If you need to buy a refrigerator, don’t try to scrutinize every refrigerator in the supermarket. To make a good choice you just have to decide what you need. As in any other sphere, here there are special criteria. That’s why it is important to get all the information beforehand.
Refrigerator sizes and capacity
Before buying a refrigerator, decide where are you going to put it and what capacity do you need. The choice of size is made according to the proportions of free space. Standard refrigerator depth is 60cm, but if you have a lot of free space, you may choose one with 80cm. The height depends on chamber composition and may vary from 50 to 210cm. Width differs from 60 to 100 cm. The refrigerator capacity should allow to arrange products not very close to each other, so that the air could circulate. Some more details...
For small flats and for those who don’t need a large refrigerator, small and compact refrigerator will be convenient. Such models have usually one chamber, with small freezing section (there may not be freezer at all). The sizes of such models are 160cm height (but there are even smaller -50cm), width and depth are usually standard 60x60cm. Such refrigerators will be appropriate for those who live alone, or for the hotels.
European type refrigerators can also be placed in the small kitchen. They are quite narrow (60cm width) but can be up to 2,5meters high. Depth is standard for European countries – 60cm. Depending on the height, the capacity can vary from 200 to 350 liters. Freezing chamber and cold store are placed one under the other and have separate doors. In such refrigerators freezing chamber is usually on the bottom, but it can be vice versa. Such models are perfect for small family. The only disadvantage is inaccessibility of top shelves to small people, especially to children.
If you have a large kitchen, then you can afford a wide refrigerator, up to 1 meter width. Unlike the European models, these ones would be much lower (under 180cm) and more convenient to everybody. Such models are usually made by Asian manufactories. Freezing chamber is usually on the top.
You can choose a large refrigerator among the «Side-by-Side» models. They look like a cabinet with two side doors (freezing chamber and cold store).
These refrigerators have capacity from 300 to 650 liters. Their sizes are very large: width up to 1m, depth up to 85 cm, height up to 180 cm. «Side-by-Side» refrigerators are designed for those who like to store a lot of products. A lot of famous producers (LG, Samsung) have such models.
Choosing the refrigerator, remember about the door openings. When the doors are open, they can impede in small room. In some models it is possible to change the side in which the door would open.
Built-in refrigerator
The advantage of built-in refrigerator is that it perfectly fits in the kitchen interior. The refrigerator is covered by a door, only its temperature detectors are left outside. So you can control your built-in refrigerator without opening it. Space under the refrigerator can be used for shelves or dishwasher. That’s all its advantages. Built-in refrigerator costs more. Besides, its useful capacity is 2 times smaller then its size. As for the mounting: in the furniture there should be slits for free air circulation.
Number of chambers
The number of chambers is one of the criteria in the question of refrigerator choosing. Possible number, from 1 to 3, depends on your requirement to refrigerator functionality.
One-chamber refrigerators are only small ones with one door. They have only cold store. But there are models with small freezing sector, where you can store about 2kg of meat.
Refrigerators with two chambers (freezing and cold store) are the most popular. The main criterion for choosing the double-chamber refrigerator is the composition of chambers. Such refrigerators are made with one or two doors. The advantage of double-chamber refrigerators is that when you open one door, the cold temperature in the other chamber doesn’t fluctuate. So you are saving energy power, necessary for the certain temperature maintenance.
On the basis of this idea, triple-chamber refrigerators appeared. But they are not very popular, because the partitions between chambers decrease the payload volume of the refrigerator.
It is advisable, that the most frequently used chamber was on the top. Of course, it doesn’t refer to the «Side-by-Side» refrigerators. The advantage of refrigerators with top freezing chambers is energy saving up to 10 percent.
Cold store
Cold store usually occupies the main part of the refrigerator. In this section there are a lot of different shelves and containers.
Shelves are usually glass or in the form of lattice. Glass shelves are easily cleaned and look more esthetic. The advantage of lattices is that they don’t prevent air circulation inside the cold store. All the shelves except for the plastic ones are very durable, but there should be a lot of fastenings inside the chamber. It allows to make any combination of shelves height.
