..to be fed up with American-style fridge-freezers?

[AFridgeFreezerMadeForTwo]

My 10 year old fridge freezer is showing signs that its useful life may be nearing an end (i.e. it's knackered) so I've been looking round for a replacement.

Current one is medium size and I don't think we have ever filled it. There are only two of us; most of the time it's about 1/4 full so we bulk it with bottles of tap water in an effort to save energy.

For obvious reasons, I now want to go as small as I can with a replacement. But since I last bought one, the market seems to be dominated by enormous American-style models. Even the non-American style models seem to be mostly about 6ft tall!

I can see why they'd be great for families but my point is, surely there must be a significant market for small ones? Especially now people will want to conserve energy. Does everyone have an enormous kitchen - no. Does everyone have a large family - no.

It looks as though I am going to have to go 'basic' all round to get a smaller one, but given the chance I would pay extra for many of the useful features you find easily on the large ones - auto-defrost, integrated wine-rack, built-in ice trays, for example.

Only a rant really, but I would be interested to know if anyone else has found this problem.

Also, if you are a single person or one of a couple, what size of fridge/freezer do you have?

ao.com/product/fdr2213c-amica-fridge-freezer-cream-68602-28.aspx

other colours available

ao.com/l/fridge_freezers-free_standing-160_180_cm_high/

whole bunch in your desired height range

Thank you so much for all the suggestions; I'll go through them with my husband (not that he much cares about the design factor!). Mumsnetters being typically brilliant for having personal recommendations in a big marketplace!

I did consider looking for an AAA rated model but they all seemed very expensive and I'm not sure the lifespan of it would be enough for it to pay for itself; although I do appreciate the environmental factor, I think lowering the footprint by size is the most realistic option in my budget.

We have Bosch series 4 ( or maybe 6), which isn’t an American fridge freezer and has auto defrost etc…

Avoid Samsung at all costs, my second Samsung fridge freezer in 10 years has just died, grrr. I have gone for a American Fridge Freezer van Bosch, I hope it lasts.

There are masses of smaller fridges available!

It might look like that, but when you delve into it most of them are either the same very basic model but under different brandings, or (for more expensive ones) they're not in stock.

Really what I'm saying is that I'd like the range of designs and features you can get in the 'American style' appliances, but in fridge/freezers about the quarter of the size of them.

Just because you can't accommodate or financially justify a large fridge/freezer, it doesn't mean you wouldn't appreciate auto-defrost, 'holiday mode', a water dispenser, separate controls for fridge and freezer and built in ice cube trays and wine rack.

There must be a market for this. We can't be the only older couple who prefer to avoid driving to the supermarket for a fridge/freezer max-ing shop and take the 'little and often' approach on foot (I fully appreciate this won't be practical for everyone; it's just our preference).

Liebherr have stand-alone fridges and freezers of all kinds of smaller sizes and of fantastic quality. Should be widely available in the UK. We've had them for decades, highly recommend.

We had an AEG fridge freezer similar to your current model. About 50:50 split.
Bought an extra wine rack which was very handy. Water, beer soft drinks etc.
I love having the extra space for parties and Christmas though. Can't say I'd given it much thought to wasted energy by having it near empty? Thought it would make it madly efficient. Ours is always jammed so probably runs 2 degrees colder than necessary

Apparently not - it uses more energy if it's empty. You're using it efficiently if it's full!

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-5194481/Tips-slash-cost-running-fridge-freezer.html

I love having the extra space for parties and Christmas though.

We used to fill it once a year at Christmas when my parents came to stay, but they're no longer well enough to travel so for the last few years it hasn't even had that benefit. We don't give parties or anything like that so it only ever holds food for two for about two days! Most of what's in there at the moment is condiments because I'm a great fan of them.

Try AO. Much more choice and better prices than John Lewis plus we've found their delivery people super helpful.

Btw my understanding is that an empty fridge is more energy efficient than full, and the opposite is true of the freezer.

Thank you @GrumpyPanda , @TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams @entropynow @Caspianberg and @AgentJohnson for your suggestions.

I Would have lived to buy one of the American models but just dont have the space. I bought a 2m tall x66 cm wide 50/50 fridge freezer which is frost free and has pretty much all the bells and whistles I could have asked for (including an alarm if the door is left open). There's a huge choice of sizes available so list your requirements and do lots of browsing before you order

This is a the one we have. It's an American style BUT much smaller than average. In particular it's slightly narrower so the capacity is smaller. It's a great compromise between the two

Forgot the link! ao.com/product/ms83430ffs-fridgemaster-american-fridge-freezer-silver-69787-27.aspx

We just got a 60/40 one from Very. Downsized from a 6ft to slightly smaller and narrower. Really happy with it. Cold water dispenser on the front.
There's only 3 of us and we just put the Christmas beers drinks etc outside to keep them cold!

But whatever it is, you're probably talking about a few quid a year difference so really not worth bothering about.

There's probably far more choice in the 'standard' size, ie about 180 cm tall, 60 cm wide, so I'd probably look there and just buy a bag of chips that you never eat if you're concerned about the cost of freezing air.

The other thing to remember is that most energy saving articles in the press don't stand up to scrutiny, repeat myths that haven't been true for years and overstate the savings that can be made.