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American Style Fridge Freezer Buying Guide
Helping you to find the best American style fridge freezer
With so many different variants of American style fridge freezers to choose from, it can be difficult to find one that works for you. Here we’ll guide you through everything you need to know to find the perfect refrigerator with lots of storage for your home.
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What is an American Style Fridge Freezer?
An American style fridge freezer is a type of large-capacity fridge freezer. They often come with many sought-after features, such as ice and water dispensers or smart technology. Due to their large size and versatility, American style fridge freezers are bought by family households as a food storage solution and kitchen statement-piece.
Is an American Style Fridge Freezer Right For You?
Before taking the leap and investing in a stunning new American style fridge freezer, it’s first worth considering if they are the best choice for you and your household. Although this style of refrigeration offers many benefits and high quality features, their large size isn’t suitable for every home.
Below are some pros and cons to help you decide whether an American style fridge freezer is right for you:
Pros and Cons of American Style Fridge Freezers
Pros
Cons
Don’t worry if you decide against an American style. We have a huge variety of other fridge freezers from trusted brands that look perfect in all styles of kitchens.
Types of American Style Fridge Freezers
There are a few different styles of American style fridge freezers to choose from. These include Side by Side, French Door, and Four Door. Each type comes with advantages that may be more suited to your needs and preferences.
Side by Side
The original, and most common, style of American style fridge freezer is the side by side fridge freezer, otherwise known as the two door.
The side by side style has an upright fridge compartment next to an upright freezer compartment. This layout makes it simple to organise fresh and frozen food. They also tend to have compartments in the door for even more storage space. This makes it even easier to separate your foods and view everything at once.
French Door
French door fridge freezers, also known as French style, typically feature the freezer as a pull-out drawer below two fridge doors. This is a popular design as most of the fridge can be seen at eye level.
This type of fridge freezer is a great option for households that buy more fresh food than frozen food. That’s because they have a much larger fridge space than freezer, with their fridge compartment being bigger on average than side by side models. However, due to the location and size of the freezer, it does mean that you will need to bend down for access and you may find there’s less freezer capacity than other models.
Four Door
A four door model has two doors at the top for the fridge, and two doors at the bottom for the freezer. Because of the position of the freezer, four door models are often classed as French style, with the added benefit of more doors and ease of access. They provide excellent use of the large capacity, with plenty of storage shelves and drawers.
Because each door opens to a smaller section, this model also helps the appliance run more efficiently. This is because less heat is lost with each opening of the door.
A further advantage to the four door model is the possibility for convertible fridge freezer spaces. This is a feature that converts a space into either a fridge or freezer, depending on your needs. Four door models are therefore a great choice for versatility and efficiency.
Size
Capacity
American style fridge freezers are known for their huge capacities. This is the main reason for their popularity, and often why they are chosen over other fridge freezers. Therefore, this style of fridge freezer is best suited for larger households who need more refrigerator space.
Larger households will often require a refrigeration capacity of over 400L. If you find that you’re always playing a game of Jenga when putting your weekly shop away, you may need a capacity upgrade. American style fridge freezers typically have a capacity range between 400L – 700L. This is loads of space to play with!
Dimensions
One of the most attractive features of an American style fridge freezer is its sheer size and shape. They’re taller and wider than regular fridges and freezers, meaning you can fit more into them. However, because of this, you need to make sure that it will fit into your space.
These refrigeration heroes aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so it’s important to check the dimensions of each model you look at.
How Tall are American Style Fridge Freezers?
The height of American style fridge freezers tends to fall between 175c and 180cm (5ft 7in – 5ft 9in). Once you add on the feet you’ll get closer to 6ft. The height isn’t often too much of a concern, however, it is something you must consider if you plan to put it in an enclosed space, such as a cupboard or a space with a lid.
How Wide are American Style Fridge Freezers?