Defrosting system inside the refrigerator works automatically. Nowadays there are two systems: dropping and No Frost.
In dropping defrosting system moisture collects on the back side and then drips in the special tray and evaporates. But it is recommended to defreeze your refrigerator manually twice a year. Refrigerators with dropping defrosting system cost less then with No Frost system.
No Frost system is based on the air circulation inside the chamber. In such refrigerators there is no hoar-frost and one temperature regime is maintained in the whole chamber. Moisture condenses on the special cooling element and then collects in the tray and evaporates. The inconvenience of this system is that it occupies the payload volume of the chamber.
Freezer
There are different types of constructions inside the freezer, depending on its position. If the freezer is in the bottom part, then it usually has three cases that can be moved out. If the freezer is on the top, then it is usually divided by shelves.
The main criteria for freezing chamber are the payload volume and the ability to maintain certain temperature. Products shelf life depends on the store temperature. For one week storage the temperature of -6°C is enough (such refrigerators have one star). If the temperature is -12°C, then the products can be stored for one month (two stars). If the temperature is -18°C, then your food will stay fresh for three month (three stars). If there is a possibility to set the temperature lower then -18°C, then you may not worry for about half a year. Such refrigerators are marked with four stars.
You can have automatic (drooping, No Frost) or manual defrosting system. If you have manual defrosting system, then you’ll have to switch off the freezing chamber, delete the hoar-frost and wash the chamber.
Choosing the refrigerator, don’t forget that the bigger is the freezing chamber, the smaller will be the cold store. Decide, which chamber is necessary for you.
Zero zone
Zero zone is a chamber, where there is a zero temperature and high humidity. The food stays fresh for a long time in this chamber. It can be useful if you want to cook something not just now, but a bit later and you don’t want to freeze the products.
Refrigerator compressor
The choice of one or two-compressor refrigerator depends on many factors.
Of course the small refrigerator will have only one compressor. Large refrigerators with one compressor are cheaper. But the “motor” will work for the freezer and for the cold store. It means, that if you need to lower the temperature in one chamber, the compressor will cool both, using additional energy.
That’s why it is advisable to choose a refrigerator with two compressors. First, one motor is not able to cool the big number of products quickly. Second, for a refrigerator with two separate chambers it is better to have two compressors. In such case every motor will cool only one chamber, and you’ll be able to set different temperatures for chambers. Of course, there are models in which you can set different temperatures with one compressor, but there are very few of them. An additional advantage of two-compressor refrigerator is the possibility to switch off one of them. It may be convenient if you want to wash one chamber, while the second one is working.
Energy consumption class
It is important to choose the right refrigerator according to its energy consumption class. The most economical ones are marked with letter “A”. The next are “B” and “C” classes, which are not very different from the first class and are considered to be economical. The refrigerators with high energy consumption (from “D” to “G”) are not produced nowadays. The difference between classes also consists in the ability to maintain certain temperature without electricity. That’s why searching for a higher class you may overpay for the refrigerator. Considerable difference in price of two close by the energy consumption class refrigerators isn’t worth of it. The main is, that the letter showing the class were no less then “C”.
Besides, if you want your refrigerator to use less energy, you should follow these simple rules. First, don’t put in the refrigerator the products, which temperature is higher then the room temperature. Don’t leave the doors open for a long time. The refrigerator should be as distant from the cooker and battery as possible.
Refrigerator price
Refrigerator price is an important factor. You can’t choose a refrigerator that you can’t afford. The price will depend on the capacity and the number of chambers, and also on their functions and the defrosting type. Additional components of the price will depend on the number of compressors, energy consumption class, and of course, the producer. The price is growing with the presence of different additional functions. For example, a convenient function is a sound signal of the door, when it is being open for a long time.
Knowing all these criteria, it will be much easier to choose a refrigerator. Taking into account, that there are a lot of different models, this information should be very useful for you.
We wish to make a right choice!