Today is the era when refrigerator has become a part of the basic amenities in a household. A refrigerator makes the life of not only the home-maker easy but of all the members in the house. Whether you want a chilling drink to refresh after a long tiring day at work or stacking up food for your loved ones so you can take trips without a worry, a refrigerator has easily solved many problems and simplified many lives.

Buying a refrigerator can however be a tedious job and is not as easy as it used to be about 2 decades ago. You not only have to take care of the size of the refrigerator but also take into consideration many other factors and choose that will best suit your needs.

Consider your space: Before you start to look and read about refrigerators it is very important for you to inspect the place you want to place the refrigerator. Take measurements before hand with a measuring tape since it is the first filter when you start looking at refrigerators.

Capacity or Volume: the capacity of the fridge you will need depends on the size of your family and the amount of food you would like to store in it. The capacity of the fridge is measures in litres and the electricity cost increases with the increase in capacity. So don’t buy a large capacity fridge just because you have the place to keep it. A 180 L to 200 L fridge is sufficient for a small family who don’t store a lot of food. 

Quality & Energy Efficiency: there is no point if you opt for a cheap and low quality fridge but have to replace it every 3-4 years. Most of the fridges have an average life of 7-10 years with regular maintenance and cleaning. To top it off, cheap fridge is poorly insulated giving you less cooling but increasing your bills.  Opt for a fridge that is rated with good stars.

Warranty: A good quality fridge will always give you a worthy warranty in case of damage. Usually the companies give a warranty of 1 year on body and 5-6 years on the compressor.

Different types of refrigerators

Times have changed when fridges were available only in one form. You can choose from varied designs and styles that best suit your need and budget.

Freezer on top refrigerators:

This is the most common and traditional type of fridge as the design is one of the oldest. The top freezer compartment is in use even today. Less expensive and more energy efficient and this type is a big hit without doubt. They offer fairly wider shelves to reach the back and more storage space compared to the size of other types.

This type however needs to be well insulated opposing the warm exterior air rising up the fridge below. More space will be required for the wide swinging doors. The wide swinging door will need more space and you will need to reach the bottom shelves with a little trouble, not suitable for users with back problem and older people to use it effortlessly.

Freezer at bottom refrigerators:

With the freezer at the bottom, this type is available in all size ranges as the top one. Since the freezer is not regularly accessed area in the fridge, having it at the bottom gives you more space to store and reach them with convenience and comfort. The efficiency increases considerably since the warmer fridge compartment is located above the relatively cooler freezer. This type is however more costly than the top mounted ones.

Two door side by side refrigerator:

In this type the freezer and the refrigerator compartment are located side by side with full length vertical spilt. However, the freezer unit is comparatively smaller than the other section. This allows you to store food in both the compartments at a convenient level without having to bend low are stand on your heels to access. As they are thinner compared to the above two types, they are the best option for smaller kitchen and don’t take much of your space. Also the double doors don’t require an opening door clearance. They have more capacity compared to the largest top or bottom mounted refrigerators. Some of these models also have an in-door ice and cold water dispensers and sport the fast ice making feature. As these are taller, it get difficult to access items stored at the back and narrower design can make storing bulky items difficult. They are more expensive compared to the single door ones and less energy efficient.

French Door Refrigerator

This is the latest type of fridge that sport two doors on the top and a pull out drawer at the bottom. This type surely solves the issues with other designs. The top two door section is used to store the refrigerated food items at a convenient eye level and the French bottom door discards the problems of marrow side by side doors. Having wider shelves allows storing more food items that are bulkier and easy access the back of the fridge. All of type of fridge features the in-door ice and water dispenser.

However, many users find it difficult to arrange items in the freezer making it less space efficient and are more expensive than the other types.

Other features to consider

Most of the refrigerators today come with a host of other features and increase the functionality and make them versatile but some of them may not be cost effective.

The crisper is a functionality that stores vegetables and fruits separate from others at optimum humidity and temperature levels.

Some of the fridges come with antibacterial enzymes on the shelves and walls that destroy bacteria on the fridge. It also helps to keep the fruits and vegetables fresh for a longer time period.

It is always beneficial to go for a fridge with a thermostat control. Unlike traditional models where you had to adjust the thermostat using a dial located at the back of the fridge, today thermostat controls come with a digital screen and push control buttons.Spill proof feature blocks the contents to drip to the other shelves and rescues you from having to clean the entire fridge only because of one spill.

Some of them come with reversible doors that allow you to open the door from any direction, giving you more freedom to access the fridge from any side and is an added advantage especially where there are space constraints.

We hope we were of help and guided you to make a decision in buying a refrigerator that best suit your needs, expectations and budget.