How do I choose a fridge freezer and what actually matters in the specification?

A fridge freezer is the only appliance in the house that runs continuously for ten to fifteen years, so the specification points that matter are the ones you meet daily and the ones that determine running cost. Capacity in litres, the split between compartments, the defrost system and the noise rating cover almost all of it. Shelf material, LED lighting and holiday modes cover almost none of it.

Step by step

1. Measure the aperture, the door swing and the route into the kitchen.Width, depth including the door and handle, and height including any adjustable feet. Then measure the doorways it has to pass through — a 700mm wide American-style unit through a 690mm doorway is the classic delivery-day failure. Check whether the door can be reversed if it will open the wrong way.
2. Choose the capacity split before the total.70/30 fridge-heavy suits households that shop fresh and cook daily. 50/50 suits batch cooking and freezing. 60/40 is the common compromise. The split is much harder to live with wrong than the total capacity is.
3. Read capacity in litres and check whether it is gross or net.Gross is the empty cavity; net is what you can actually use once the shelves, drawers and fittings are in. Compare net figures. Roughly 100-150 litres of fridge per person as a first cut, less for singles who shop often.
4. Decide frost free or static.Frost free circulates air and never needs defrosting, at the cost of slightly higher running cost and drier air that dehydrates unwrapped food. Static is quieter and cheaper to buy and run, and needs manual defrosting once or twice a year. This is the biggest single decision on the sheet.
5. Check the climate class against where it will actually stand.SN covers +10 to +32°C, N covers +16 to +32°C, ST covers +16 to +38°C and T covers +16 to +43°C. A kitchen is usually fine on any of them. A garage, utility room or conservatory is not, and SN-T is the class that copes with a wide range.
6. Check the noise figure the same way you would for a dishwasher.Below 38dB is very quiet. 40-42dB is normal. Above 43dB in an open-plan kitchen or a flat is intrusive, and unlike a dishwasher it never stops. This is the specification people regret ignoring most.
7. Check the freezing capacity and the star rating if you freeze fresh food.Look for four stars, which is the only rating that means the compartment can freeze fresh food rather than just store frozen food. The freezing capacity, in kilograms per 24 hours, tells you how much fresh food it can take at once.
8. Check the temperature rise time.Often quoted as hours to rise from -18°C to -9°C with the power off. A longer figure means better insulation and more margin in a power cut. It is the most useful number on the sheet that nobody looks at.
9. Look at the annual energy consumption in kWh, not the letter class.The class was rescaled in 2021 and most good appliances now sit at D, E or F. The kWh per year figure is the one you can multiply by your own tariff. Two appliances of the same class can differ by 60kWh a year.
10. Check the shelves, drawers and door bins against how you actually shop.A full-width salad drawer, a bottle shelf that takes a 2-litre bottle upright, and toughened glass shelves with a spill lip are all worth more day to day than any electronic feature. Check the door bin takes a milk bottle.

Tips

• A fridge freezer that is too big for the household costs more to run and holds temperature no better. A slightly too small one gets overpacked, which blocks airflow and causes warm spots.
• Water and ice dispensers come in plumbed and non-plumbed versions. Non-plumbed means filling a tank by hand, which most people stop doing after a month.
• Check where the compressor is. A fridge with the compressor recessed at the back has less usable depth at the bottom than the external dimensions suggest.
• If it is going into a fitted run, check the hinge type. Some doors need clearance beyond 90 degrees to pull the salad drawers out, which a side wall will prevent.

Common mistakes

• Buying on external size rather than net litres — Insulation thickness varies enormously. A better-insulated appliance is smaller inside for the same footprint and cheaper to run — the trade is real and only visible in the litre figure.
• Ignoring climate class because the appliance is going in the kitchen — Kitchens with a range cooker, a conservatory link or south-facing glazing routinely exceed 32°C in summer, and an N-class appliance outside its range stops holding -18°C.
• Choosing 50/50 because it sounds balanced — Most households run out of fridge space long before freezer space. Look at what is actually full in your current appliance before deciding.

Questions people ask