best to preserve foods over time. Moreover, the key way to save money is to make sure your freezer doesn’t shut off and shut down, causing a full replacement.

Here are five ways you can help making sure you proactively work toward extending your freezer’s life:

1. Basic Function Upkeep – Depending on the type of freezer you have, you either will encounter a manual defrost option or a manual defrost option. If you have an auto-defrost option, you need to make sure that you clean the drip pan of food particles. If you have to manually defrost your freezer, maintain a regular schedule for this task as it takes less work for your freezer to do its job.

2. Gasket Health – Maintain a regular check of the gasket to the freezer door. The gasket is vital in maintaining a proper division from cold air on the inside from warm air on the outside. In the same way cleanliness & defrosting makes a difference in how hard your freezer works, having a clean, undamaged gasket ensures proper function.

3. Heat is the Enemy – Your freezer maintain things at a cold temperature. As your freezer works, it produces heat but is made to deal with this byproduct. If there is too much heat, it makes the appliance work extra-hard, causing the freezer to start becoming inefficient. Be sure to maintain space between your freezer/fridge and the wall, and be sure to keep high-heat sources away from your freezer.

4. Keep Things Clean – We’ve already noted the need to clean out any food crumbs from working parts, ventilation, and drip pans (if applicable). You need to keep condenser coils clean (located on the back or underneath your refrigerator) to make sure the your freezer/fridge aren’t working overtime. Just be sure to unplug your machine when cleaning these coils (can be done with a vacuum attachment), and create a cleaning schedule for this task.

5. Avoid Empty Space – One often cited tip to help your freezer work efficiently is to make sure you use as much space in your freezer as possible. By partially filling old water & juice jugs partway with water & freezing them will create allow for your freezer to kick on & run less.Be proactive in your freezer maintenance because an efficient freezer is an operating one, and that’s peace of mind that is priceless.