Lake-effect snow gets the headlines, but a failing refrigerator can wreck a week just as thoroughly, usually right after a big grocery run. Most fridges give some warning first. The milk doesn’t seem as cold. The door needs a shove. There’s a new rattle at night. Here are seven changes worth checking, what you can safely look at yourself, and when to call someone.

1. The temperature is creeping up

Don’t go by feel. Put an inexpensive appliance thermometer on a middle shelf and another in the freezer, then check them the next morning. Standard food-safety guidance calls for 40°F or below in the fridge and 0°F in the freezer.

Before you worry, make sure nobody bumped the control. On many models the numbered dial is a cooling level, not degrees, and a higher number usually means colder. Your manual will say which way yours goes. If food has been sitting warm, deal with that separately; getting the fridge cold again won’t make spoiled food safe.

2. It runs all the time, or hardly at all

Modern refrigerators can run for long stretches, especially after the door has been open a lot or you’ve just loaded a week of groceries. What matters is a change from normal. If it never seems to shut off, or clicks on and off every few minutes without getting cold, write that down.

First, make sure the vents inside aren’t blocked by food and the grille at the bottom isn’t buried behind a stack of returnable bottles.

3. The door won’t close on its own

A jar in the door bin, a drawer pushed in crooked, or something sticking out from a shelf can keep the door from sealing. Look there first. Then check the rubber gasket for cracks, tears or grime, and wash it with warm, soapy water.

If the door started sagging after the fridge was moved or the kitchen floor was redone, the leveling legs may need adjusting. Most refrigerators close best when the front sits a little higher than the back.

4. Frost or condensation keeps coming back

A little moisture on a humid summer day is normal. Frost that keeps building in the freezer, or water beading inside the fresh-food section, often means warm air is getting in through a worn seal or a door that isn’t closing all the way. Take a picture so you can tell whether it’s getting worse.

Don’t chip ice with a knife or blast it with a hair dryer; you can puncture a line or crack the plastic. If your model needs manual defrosting, the instructions will tell you how.

5. There’s water on the floor

Start with the obvious: a spill, an overflowing drip pan or a leaking jug. If the fridge has an ice maker or water dispenser, check the supply line where you can see it, and find the shutoff valve now, before you need it. It’s often under the sink or in the basement directly below the kitchen.

If water has pooled near the plug or outlet, don’t reach through it. Shut off the circuit at the panel from a dry spot first.

6. Your electric bill jumped

A bigger bill in January probably has more to do with the furnace blower, space heaters and short days than with the fridge. Still, a refrigerator with dusty coils or a leaky gasket works harder than it should. ENERGY STAR’s refrigerator advice sticks to the basics: leave room for air to circulate, keep the door seals in good shape, and clean the coils the way the manual says. If yours has coils on the back or behind a bottom grille, unplug it and vacuum them. If you can’t find any, leave the panels alone; some models aren’t designed for owners to clean.

7. A new noise shows up with another symptom

Refrigerators click, hum, gurgle and crack as part of normal operation. A new sound on its own isn’t much to go on. A new sound along with rising temperatures, a leak or a tripped breaker is.

If you’re seeing two or three of these signs together, it’s time for a technician. Around Buffalo, Rochester or Jamestown, that means a Western New York repair shop. Snowbirds with a second refrigerator in a Florida condo can look up Starchenko Appliance Repair for that one. Either way, write down the model number and the temperatures you measured before you call.

A word about the garage fridge

Plenty of households keep a second fridge in the garage for drinks and overflow. In a Western New York winter, that can backfire. Many standard refrigerators aren’t built for an unheated space, and when the garage gets cold the compressor may barely run, which can let the freezer section warm up even while the garage itself is below freezing. Check the manual’s operating temperature range, or look for a model labeled for garage use.

When to stop checking

A burning smell, sparks, a scorched or damaged cord, or a breaker that keeps tripping means stop. Unplug the fridge if you can do it safely, move the food into a cooler with ice, and leave the panels closed.

Keep a quick note of what you saw and when. It will help whoever comes out, and it will help you decide which food to keep.