Two parts determine most of your refrigerator’s long-term efficiency, and both are easy to check yourself in under ten minutes.

An ice maker that’s slowed down or stopped entirely usually comes down to one of a few specific, checkable causes rather than a full unit replacement.

Refrigerant issues aren’t a project for a home toolkit — here’s what’s actually involved, and why it needs to be handled by a certified technician.

The REF36FDFIXNV is Bertazzoni’s current 36″ Professional Series French door refrigerator, built with independently monitored fresh food and freezer compartments. Each compartment reports to its own dedicated sensor feeding into one shared control board, so a single sensor failure can skew the whole unit’s temperature balance even while the compressor itself is running perfectly fine.

The REF31BMFIXNV is a current built-in bottom-mount refrigerator from Bertazzoni’s Master Series, designed to sit flush with cabinetry behind a matching panel. Because it’s a fully integrated unit, a misaligned or worn door seal can affect both cooling efficiency and how well the cabinet panel closes — worth having checked together during a service visit.