removing magnets from the fridge saves exactly zero euros on your bill, although there are other things that do work

The magnetic decorations that decorate refrigerators in many homes have been the subject of a curious urban legendthat they make our appliance consume more.

“Everything in this myth is false,” Endesa pointed out one of the last times the rumor resurfaced. Refrigerator magnets do not have an impact on the electrical consumption of these appliances since the magnetic fields of the magnets that we place in our refrigerators are very weak.

So much so that “they don’t even go through the refrigerator door,” the electric company continues to explain on the company blog. And it is that some of the magnets we place on our refrigerator barely have the strength to keep themselves in place, but nor the most powerful magnets in this range they could do it.

We would need a very powerful magnet, outside the range of refrigerator magnets to affect its operation. “Only (would consumption increase) if the magnets on your refrigerator were electromagnets” answered a forum user Physics Forums back in 2012 when another user raised this question.

Endesa has not been the only company that has spoken out in recent years about this urban legend. When we asked LGthey told us that it was a “myth”: “fridge magnets have no effect on consumption, shelf life or food. The magnets located on the outside of the refrigerator do not influence the operation or the internal cooling capacity of the appliance.”

In that same line he answered us another manufacturer, Bosch, which assured that the magnets were not going to affect the operation at all beyond causing scratches on the surface or, if someone feels especially inspired and fills the door with magnets, they could affect the useful life of the door hinge if its weight increases a lot. In any case, they were very emphatic about it: it will never affect the electrical consumption of the appliance.

How to save with the refrigerator.

The refrigerators can assume the largest source of energy consumption behind heating and hot water and can account for almost a fifth of electricity consumption. They must be plugged in and running all day, which limits possible strategies to save on expenses, although some exist.

The option that most reduces electricity consumption is one that may not be available to everyone: obtaining a more efficient refrigerator. We may not have yet paid off the one we have or we may not yet have the budget to change it, but opting for more efficient models will imply less long-term savings.

Other ways to save are well known: keeping the door open as little as possible or not putting hot food in it are well-known tricks. Maintain seal from the refrigerator, yes, it goes a little further. To achieve this we must always make sure that there are no foods that could make it difficult to close and that the sealing elements (the rubber) are in good condition.

Where we place the refrigerator can also affect its performance. Embedding it, placing it in sunlight, or near a heat source such as a radiator or oven can cause it to require more energy to keep its interior cool.

Finally, we must keep the freezer frost free as far as possible. The frost works as an insulator (as if we had an igloo inside the freezer. This causes the freezer to require more energy to cool the products inside.

In the midst of a unique energy crisis in almost half a century, saving electricity has become an obsession for some and a necessity for many. That is why it is important focus on those strategies that do allow us to save energy and money.

Image | Giulia Hetherington

A version of this topic was originally published in 2023. Unfortunately for science, it is still fully valid in 2026…