The short answer
An integrated fridge that will not cool is usually suffocating in its housing. Check the plinth grille and the vent above the cabinet before anyone opens the appliance.
What you actually see and hear
- It runs constantly and is still not cold enough — Heat is not leaving the housing.
- The kitchen units near it feel warm — Confirmation that the heat has nowhere to go.
- It got worse after the kitchen was refitted — The air path has been blocked. Very common.
- Warm and completely silent — Power or the start circuit. The urgent case.
- NEAR MISS - warm after a big shop or a long door opening — A cabinet catching up. Not a fault.
Causes, most likely first on this machine
- Plinth grille blocked, missing or replaced with a solid plinth — First on this layout. Without it the housing has no air inlet at all.
- Vent above or behind the housing obstructed — Second. A shelf, a false back or packed insulation closes the outlet.
- Condenser coil clogged with dust — Third, and harder to reach here than on a freestanding cabinet.
- Door seal or the furniture door holding the appliance door ajar — Fourth, and specific to this layout when the door alignment drifts.
- Internal fan not running — Fifth. The cold is being made and not distributed.
- Thermostat, sensor or compressor — Last, and only after the installation is proven.
Check in this order, and why
- Put a thermometer in the cabinet — Forty degrees Fahrenheit or below is the standard.
- Look at the plinth grille and feel for air moving — An absent grille is a complete diagnosis.
- Check the vent above or behind the housing — Fitters block it more often than anyone expects.
- Check the appliance door closes fully behind the furniture door — Misaligned brackets hold it open.
What an owner can safely check
- Put a thermometer inside and read it after a day — Judge by a number rather than by touch.
Tools: thermometerAbout 1440 min
- Clear and clean the plinth grille — The first thing to check on any integrated cabinet.
Tools: vacuum, torchAbout 20 min
- Check the vent above or behind the housing is open — Remove whatever has been stored or fitted across it.
Tools: torchAbout 25 min
- Check the appliance door closes cleanly and test the seal with paper — The furniture door can hold it fractionally open.
Tools: paper, screwdriverAbout 30 min
- Vacuum what you can reach of the condenser through the plinth — Limited access, still worth doing.
Tools: vacuum, soft brushAbout 30 min
- STOP HERE before withdrawing the cabinet from its housing — That is a two-person job on a live plumbed-in installation.
Before you open anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel - a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. An integrated cabinet is usually fed from a socket inside the adjacent unit, so find and use that socket rather than guessing at the breaker, and confirm the appliance is dead before touching anything. Never remove the furniture door or the cabinet's fixings while the appliance is live, and never chip ice from the interior with a metal tool.
When to call a technician
Call when the grille is clear, the upper vent is open, the doors close properly and the cabinet still will not reach forty degrees Fahrenheit or below. Call immediately if the compressor never runs. Tell the engineer it is an integrated installation and say whether the kitchen was recently refitted, because a blocked air path introduced by a fitter is the single most common cause of this complaint and it is fixed with joinery rather than with parts.
Nearest pages of this class
What this page does not cover
This page is written for the integrated refrigerator class, not for one family or model line. Where a brand- or model-specific page exists for your unit it is the more specific answer and it is linked above, so go there first if your machine is named. What is deliberately not here: fan and thermostat part numbers, hinge and slide kit references, cabinet aperture dimensions and refrigerant charge, all of which differ by family and belong on the page for that family.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
