What Causes a Fridge to Hum?

Dirty Coils

• Dirty coils on the back of the refrigerator can cause the hum. The coils work to keep the unit cool and when they are dirty that process is more difficult. If you want to stop the hum, you may clean the coils. All you need to do is run a vacuum hose over the coils.

Compressor Pump

• The compressor is the component in the refrigerator that works to keep the unit at your set temperature. It works in conjunction with the coils to achieve this. Gas coolant is in those coils, which is heated by the compressor. When the gas is heated and pushed into the coils, it results in the hum. This is not something that you can stop because it is part of the normal operating process of the refrigerator.

Not Sitting Level

• When a refrigerator is not sitting level, it can vibrate or rattle in place. When this occurs, it can produce a humming sound. The sound can be soft or loud, depending on how off kilter the unit is sitting. To stop this noise, you can remove the grille from the front bottom of the refrigerator, which reveals the leveling legs. The legs can be adjusted so that you can get the unit sitting level.

Icemaker

• If you are using the automatic icemaker in your refrigerator, it might be the cause of the hum. As it fills with water, you may hear a humming noise. This noise is not constant, but does reappear frequently. Turn the icemaker off to stop the noise if it annoys you.

Self-Defrost

• If the hum you are hearing can also be described as a hiss or buzz, the cause of the noise may be the self-defrost feature. Obviously, this only exists on self-defrost models. The cause of the noise is water dripping onto the defrost heaters. Even if this is annoying, nothing can be done about it because it is a normal noise.