Small Refrigerator Freezer

What to look for in a small refrigerator freezer and some good places to start your shopping.



Maybe you are moving into a dorm room and want to be able to skip the cafeteria sometimes, or you want something cold to drink while you're at work, or you've downsized to an efficiency apartment. Whatever the reason, you're tight on space but you need a refrigerator with a freezer. Here are some things to consider before you buy the first thing you see.

Decide What You Need First

Before you even skip over to Amazon (which has some great small refrigerators), decide what you want. Do you have to have an ice maker for example? Is a shelf door big enough for a jumbo soda bottle essential? Maybe a gallon of milk? Does it have to be white, or stainless steel? Does noise matter? Price? Should it be light enough for you to lift it alone, or light enough for you and a friend to lift it?

Space

So where is this refrigerator going? Does it have to fit between two nailed-down cabinets in a kitchen, or do you have a whole wall to work with? If you space is restricted, you definitely need to measure to know get model refrigerator will work for you. Don't forget to measure depth, either, because its a real pain to have a refrigerator that sticks out in the kitchen, or to have to pull the fridge forward (and then havve a space that you're dropping stuff into, lost forever, for the next two years) to keep it flush to the furniture around it.

By the way, if you want a tall and skinny fridge, go for the Frigidaire FRC05L5D. It won across all categories in Consumer Reports comparisions of different compact fridges. The FRC05L5D was rated "excellent" by CR for energy efficiency and freezer performance. For noise, it came in as "very good" and for overall performance it was "good".

Noise

If you are keeping your small refrigerator freezer in an office kitchen, there's no problem if it makes noise. If you are sleeping next to it, then there's a problem. Sometimes there can be quite a trade off for the noise factor. For example, the Haier HRT02WNC came in 3rd place out of four tested for Consumer Reports analysis of cube compact refrigerators, but the HRT02WNC was rated number 1 across all categories of compact refrigerators. If you want quiet, the HRT02WNC is your baby, but if you are willing to compromise a bit, the Haier HSA02 got good marks for both overall performance and noise. Unfortunately, it stinks in the energy efficiency department.

Features

This is where you need to know if you must have an ice maker. Or if you need to have a fridge where the door can be made to open from either side. This can be the make to break feature in some tight spaces. Don't be like me and carry home some 70 lb box only to learn that you needed a door that opened from the left, not the right. (Duh).

OK - so maybe you're saying "I just want a small fridge, for !@#$% sake." So be it. Don't whine when you don't like the fridge you get, and you're stuck with it for the next five years.