For many, bringing home a fridge magnet as a vacation souvenir is a tradition. But before you know it, you’ve got a whole collection of souvenirs attached to your refrigerator.
While they provide a daily reminder of your treasured travels, I want to know whether these precious keepsakes hinder your refrigerator’s performance — or worse, increase your energy bill.
To get to the bottom of it, I reached out to Matthew Glynn, senior product marketing manager at Hisense U.K., to explain whether fridge magnets have any real impact.
Can magnets damage your fridge?
“In short, no, fridge magnets do not affect the performance or energy efficiency of your refrigerator,” says Glynn. “The magnetic fields produced by standard household fridge magnets are extremely weak and pose no interference to the internal cooling system or components.”
He adds, “Feel free to display your travel souvenirs and family reminders on the fridge door, they’re harmless to the appliance’s functionality!”
Glynn also confirms that fridge magnets can not damage the cooling system. “For any magnetic field to interfere with the refrigeration cycle, it would need to be significantly stronger than anything found in domestic use, think industrial-grade magnets used in scientific or medical applications.”
He continues, “A refrigerator’s cooling system is a sealed circuit consisting of a compressor, condenser, evaporator, and refrigerant, none of which are affected by low-level external magnetic fields.”
What about smart features?
As more of us upgrade to smart refrigerators, I also wanted to ask if fridge magnets can interfere with smart features.
“For the vast majority of modern smart fridges, including those with touchscreens, sensors, and wireless connectivity (e.g. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules), fridge magnets are not a concern. These components are typically non-magnetic or are electromagnetically shielded, ensuring reliable performance.”
However, there is a caveat. Glynn explains that some older refrigerator models may use magnetic reed switches to detect when the door opens and closes.
“Placing a magnet directly over such a switch could potentially cause the fridge to misread the door status, for example, it may falsely register as closed when open. That said, this is uncommon in current-generation appliances.”
So, what is the worst damage a fridge magnet can do?
While fridge magnets won’t impact the performance of how your fridge runs, they can cause cosmetic damage. “Over time, poorly coated magnets or those placed in the same position for long periods may cause fine scratches on the surface of the appliance, particularly on stainless steel or high-gloss finishes,” says Glynn.
In the long term, moisture can also become trapped between the magnet and the door, potentially leading to rust. To avoid this issue, Glynn recommends using high-quality magnets and regularly wiping down both the magnets and the surface behind them.
My advice?
As a home writer obsessed with a passion for decluttering — and well past the stage of having magnetic alphabet letters on the fridge — I suggest the easiest solution is to remove them to create a cleaner line in your kitchen. But then, I am a neat freak.
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