Are you looking for a way to chill your Samsung fridge faster without having to drop its internal temperature to freezing levels?
Maybe it’s because you need a cold drink ASAP or because the vegetables inside your fridge need a little freshening up — either way, we’ve got good news for you!
Your Samsung fridge comes with an instant cooling function that can solve this particular worry of yours.
This article will walk you through the basics of the Power Cool option, a setting that can help you adjust temperatures within just 2 hours!
What is Power Cool on a Samsung refrigerator?
Power Cool on a Samsung fridge is a feature that allows you to instantly chill your food. Once activated, cold air is blown inside the fridge until the temperature reaches 1°C.
This allows perishable foodstuff to remain fresh for as long as possible, as well as rapidly cool beverages for drinking.
Unlike the auto-defrost function, which detects the temperature inside the fridge and automatically prompts a defrost session, the Power Cool function is user-activated, albeit it stops automatically once the temperature meets the 1°C requirement.
Power Cool and Power Freeze
Besides the Power Cool function, Samsung fridges also use a rapid-chilling feature exclusively for the freezer compartment, otherwise known as the Power Freeze.
This setting cuts down the unit’s average freezing time, particularly the ice-making process.
The ice maker typically takes 90 minutes to fill a bucket of ice; with Power Freeze activated, the time it takes is reduced to 55 minutes.
Power Freeze can drop your freezer’s temperature by up to 10°C, so if you notice your fridge getting colder by the hour even though you didn’t change the temperature, you might want to check if you’ve accidentally activated Power Freeze.
Checking for Power Cool Function on a Samsung Fridge
The Power Cool feature is available in the latest models of Samsung fridges, though the button(s) might vary depending on the model. Sometimes, you might even need to press a different button for it.
We know you might be wondering, “but how do I know for sure that my fridge has this function?” You can check this in three ways:
- Look for your fridge’s model number. As previously mentioned, this feature is included in newer Samsung refrigerator units, regardless of the model.
If your unit is relatively older, you can look up the model number on the official Samsung website. It lists all the features of each model, so you can instantly verify whether yours have one installed.
Alternatively, if you’re looking to buy a new model that carries this feature, this is a good place to start.
- Locate the button on the control panel. Like most multifunction buttons, the Power Cool button — or the buttons that trigger it — can be found on the control panel.
This is also the first place you look to know whether the setting is activated. While the Power Cool button varies from model to model, you can always find a light indicator with this label no matter the type of unit you own.
If your fridge doesn’t have a Power Cool button, check the Fridge button instead. There usually would be a fine print below to indicate that your unit supports the Power Cool feature.
In some models, there’s also a light indicator next to the Fridge button and a fine print that says “Power Cool” to let you know if the feature is in session.
- Check the Family Hub app. If your unit comes with a Family Hub feature, the corresponding app can make things even more convenient for you.
With it, you won’t need to be standing in front of your fridge to change its settings or even activate Power Cool.
To check for the Power Cool setting via the Family Hub application, select Fridge Manager, and then Fridge Temperature. The setting should be under that category.
How and When to Use the Power Cool Feature
Imagine yourself coming home from the market with fresh groceries that you need to keep chilled before you cook them for dinner a couple of hours later.
In this case, your best option is to plan ahead and put your fridge in Power Cool hours before stocking your fridge.
You can activate Power Cool the same way you can locate it: either via the control panel or the Family Hub app:
- To activate Power Cool using the Family Hub app, go to Fridge Manager and select Fridge Temperature.
Scroll down to Fridge Temperature and toggle Power Cool. Click Save to initiate the setting.
The Family Hub app allows you to do this even if you’re already at the grocery store, as long as your fridge is connected to your home Wi-fi.
- To activate Power Cool using the control panel, locate the button of the same name on the display. Hold it down for at least three seconds or until the light indicator blinks.
On the other hand, if your unit doesn’t have a button with this label, you can press the Fridge button for the same amount of time instead.
Alternatively, if you want to activate Power Freeze, you can hold down the Freezer button for at least three seconds.
Activating the Power Cool or Power Freeze modes is as easy as that! Furthermore, to make the cooling or freezing process more effective, here are a few tips you can follow:
- Do not adjust the temperature before turning on Power Cool. If you’ve initially set your fridge’s temperature to 4°C, you don’t have to lower it further to help the setting chill faster.
