Best Fridge Freezer

What to Look For When Choosing the Best Fridge Freezer for Your Home

Unlike some others in your home, a fridge freezer is a domestic appliance you’ll be using every single day, so it’s important that you choose the best fridge freezer for your needs.

However, with such an abundance of different brands, types and features to choose from, shopping for a fridge freezer can prove to be a somewhat daunting task. With this in mind, I hope that the following information will help to guide you in what to look for to make sure that you choose the best fridge freezer for you.

How Much Space Will You Need?

Measure the space you have to accommodate your fridge freezer. You’ll need to measure the height, width and depth, as well as making an allowance for additional space behind, and around, the appliance to enable adequate ventilation. This will vary between models, so when you see a fridge freezer you like, make a note of the recommended ventilation space and make sure you have sufficient room to provide it.

Also, if the fridge freezer you’re shopping for will be considerably larger than your old unit, it’s a good idea to give some practical thought to whether the delivery guys are actually going to be able to get it into your kitchen. Depending on the layout of your home, negotiating a large appliance up stairs, around corners and through narrow doorways, may pose problems.

Determine Your Budget

As it can be very easy to become tempted by the lure of the all-singing, all-dancing models, you may like to make a realistic decision on what you can spend before you start browsing, rather than the other way round. As a long-term investment, as well as being one of the most expensive appliances to run in your home, you’ll want the best fridge freezer your money can buy. The costs can vary enormously, but are most typically based on the brand, type and range of features.

Which is the Best Fridge Freezer Type for You?

Although most consumers tend to favor an upright fridge freezer, you may decide that a side-by-side layout suits you better. Here are some pros and cons to consider when shopping for the best fridge freezer for your kitchen.

Vertically stacked combination unit – fridge above the freezer

Pro – This is the most commonly found layout, probably because the vast majority of people use their fridge more often than their freezer. This layout has all the items which are accessed on a regular basis, easily and conveniently located at eye-level
Con – When you want something from the freezer, you’ll need to bend or crouch down to get it. This is not necessarily a problem, but bear in mind that if you choose this layout, it’s much easier to find food if the freezer has drawers as opposed to shelves

Vertically stacked combination unit – freezer above the fridge

Pro – All your frozen goods will be at easy to access eye-level. However, depending on the height of the top of the freezer, it may be easier to have shelves rather than drawers with this layout.
Con – All the items in your fridge that you need on a daily basis will be at the bottom, so you’ll need to bend or crouch down to get these

Separate units – fridge and freezer side-by-side

Pro – Depending on your kitchen and the size of the fridge and freezer, you can choose to have them as separate units; at floor level, either free-standing or underneath counter tops, or built-in to your cabinets at eye-level
Con – Whilst a side-by-side layout may be more convenient to fit into your kitchen, separate units will generally be more expensive to run than a combined fridge freezer

NOTE: If you choose a fridge freezer with drawers, transparent fronts will make locating items much easier

What are Your Storage Space Requirements?

The storage capacity of refrigeration appliances is measured in liters or cubic feet. As a rough guide, a small fridge freezer with a capacity of around 120 liters (four cubic feet) should be more than enough for one person and, depending on shopping habits, may even suit a couple. On the other hand, a fridge freezer with a larger capacity of around 300 liters (10 cubic feet) is a typical ‘family’ sized unit, but there are many to choose from which are even larger.

Some fridge freezers will have equally sized compartments, whilst others will have one larger than the other, so to ensure that you choose the best fridge freezer for you, give some thought to what you really want to use it for.

For example, if you prefer to shop on a regular basis and eat a lot of fresh produce, you may not use your freezer compartment that much. If that’s the case, it would suit you better to have a larger fridge and a smaller freezer.

However, if you like to buy in large quantities, or you purchase a lot of ready-meals or frozen items, you’ll need significantly more freezer space. Likewise if you do a lot of baking or home cooking which you like to portion up and freeze, make sure you consider how much storage space you’ll need when you’re looking for the best fridge freezer for this purpose.

