Can’t decide? Here’s a Quick Fridge Buying Guide
Gone are the times when people bought refrigerators based on how big it was because now there are many other options and features to choose from. Modern fridges can do more than give you cold water and keep your food frozen. If you are running a business, buying a fridge is even more crucial. For example, if you run a restaurant, choosing the right type of fridge is the most important element of the kitchen prep, as it’s used by every member of your team. You will want to find the best deal, a fridge that when it needs commercial refrigeration repair won’t cost you half of your business and ultimately lasts a long time. Similarly, with purchasing a fridge for personal use, you will want to choose the best one for you.
In this quick fridge buying guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to help you make the best choice for your next fridge. So let’s get started!
- What style do you want?
There are now many styles for you to pick from based on your kitchen’s layout, your style preference, space, and budget:
- Integrated: Can be quite expensive and designed to perfectly and smoothly blend with the rest of the kitchen. It’s almost like being camouflaged with the rest of the kitchen cabinets and appliances.
- Freestanding: These are the most common fridges out there and also the type that gives you the most freedom since you can easily move it around should you decide to reorganize your kitchen.
- Top Freezer: As the name suggests, the freezer’s at the top and the most prevalent configuration around.
- Bottom Freezer: You guessed, right! Freezer’s down below.
- Side-by-Side: The fridge’s on one side and the freezer on the other.
- French Door: It’s a combination of the bottom freezer with the side-by-side.
- How about its energy consumption?
As a growing social concern, refrigerators today are a whole lot more energy efficient compared to older models.
Always look at the energy ratings of your choices, keeping in mind that larger fridges will use more energy, so compare fridges of the same category.
- What size do you need?
It really depends on the number of people in your household, and how much food you need to keep fresh:
- 1 to 2 people – 200 to 380 litres
- 3 to 4 people – 350 to 530 litres
- 5 or more – 440 litres and above
- What features do you want?
There are some features that may help you decide on your next appliance. Here are just a few of them:
- Door finish: The common ones are stainless steel, white, and black. White tends to be cheaper, stainless is easier to clean, while black can easily hide fingerprint marks but will make your kitchen look darker.
- Ice maker: It’s nice to always have ice when you want to concoct a cold beverage. You can choose from plumbed types or the ones with built-in water tanks. Should you ever need your ice maker repaired or replaced, you may wish to call out one of the best plumbers in Chinchilla to do the job for you.
- Transparent drawers: The main advantage is you can easily see what’s inside without opening a drawer.
- Temperature controls: Look for models with no frost feature, freezers that quickly freezes food while reducing ice buildup, and fridge doors that will give a warning sound should you accidentally leave it open for a period of time.
Is it really time to buy a new one?
Refrigerators these days have a usual lifespan of 10 to 15 years with longevity depending mostly on usage. So the answer is definitely yes. However, if your fridge can run for a few more years with a little repair work, You should definitely get it prepared. Make sure to look for a reputed appliance repair firm ( similar to A+ Appliance Repair) that can fix all the issues in the fridge and make it ready to last for a couple more years.
On the other hand, You can consider buying a new one if your refrigerator has stopped working and is beyond repair. Or perhaps it’s no longer supporting the needs of your household, or your new kitchen layout and the old fridge just aren’t blending with each other. Lastly, the energy rating alone will likely trump that of your current one – so a new fridge could be part of a positive move for the environment.
