So choosing a refrigerator is really a matter of how well it fits your space, your budget, your aesthetic, and how it functions in your life. There are top and bottom freezers, side-by-side doors, and French door models available from almost every major brand in a variety of sizes. Ice and water dispensers have become commonplace, and now there are more bells and whistles like Wi-Fi connectivity, smart features, and technology that makes it possible to see inside the fridge without ever opening the door.
Mate: Choosing the right size refrigerator is the most important decision you’ll ever make. There’s nothing worse than constantly running out of cold storage space for perishables and frozen foods, but sometimes you only have so much space to work with. The capacity of your refrigerator is necessarily limited by the confines of your space. You can always get less refrigerator for the space you have, but don’t learn the hard way that a bulky, blocky appliance like a refrigerator won’t magically fit into less space than it needs to, even if it’s only a quarter inch. Refrigerator widths range from 24 inches to 36 inches and larger, with 30-inch and 36-inch models being the most popular and plentiful.
Once you know your maximum dimensions, considerations like layout and standard vs. countertop depth will affect the total capacity of your refrigerator. You’ll typically pay more for a countertop-depth appliance, which creates a streamlined aesthetic in your kitchen, even though you’ll get less storage space in return.
Style: The style and layout of your refrigerator are also important considerations.
- French door models are currently the most popular type of refrigerator. They look sleek and retain the temperature better, because you don’t necessarily have to open the entire width of the refrigerator when you want to get something.
- Bottom freezers Typically offer you a bit more freezer space than top freezers, which may be a consideration if your lifestyle leans toward frozen, ready-to-eat meals. If you reach for the refrigerator more often than the freezer, some also like that bottom freezers allow for more eye-level interaction with the items you reach for most often. Top freezer models still exist, but have largely fallen out of fashion.
- Side by side Refrigerators offer a sleek choice for a narrower space and give you more freezer space than top/bottom models. This also means that they typically have less space for unfrozen food and can also be less temperature consistent and energy efficient due to the length required to maintain two different temperature zones.
- Countertop deep refrigerators are less deep than a standard refrigerator, so they don’t stick out as much and can give your kitchen a more personal look. For this reason, they are often slightly wider or taller to compensate for the loss of depth capacity. A standard countertop is about 24 inches, and countertop refrigerators are 31 to 33 inches deep.
Special features: All those little extras like an automatic ice maker and water filter and touch-view door are nice, but they cost, well, extra. If you’re an ice cream fiend, you’re better off getting a refrigerator that makes custom ice, for example. If not, go for a more basic fridge with fewer special features and spend your kitchen dollars elsewhere.
LG’s pricey MoodUp refrigerator comes with all the conveniences, including illuminated panels that you can tune to music.
Price: Full-size refrigerators start around $600 and go up from there. A lot. There are smart refrigerators with lighting schemes, see-through doors, and built-in cameras, but these will cost you thousands of dollars. Most quality refrigerators fall somewhere between $800 and $2,500, so be prepared to spend something in that price range for a reliable model with a good design and sufficient capacity.