Temperature Control Features

Below are explanations of the temperature control features you’re likely to encounter during your search for the best fridge freezer for you.

Single thermostat: a fridge freezer with this feature will most likely be cheaper than a model with a dual thermostat, but you don’t have the convenience of being able to regulate the settings of your fridge and freezer independently. This could mean that when your fridge is at the correct temperature, your freezer is not, and vice-versa.

Dual thermostat: this will enable you to keep the fridge and the freezer at different temperatures, and is a very useful feature if you ever want to turn the freezer off for defrosting, but keep the fridge on, or conversely, turn the fridge off if you go away on holiday, but leave the freezer on

Fast freeze: by temporarily switching your freezer to this feature, you can help to retain the nutritional value of fresh food by freezing it very rapidly

Frost free: as it sounds, this feature prevents the formation of frost or ice on the interior surfaces of the fridge freezer. It works by way of a small, incorporated heater which stops condensation from building up and subsequently, turning to ice

Salad crisper: generally found at the bottom of the fridge (very often a drawer), this section stores fresh produce at the perfect temperature to ensure that it stays fresher for longer

Fast cool: this feature will chill down the fridge for a pre-determined period (typically a few hours). This is useful when you’re loading it with a large quantity of food all at once. Fridges can take a while to chill a lot of food under normal circumstances, but the fast cool feature will speed this up considerably

Do You Want an Environmentally Friendly Fridge Freezer?

Not so long ago, CFC gas was widely used in all refrigeration appliances, but it’s no longer used since it was proved that the leakage of CFC gases was causing damage to the ozone layer. As a consequence, all new fridge freezers are now free of CFC’s, and natural gases are being used more and more by many manufacturers who recognize them as being more environmentally beneficial – make sure that the fridge freezer you’re considering conforms to these criteria.

Freezer Star Ratings

The star-rating system is there to guide you as to what you can freeze and for how long it’ll be good for. Basically, the higher the star rating, the colder the freezer will get, which will enable you to store food for longer. The star-rating system ranges from one star to four stars, with four being the coldest and the most suitable for freezing fresh food safely.

However, many fridge freezers have three stars, and although these are perfectly adequate for the purpose of freezing food, the period for which they are able to maintain it ‘safely’ is somewhat reduced from that of a four star model. The same rule applies to appliances which have a two or one star-rating, which, incidentally, are also the typical ratings for iceboxes.

Star-rating Freezer Food storage
temperature

**** -18°C For the freezing of fresh food, and storage of food for between three and 12 months
*** -18°C For the storage of frozen food for between three and 12 months
** -12°C For the storage of frozen food for no more than one month
* -6°C For the storage of frozen food for no mot than one week

Looking for a Particular Color?

The days of having to choose a white appliance, simply because that was the only color available, are long gone. Nowadays, fridge freezers in every color of the rainbow can be found, so whatever the color scheme of your kitchen, you’ll find an appliance that fits right in. Of course, you can still buy a white one if you prefer!

Energy Efficient Fridge Freezers

Because they’re constantly switched on, fridge freezers are one of the biggest domestic users of energy. However, efficiency is constantly improving, and as such, newer models are usually more efficient, and use less energy. Of course, using less energy will not only reduce your bills, but have a positive impact on the environment, so with this in mind, it’s important to check with the retailer that you’re buying an energy efficient model before you part with your cash.

Check out the Noise Level

All fridge freezers make a noise, but after a while, the constant humming can get a little irritating. The noise level is measured in decibels, and a reasonable level is considered to be anything under, and including, 40. Anything above this may seem quite noisy once it’s installed in your home, particularly if it’s going to be placed in an open-plan room. Although not all models will state this information, it’s certainly worth checking for.

Additional Design Features and Extras

Automatic defrost facility, water coolers, ice makers and dispensers, digital displays, adjustable shelving, wine racks and easy-clean shelves and surfaces are just some of the extras which can make your fridge freezer that little bit more personal, so take some time to think about what features you’ll need to ensure that you choose the best fridge freezer for your home.