That’s what the Power Cool mode is for! Once activated, just let it do its thing, and it’ll set itself to an ideal temperature for your foodstuff in no time.
The same goes for Power Freeze as well. Just be mindful to keep the temperature setting within the recommended temperature as stated in your user manual, and you won’t have to worry about over-freezing issues.
For reference, as suggested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the ideal temperature for the fridge compartment is 1 – 4°C while the freezer compartment is required to be at least -18°C.
- Activate Power Cool or Power Freeze for at least two hours before stocking your fridge. On average, your fridge takes at least 24 hours to stabilize a new temperature setting, but with Power Cool, it cuts this time down to 2 hours.
To ensure that your fridge is cold by the time you get back home to stock it with items from the market, activate Power Cool before leaving your house.
Once you’ve stocked your fridge, we suggest keeping the Power Cool on for up to 5 hours more. Doing so will preserve the quality of your food and beverages before the temperature rises back up to its original setting.
While Power Cool will automatically stop dropping the temperature to 1°C, it won’t stop chilling the compartment for as long as you have it on. This feature is user-activated, likewise, the session has to be terminated by the user as well.
The same applies to the Power Freeze setting, which, in particular, can run for up to 10 hours.
When the Power Cool or the Power Freeze modes are active, the fridge’s compressor and fan work twice as hard to blow as much cold air into the compartments as possible.
As such, activating either setting will equate to twice the regular power consumption.
This is why we recommend keeping it running only for 5 hours — this amount of time ensures that your food is chilled enough without consuming too much energy.
How long does the Power Cool last?
As previously mentioned, the Power Cool setting can take at least 2 hours to cool your fridge to 1°C, and 5 hours to ensure that it stabilizes.
However, several factors may affect this duration, and it won’t be unlikely that you’ll find yourself waiting for the temperature to drop for much longer than usual.
Factors That Affect Power Cool’s Duration
When this happens, you might want to check the following elements that may be contributing to this issue:
1. Room Temperature
Believe it or not, the ambiance of your fridge’s location can affect the way it functions, most especially its cooling system.
If you place the unit in an environment that easily drops in room temperature during colder seasons, you’ll find your fridge having a difficult time chilling its compartments despite being set to the appropriate temperature.
Likewise, if the room is susceptible to warming up during hotter seasons, it makes your fridge more susceptible to overheating, especially if you open the doors frequently.
A warmer room temperature equates to longer chilling times. However, the opposite doesn’t necessarily apply to the colder ambiance.
This slows down your fridge’s compressor instead as temperature sensors may read the ambiance as compartment temperature and thus keep auto-defrosting to warm up the compartments and avoid over-freezing.
The ideal room temperature for refrigerators ranges from 10°C to 32°C, to account for the change in seasons. Any degree higher or lower might cause your fridge to struggle with the Power Cool setting.
Alternatively, you can check your user manual for the exact room temperature range ideal for your fridge’s model.
2. Overcrowding
As a general rule, the more items you store in the compartments, the less room there’ll be for air to circulate. This would mean that your fridge would take a longer time to chill the foodstuff inside.
Blocking the airflow this way can also lead to ice formation towards the back of the compartment, where the cold air generally comes from.
This is one of the reasons we suggest turning on Power Cool before you stock your groceries, as the compartments are likely to have more room.
If your fridge is crowded even before you stock it with new items, it’s time to reevaluate which ones can do without refrigerating.
Conversely, when stocking your food, be sure to arrange them sparsely to allow cold air to circulate liberally.
We also suggest estimating how many items you’ll store in the fridge ahead of time. Remember that the larger the food — or the higher in quantity — the longer Power Cool will take to stabilize.
In cases like this, we recommend turning Power Cool on for at least 3 hours before stocking the inside with items.
3. Door-opening Habits
Are you the type of person who can’t sit still without opening the fridge every 15 minutes to check the food inside? If you are, you might want to work on that.
You see, the more you open the fridge door within an hour, the longer it would take for the Power Cool to be effective.
Opening the door, no matter how abruptly or how long, allows warm air from outside to enter. This is regardless of the temperature around your fridge.
