That setup is not for everyone but if I had to get a new set right now I’d buy a medium sized fridge with a glass door (I already have a small one in my office and I love being able to see what’s inside without leaving the door open, the brand is called Klarstein) and a chest freezer. Chest freezers are way more efficient because the cold air stays put when you open them and they’re just practical for using all of the available space.

I bought a new fridge freezer recently. It was tricky because of limited width, but I’m happy with the Bosch I chose (it was on special). Freezer’s at the bottom, with drawers, which I’ve grown to appreciate. I was also dubious about the bigger veggie drawer, but actually it’s great.

Smart/App:

1. Ignore the App and “buhuuu smarrrtt bad”!warning here and rather look at the brand more exactly and do your own due diligence. Is a cloud app bad? Yes,maybe. (But tbh, the amount of information given out is somewhat negligible here) BSH (Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte, incl. Neff and Gagenau) offers HomeConnect that at least is within GDPR reach. Even better: If you already have a Home Assistant instance running there is a “Home Connect local” integration that,well, gives you the important benefits while keeping it local. Liebherr offers the “Smart Box” as an upgrade that your install yourself,but as far as I know there is no proper way to keep it offline. But Liebherr has a fair share of privacy certifications at least (and a lot to loose as loosing them for their “sidemarket” of household cooling appliances and thereby fucking over their professional market would really bite them…not that that is a guarantee, but…maybe it helps…

There are a few Asian brands that work with Tuya (which is a data security/privacy nightmare) but also support Tuya local (without cloud).

The information security risk for these solutions,especially when using proper network segmentation (which is easily done - if you aren’t into IT then get a Omada combined router and be done in 1h)… Last but not least: You can of course smarten up your fridge yourself. Get a binary door opening sensor, wireless temperature probe and most importantly a power measuring plug (Nous A1T are Tasmota based and cheap) so you can find out early if your device fucks up.

Besides that’Considering the energy prices here get the most efficient one you can afford. It will get amortization sooner than you think.

I had one with a bottom freezer and also a side by side and hated them both. A traditional top door freezer really is the best.

Something that works without WiFi.

In my experience side by sides are the least efficient use of their space. Its hard to stack most frozen foods up tall and narrow because they slide around and will slide out the front every time you open the door. Freezer top or freezer bottom units can be packed a lot more efficiently since it maximizes horizontal space and I vastly prefer them.

“Nothing smart” is the only other appliance rule.

Not a Samsung. My wife used to be a big fan, but the last two brand new Samsung fridges broke within weeks, and their product support was terrible.

(Our current fridge is LG and we haven’t had any problems with it. There are probably other brands that are also reliable and well built).

We switched from side-by-side to a pullout drawer freezer on bottom and could not be happier. Side-by-side really limits your storage space, whereas top and bottom units allow you to store larger or unusually shaped things. And having the freezer in a drawer is clutch, way better than having it on top

It’s worth it to pay extra for anything that doesn’t need an app or WiFi connectivity.

Those are huge red flags. Avoid anything “smart” like the plauge.

Appliances with “smart features” are simply scraping your whole home, not just your phone, for data to sell to advertisers. Very often the app or even the company won’t outlive the appliance itself, so as happens frequently, in 2 years you’ll be stuck with a perfectly workable appliance that refuses to work because some server in China went offline.

If you’re interested in energy efficiency, here’s a great video from Technology Connections!

Yes the headline is about chest freezers, but he just uses that as an example of highest possible efficiency before getting into other design of fridge/freezers

Liebherr is European and good. Expensive though.

Depth is the measurement most forget, check it fits. A deeper one is a good way to get more capacity.

Make a decision on your fridge freezer split. I do a lot of batch cooking, so went for 50/50 to get more room in the freezer.

Size: height depth width… Can be easy to miss one dimension. Energy rating - obvious reasons Noise depending on the room it’s in Ergonomics - can you reach all the bits you need to… Imagine filling it with your weekly shop. - better energy rating=more insulation=less space. Doors can generally be reversed, but check. Some FFs have two compressor circuits, others only one. Can be important if keeping it in a garage. Do you need a water cooler/ice maker thing? More to clean, more to go wrong. YOUR FRIDGE DOES NOT NEED AN INTERNET CONNECTION Nor does it need funky windows & stuff Self defrost is a must. We spent ages discussing colour, now you can barely see it behind pictures & papers etc.

Think " is this a useful feature for me, or is it marketing fluff? "

Finally, while a fridge should be a long term purchase, is just a box that gets cold. Don’t lose sleep over it.

This is not helpful but I just want to kvetch. It seems like any appliances you buy nowadays are just so shitty compared to even ten years ago. Even brands that have long been reliable are so hit or miss. I have a mini-fridge that’s almost 30 years old and still works fine. I keep being tempted to buy one with a better freezer or that’s more energy-efficient but I worry it would kick the bucket and be unrepairable within 5 years.

Having spent a year selling appliances at Home Depot, I will rank the following brands of refrigerator in order of quality. Beyond that, it really just comes down to features.

• LG - they used to have a lot of problems with their compressors, but they solve that a couple of years ago. They make honestly the best refrigerators for the money. They come in some cool designs.

• GE - if LG is the “modern look”, then GE is the “traditional look“. That’s not to say that GE doesn’t make very lovely refrigerators – – they do. And they are very high-quality as well. However, unlike LG, the lower end GE refrigerators aren’t as high in quality as the lower and LG refrigerators.

• Samsung - some of the most pretty most expensive most feature filled refrigerators. And they’re absolute fucking garbage. You’ll own it for two or three years before something. Major goes wrong. Within five years you’ll have to replace it. And, again, they cost, hundreds, even thousands of dollars, more than their competitors. Avoid Samsung appliances at all costs.

Don’t get an in-door ice maker. If you have to have an ice maker, have it internal to the unit.

Check out what maintenance you need to do before you buy it, and how easy the maintenance will be given the space you’re putting the unit into. Like, if it’s a tight fit and surrounded on three sides, cleaning the coils might be problematic, etc.