In addition, we haven’t seen any proof that spending more on a fridge means it will be more reliable, at least not among non-luxury freestanding fridges. True counter-depth fridges can blend into their surroundings, but even the pseudo-counter-depth freestanding fridges from mainstream brands don’t feel so dominating or imposing in a room. Although side-by-sides tend to create much less satisfaction than French-door whirlpool mini refrigerator models, some people genuinely prefer this layout. Arguably the best part is that they tend to cost much less than French-door fridges while offering similar capacities and feature sets. A $2,000 French-door is not as nice,” said Richard Hughes of Appliance Factory. You can find four popular styles of freestanding refrigerators, plus a few less-common types, all with some aesthetic and functional differences.
He enjoys visiting factories and learning about regulatory loopholes, and has flooded our testing area only three times. When in doubt, check the yellow Energy Guide sticker on any model to get an idea of its energy consumption and estimated costs of operation. The stickers all have text and graphics to represent the range of operating costs within a category; look for a model with a cost on the lower end of the scale. The first, simplest step toward picking a more sustainable fridge is to make sure it uses climate-friendly R600a refrigerant, as many current models do. If the refrigerant leaks, it’ll have no effect on the ozone layer and a negligible effect on global warming. When you buy a premium refrigerator, you’re paying for the look or the features, not a more reliable product.
You can put a small, affordable top-freezer fridge in a big cutout meant for a humongous, expensive French-door model. Bigger fridges do tend to make people much happier than smaller ones, according to our reader survey and analysis of customer reviews. Many people buy the widest fridge that fits their space and budget and often one that’s very deep , too.
Wide but shallow fridges, like counter-depth French-door models, might represent a happy medium. These fridges are big enough to help minimize shopping trips, they might reduce the amount of time you spend looking for items, and they are compact whirlpool mini refrigerator enough to save some energy. Any prediction about reliability is based on data about older fridges. That’s a reasonable way to try to do it, but there isn’t much of that historical data to begin with, especially outside of the five major brands.
Our overall pick is the most versatile mini fridge we could find, with room for everything from cans and condiments to takeout boxes, as well as a pint of ice cream or a couple of ice trays in the freezer section. If you’re looking for a mini fridge that you can put to work in a pinch as either a fridge or a freezer, this is the easiest, most compact and stowable option around, and came recommended to us by the experts at Liberty Home Guard. I looked at this fridge this morning, and I found the specs (4.3 cu.ft) suspect. Target has another Whirlpool with the exact same dimensions listing 3.5 cu.ft.
Owners like this Bosch model’s style and often say it seems to keeps food fresher a little longer . The GE Café line is also well liked among owners who have left reviews, mostly for its style. We don’t have enough evidence to say with confidence that one brand of top-freezer fridges is significantly better than others. In our reader survey, we didn’t receive enough responses about LG or Samsung top-freezer models, for example, for the results to be statistically significant, let alone for smaller brands like Insignia or Magic Chef. Even with all those upgrades, a top-of-the-line top-freezer model will almost always still cost less than any other style of refrigerator of comparable size. We don’t have great data on LG’s reputation for top-freezer models—we got too few survey responses regarding such models to reach statistical significance.