Mori V’Rabbi Rav Shachter who is currrently in Eretez Hakodesh, answered my question question in respect what I did in Miami בשעת הדחק. To be accurate he didn’t describe my situation as שעת הדחק but that is my inference from the context of the question.
ּBasically there are two halachos that he paskened.
- Using LED’s is an issue D’Rabbonon (so I was right on that)
- In a great need (which is what I thought I had). In covering the led lights I was demonstrating that it was a פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליא
Accordingly, it was a בדיעבד which was okay. He said there was one view I could rely on but didn’t say which view this was. I’d expect it was a Rishon. At any rate we haveולמעשה כתב במ”ב שכא, נז, ושעה”צ סח, עפ”י הבית מאיר, שבמקום הצורך אפשר להקל
It seems it’s common with modern fridges to have LED lights and the way to get around it is to attach two small but powerful magnets which stop the LED’s from coming on.
So those of you with modern fridges I recommend playing around with powerful magnets until you see the lights don’t come on. Google it. as always as your local orthodox rabbi.
pitputim 
where do you place those magnets?
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I will ask my sister
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Our fridge (a Fisher & Paykel model) uses a magnetic latch to turn the light off. I have a strong neodymium magnet I use to hold papers, which I passed over the door frame. I found a point in the middle of the bottom edge that reacts to a magnetic field even when the magnet is several centimeters away. I tried holding a flexible rubber magnet over that spot, but it didn’t activate the switch – perhaps it isn’t strong enough.
If anyone wants to try this for themselves they can buy similar magnets easily online, either through retailers or Ebay. I expect that a “Shabbos” magnet would need to be glued or taped over the switch. This URL points to the thinnest strong magnet I could find at a local distributor: http://aussiemagnets.com.au/product/–6.35-x—6.35-x—2.5mm-Block-%28Rare-Earth%29.html
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I know my sister said it took her a while to find a magnet that was strong enough and not enormous to serve the purpose. Thanks for your link. What do other people do.
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