The outside air will always be warmer than the air inside the fridge. And when this warm air meets with the cold air inside, they form condensation on the food itself.
Under the low temperature of the fridge — or the freezer — this condensation will turn into ice, which can ruin your food and spoil it faster.
Furthermore, the more warm air that enters the fridge, the longer the cooling system will take to absorb the heat inside the compartment. This also means it’ll take longer for the inside to chill.
If possible, let Power Cool run its first two hours without opening the fridge door to ensure that your items will be refrigerated properly.
4. Age and Condition
A reality that your fridge also faces is that it wears down with time. The older your fridge gets, the longer it’ll take to stabilize temperature changes compared to newer models.
Another factor to consider is if the coils are blocked or clogged. As a general rule, we recommend cleaning your fridge once every month.
This means defrosting the entire unit and wiping down the interior. If you can get to the evaporator coils (the ones found at the very back of the fridge’s interior, covered by a panel), the better.
The evaporator coils inside the refrigerator may be prone to ice blockage, while the condenser coils outside (located on the back of your fridge; you’ll recognize them by the warm air they release) are prone to dust and debris buildup.
When either of these coils is blocked, it makes temperature adjustment more difficult because then, the heat from refrigerants can neither be absorbed nor released outside of the refrigerator.
Before activating Power Cool, check for any blockages around these parts.
5. Unit Size
This factor isn’t as drastic as the others, but it could be helpful to always keep in mind that larger models tend to take longer to cool.
Though, a fridge in good condition will always follow the average 2-hour requirement.
In some models, you might notice the Power Cool taking a little over 2 hours, though. If your fridge does this with no immediate damage to any parts, it might just be because it’s a size larger than regular models.
What to Do if Power Cool Isn’t Working
If you find the Power Cool indicator light not blinking even after you’ve pressed the necessary button(s) a couple of times, or if your fridge is already set to Power Cool but isn’t releasing cold air, don’t panic just yet — you can troubleshoot this on your own!
In situations like these, simply press the Fridge button and hold it down for at least three seconds. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to reset your fridge.
Here are two ways to do this:
- Reset the fridge via the Family Hub app. If you have a smart Samsung fridge, you can choose to reset it via the corresponding mobile application.
Simply follow these steps:
- Open the Family Hub app on your mobile device.
- Select Fridge Manager.
- Select Reset.
- Press Save and wait for the reset to be initiated.
- Reset the fridge manually via the control panel. Some fridge models have a dedicated reset button that can usually be found inside the upper part of the door.
Pressing this button will hard reset your fridge. This means that all settings you’ve saved will be deleted and set back to default and that you’ll have to adjust them again if you want to continue with the same settings.
If your fridge doesn’t carry a separate reset button, then you should look for multifunctional buttons. These are a pair of buttons whose function is to restart error codes.
Unlike pressing a dedicated reset button, however, this doesn’t hard reset your fridge but it still might prove effective in rebooting the Power Cool function.
In most Samsung fridge models, the multifunction buttons are the Power Cool and the Power Freeze buttons. Hold both of them down at the same time for about five seconds until you hear a chiming sound.
This means that the reset is successful.
For models without Power Cool or Power Freeze buttons, press the alternatives (Fridge and Freezer). If these don’t work, refer to your user manual for instructions.
Once reset is successful, set your preferred temperature and try triggering Power Cool again.
If neither of these methods works, you might need to bring your fridge to service and have a professional look at it.
How do I turn off Power Cool on a Samsung refrigerator?
You can turn this setting off the same way you turned it on: by pressing the Power Cool button (or any of its corresponding buttons present in your fridge model) for at least three seconds or until the indicator light blacks out.
If for some reason you find the button(s) or control panel frozen, you can turn this setting off via the Family Hub app if you have a smart Samsung fridge. Or you can turn it off by rebooting the unit.
The Power Cool and Power Freeze features are just two of many reasons why a Samsung refrigerator is perfect for every household.
If anything, these functions prove that when it comes to user convenience, Samsung knows exactly what homeowners need.
However, keep in mind that your fridge won’t always be in its best condition. If you want to keep benefitting from these smart user settings, it would do good to be familiar with what affects their efficiency — it’ll make troubleshooting them easier.
