How to Choose a Refrigerator: what should you look at?

Styles of Refrigerators

The Traditional Style has one door but two compartments: freezer on top and the refrigerator under it.

The Side-by-Side Style has the freezer at the left and refrigerator at the right side.

The Bottom Mount, on the other hand, has the fridge section on top and the freezer at the bottom.

The Reverse Style has one door but the refrigerator is on top and the freezer is at the bottom.

The French Door Style has two French doors for the fridge on top and one for the freezer at the bottom.

What capacity and how large?

There are two components to consider in space – the space inside your kitchen and the space inside your refrigerator. You don’t want your fridge to be so large that it leaves no space free in your kitchen. You need to measure the available space inside your kitchen so that there is some extra space around your refrigerator for ventilation. You also don’t want to compromise on the space inside the fridge because you know there are plenty of things that you need to store inside it. For a family of two, a capacity between 250 and 300 litres is enough. If you have a larger family, you should opt for a fridge with at least 400 litres capacity.

Look at the space inside

While the size of a refrigerator is important, the arrangement of the inside is perhaps more important. Some of the refrigerator models have more ergonomic designs that create more space inside. They contain adjustable shelves, salad crispers, separate dairy compartments, deep door storage option and lighter shelves made of plastic. A combination of these features allows you to increase or decrease the space inside your fridge as per your requirement. This is why this option is so important.

How energy efficient is the fridge?

Energy efficiency is a component that you should look at from the long-term perspective. More the energy efficiency of your fridge, more you save on your energy bill. ENERGY STAR marks the energy efficient fridges in Canada. In any other country, you can browse the reviews and the constructors' info about the product before making your choice.

The frost free refrigerators make sense

Most people buy frost free refrigerators these days and so should you. A frost free fridge keeps frozen foods cold, but doesn’t turn them into ice. There are also refrigerators with the auto defrost feature. These refrigerators don’t trouble you by creating a body of snow inside. 

The fancy features that are often useful

You may also want to consider some of the fancier features – LED digital controls, cold water dispenser, anti-bacterial protection, twin cooling system, different temperature settings for the different sections and super thin insulation. Please find out more about these features so that you are able to make the right choice.

Top refrigerators you can choose from

The bottom mount refrigerators are less common than the top down ones-- the most popular products in this category. These refrigerators are especially useful for those who have problem bending down. After all, one doesn’t need to open the freezer as much as they need to open the fridge. One of the top selling bottom mount fridges is Samsung 21.6 cu. ft Bottom Mount Freezer Refrigerator. This refrigerator is available in two colours – stainless steel (photo 2) and white.

French door refrigerators are perhaps the most beautiful looking refrigerators. Some of the best examples of fridges in this category are Samsung 21.6 cu. ft 3-Door French Door Refrigerator, AGA Legacy 36 Inch French Door Refrigerator and Heartland 36 Inch French Door Refrigerator (photo 3).

If you are fond of large refrigerators looking even larger, then the American styled refrigerators are made for you. These refrigerators indeed look bigger than their size. Just have a look at KitchenAid 42" Side-by-Side Built-In Dispensing Refrigerator or Bosch Linea 300 Series 22 cu. ft. Side-by-Side Refrigerator in Stainless Steel or LG 22.5 cu. ft Side by Side Counter Depth Refrigerator (photo 4) and you will know what large means.

And of course, don’t forget the top brands in fridges. Explore and see if you can pick up something from brands like Samsung, Electrolux, Philips or Heartland.