Buying my first fridge… what should I actually look for?

[Cozyhomeforu]

I’m looking to get my first fridge and honestly have no idea what I should be paying attention to 😅 Storage space, energy efficiency, smart features… what actually matters in the long run?

For those who’ve owned a few fridges, what features do you love??

Also, I’d prefer to keep this brand-neutral, so please no specific brand recommendations!

Just looking for honest advice and real-life experiences. Thanks!

Fridge or fridge freezer?
safety record
size
noise
online reviews (join Which)
how robust do the interior bits feel?

Some people like ice dispensers or things for cold water too.

Measure the size of where it is going to go before shopping.

Get a Samsung American Fridge Freezer. With an ice machine and water dispenser m. I have a plumbed one, it is my favourite thing I own

If you keep wine in the fridge, check that the area inside the door is tall enough. Ours will take screw capped bottles but not corks.

And if there's an electric point.

Our old one used to have a can rack and a wine rack. Would recommend.

If you don’t need a huge posh fridge I’d say be careful- (I’m sorry everyone recommending them!) we have an American style and have had issues where the temperature changed and the stupid touch screen made it difficult to regulate. The guy who came to fix it said people are so blinded by the size they don’t realise if they don’t have a big family a normal one does the job for hslf the price and less hassle. We make ice the old fashioned way!

If you're getting a fridge freezer, make sure it's self defrosting!! The one we inherited when we moved house isn't and a right pain to defrost every 6 months!

Also in a fridge check the height of the shelves. We often put saucepans or the slow cooker pot in the fridge, but our kitchen fridge which we inherited doesn't fit them. Our extra fridge freezer in the garage does thankfully.

I'd avoid anything with ice/water dispensers or digital features because anything complex will eventually go wrong, then either impossible or costly to fix.

As PPs have said, measure the space and check there's a convenient power socket.

Do a lot of research first, read the reviews, and when you've decided on the model, check prices. Also check ebay for a 'reconditioned' model. There are numerous professional sellers who sell on returned products with slight dings and otherwise new/nothing wrong with them, and they still come with the usual 1 year warranty. Fridges are generally very reliable, I've had one fridge needing repair in about 40 years, so I wouldn't advise you to pay for any long term insurance.

P.S. ChatGPT tells me you should get one with a Inverter (Variable-Speed) Compressor, rather than Fixed-Speed (Non-Inverter) - though only budget models will be Fixed Speed.

ENERY EFFICIENCY. definitely. Sometimes i got surprised by electric bills...

Is it a fridge only of fridge freezer?

-I always prefer the fridge on the top because you'll be opening it 90% of the time compared to the freezer.
-Drawers in the freezer make it easier to pull them out and see what is in there
-Frost free versions can cost slightly more and are slightly more to run, but pay for themselves in the time and faff of ice build up and trying to defrost the whole thing
-Measure the space you have to put one. They generally come in slimline 55cm wide, standard 60cm wide and also the extra wide American style ones
-How many people in your household?
-Do you tend to have more fresh items or frozen? You can buy a fridge freezer with various capacity percentages such as 50/50, 80/20, 60/40 etc but it depends how you'll use it
-Check the warranty

Check if the energy you are going to save over the lifetime of the fridge is greater than the increase in cost of buying a more efficient one- often it isn't.

Go to Currys and bring empties of the food you use- for us it is milk cartons. See how it fits

Make sure the door opens the way it suits the location you’re putting it in, or that the door opening can be swapped over.

Keep it dumb. The more technology isstuffed onto something, the more likely something will go wrong ime.
I tolerate display and that's it. I still don't trust the display because it shows settings not current temp usually so I still have thermostats inside😂

As pp mentioned, ftidge/freezer ratio is important. If you use freezer a lot, watch out for it. Also depth of the freezer drawers. I swearI encountered in built one which couldn't fit standard pizza box lying horizontally....

For me it's all about size. I don't care about ice or smart features. I just want to be able to put enough stuff in it. If it's a fridge freezer, how much do you use your freezer because you can have a different division of space between fridge and freezer. Fridge on top essential but I think that's the default these days. I really like a big veg drawer too.

I have a Beko fridge freezer with something called HarvestFresh - my veggies definitely last a lot longer than they did in my previous fridge.

I know you didn’t ask for brand recommendations but our new build was fitted with AEG/Electrolux integrated F/Fs and loads of our neighbours have had problems with them freezing up. Our cheap Beko in the garage works just fine.

Total frost free
make sure freezer section is big enough
Dh longs for one with double fridge doors, but my sister had one at a cottage she was staying in and she said it was a right faff having to open both doors whilst cooking.

Frost-free, correct width and height, flexible interior (e.g. check that any bottle racks and egg holders can be removed, I don't need any of that stuff), enough shelves so there are no empty spaces, removable shelves for cleaning, if your fridge door will not be able to open 180 degrees (due to wall etc) make sure the drawers at the bottom can still pull out, no dispensers on the front (these need sterilising at intervals to be hygienic), door that can be easily swapped over to open either way (never yet had one that came the way I needed as standard), make sure the lighting inside won't make you ill (some I saw had multicolour lights inside and that was an automatic no from me). Read reviews on John Lewis, AO and Which (free access via the library probably).

After the obvious things like measurements, I'd consider:

fridge to freezer space (We like 50/50).
Frost free for the freezer for sure to save deicing
How many shelves/drawers it has
Energy efficiency
Some people like the salad drawers at the bottom, would you rather one big one or two little ones
Anything after that is a nice bonus imo

My old one had a shelf which was half flap up, allowing for bottles etc to be stored below. I regret not keeping that shelf as I haven't seen any like it since. To the OP I would say get the biggest you can for the space available.

I would also recommend not getting black - I did and can't seem to keep it looking clean as it is shiny which catches the light, so wipe marks galore!

I think deep drawers for the freezer are a big deal for me - if you need to freeze tubs of ice cream you don't want to be breaking the handle because it is caught on the bottom of the drawer above and frozen due to shallow drawers.

I think working out how often you eat fresh/frozen and what kind of use the freezer will get is also a huge factor. I batch freeze to keep costs and cooking down, so I need around 40/50% split.

You probably want as big as you can fit in and afford, ours is never big enough. After that look at how often they break down. I like our larder draw I think it's controlled humidity but whatever it seems good. But size definitely matters.

We have two separate upright freezers again the more space the better, for us anyway I do freeze a lot of stuff..