Maybe it’s time to change your refrigerator if you observe these warning signs.

Your refrigerator is one of your major investments at home. It keeps your food fresh and beverages cold. Even the most reliable and high-end fridges need to be replaced eventually. Maintaining your fridge religiously and a technician’s usual visits may extend it’s life span, but learning the early warning signs might actually help you save more when you decided to buy a refrigerator instead.

Here’s 7 signs you need to finally replace your refrigerator:

1.Your food spoils faster than it should be.

If your food spoils faster and smells awful earlier than expected, there’s a problem with your fridge. In other cases, you might notice a bottle of water taking longer than usual to get cold. When this happens, it means your fridge is not able to maintain the right temperature than it’s supposed to and is leading to excessive use of energy and money.

2. You can hear your fridge running – and it’s noisy and hot.

It is normal to hear a gentle hum but if it’s starting to sound like buzzing, it must be the motor struggling to work properly. The coils at the back of your fridge are insulated, thus excessive amount of heat is unusual.

3. The fridge is sweating

If your fridge is sweating, then there might be a problem with the rubber sealing or the temperature setting is not operating as it should.

4. Frost is building up in the freezer

A bit of frost is normal and can be fixed by defrosting or turning the thermostat at low. But if you find yourself chiseling whenever you pull out frozen meat, maybe your fridge is not working efficiently.

5. The fridge is more than 10 years and repair costs start to multiply

Some people think keeping old (and still working) refrigerators help them save. Old refrigerators may still work properly after repair but when you calculate the total cost overtime and its high energy consumption, it might be much better to buy a new refrigerator instead.

6. It is not energy-efficient and it causes an increase in your utility bills.

It pays to check if your refrigerator is energy-efficient. Refrigerators nowadays are sealed with energy-saving or energy-efficient stickers. If you didn’t find one, a manual defrost fridge will do and don’t use as much energy as automatic defrost units. Also, choose a fridge with a freezer on top than a fridge with a freezer on the bottom.

7. It doesn’t fit your lifestyle.

Your fridge works well but it’s taking up a lot of space in your condo unit. There might be new features that you find necessary to keep things orderly and more accessible –  just like the ice dispenser installed outside the fridge door.

If you find majority of these signs on your refrigerator, then maybe it’s time to contemplate and spend a few bucks to get a new one. Remember, your refrigerator is meant to work efficiently to keep your food fresh and cold. Once it doesn’t serve it’s purpose, don’t think twice.