American style fridge freezers are wider than a standard refrigerator, ranging from 70cm to 100cm. Your new appliance must be able to fit in the set space you have for it. It’s therefore critical that you consider the width of your chosen American style fridge freezer before buying, especially as they tend to be wider than other fridge freezer models.
What is the Depth of American Style Fridge Freezers?
The depth of an American style fridge freezer ranges from 68cm to 80cm.
It’s important to factor in the depth if you want your new American style appliance to fit nicely within your cabinetry.
It’s also important to note that you may need to position your refrigerator so that the doors are not flush with your cabinets. This is to allow the doors to open fully.
How Do You Measure for a New American Style Fridge Freezer?
Now that you know what the dimensions of an American style fridge freezer can be, you need to know how to measure a space for it to fit in.
If the space in your kitchen or utility room is 85cm wide, buying an American style fridge freezer that is the same size won’t work. Below we’ve put together some instructions to help you measure your space properly.
- Measure the width, height and depth of the space. Double check these measurements and write them down.
- Measure again from a different place, just in case anything is uneven and the measurements are different. If so, always go off of the smallest measurement.
- Take into account space for ventilation. You’ll need 2cm at the sides and 4 or 5cm for ventilation at the back.
- Make sure your doors and hallways are wide enough to get an American style fridge freezer through and into your kitchen.
- Don’t forget to think about how your doors will open when measuring the space for a new fridge freezer. They will need to open more than 90 degrees, so can’t be placed in a corner.
For models with shelves and trays within the fridge, the doors will need to open fully to allow the drawers to slide out. Be mindful of this when measuring and buying a new American style fridge freezer.
If you’re opting for a plumbed-in fridge freezer, you need a water supply within 1.5m of where the appliance will be standing.
American Style Fridge Freezer Features
A fantastic perk of buying an American style fridge freezer is that they are more likely to come with lots of built-in features. One feature you won’t struggle to find is a frost-free model – that’s because all modern American style fridge freezers are frost-free! Some great features you can look out for include:
Water and Ice Dispensers
The most common feature you’ll find is an ice and/or water dispenser. This feature is great all year round, but is particularly helpful during hot summer months. Some dispensers are more sophisticated than others, serving chilled filtered water, or even crafting ice balls!
Quiet Mark
Quiet Mark carefully tests appliances by their decibel level, tone frequency, and other factors. Only when an appliance falls between 10-20% of the quietest products is it awarded a Quiet Mark certification, which many of our American style fridge freezers have.
Family Hub
Samsung offers a ‘Family Hub’ feature. This model has an integrated multimedia touchscreen system, allowing you to look inside your fridge without opening the door, or search for recipes using voice commands.
Also, with the family planner and calendar functions, you can display lists, pictures and drawings. It even plays music and has TV Mirroring, so you can grab a bite and not miss a thing!
You don’t have to compromise on functionality either, since this model has a water and ice dispenser, a sleek design, and bags of storage space. Perfect for the busy, modern household.
Instaview
If you’re a fan of LG as a brand, you’ll love their ‘Instaview’ feature which is proving to be a top seller here at Appliance City.
These models have a door that opens to another compartment within the unit for all your most used items. By placing them in your ‘Instaview’ compartment, you’re able to quickly grab them without opening the full door. Also, with a swift two knocks on the glass, this compartment is lit up, so you can check what you have in stock without opening the door at all!
By reducing how often you open the fridge door, you’ll save energy and your food will stay fresher for longer – win-win!
More Fantastic Features Include:
Water and/or Ice Dispensers
Reversible Doors
Humidity Controls
Wine Racks
Internal Temperature Display
Smart Features
Holiday Mode
Quick Freezing
Power Cut Failsafe
Flexible Space
FAQs
This depends on the model, but in the UK they normally weigh between 90-170kg. For reference, that’s the same as up to 275 chickens, 2 wild boars or one panda bear! Some components may add weight, such as a water and ice dispenser.
As with all appliances, the energy rating varies from model to model. Some options will have a higher rating than others. It is important to note that they will generally use more energy than other fridge freezers due to their larger size.
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