Should you leave your refrigerator on if it has a freon leak?

There are two ways to answer this question Technically : if the leak is into the system where the pressure is low ( low side ) , leaving it on will make the remaining refrigerant last longer , where as if it is on the part of the system where the pressure is high , it will escape faster , but on the other hand the motor inside the sealed refrigerant compressor need some ways to cool itself since it generate heat , and this is accomplished with the cool refrigerant gazes coming back to it after the completion of the cooling process ... this is to say that if you have a leak on the low side of the system , and you make a choice to leave the appliance on , you will eventually burn the motor inside the compressor , so you are far better to have somebody fix the leak before you get more problems ... note that this is also true for a lot of refrigeration equipment using sealed compressors like your home central air conditioning system and many others !


Practically : Say you decide to stop it for a little while till you get somebody to fix it , it is good practice to keep the doors open to prevent the remaining humidity to turn into mushrooms and mold and contaminating the appliance with a smell that maybe there for a long time to come ... even after you put in back into operation . And this bring a new question into my mind : what good is it to have a refrigerator if it is stop ?