wrote in message
To warm the entire refrigerator box with a 40W bulb is wasteful and will
warm the contents a bit.

Who mentioned 40 watts? A bulb in the box would not change the box temp.

Nick


If it does not change the box temperature, it is not going to make the
thermostat do its thing. 40 watts burning adds heat and while it is mostly
overcome by the operation of the compressor, it still has to raise the
temperature a bit. How much depends on the differential of the thermostat.