Biggish Fridge-Freezer

Deladuro

Hello all,

We're trying to design a kitchen that would be functional for a small, but growing family (3 of us, soon to be 4).
The space is only about 3m x 2.5 m with doors at both ends.
The thoughts of a Range cooker have already bitten the dust and I don't think I can justify a American-style side-by-side behemoth of a fridge-freezer.

So....if we did have room for a slightly larger-than-normal F/f, does anyone out there have any recommendations.

The most likely candidate at the moment looks like a Hotpoint FF7190EX or FF7190EP as it's one of the few that seems to have a decent freezer capacity (although it does get confusing with the net & gross palaver)

Budget-wise, it would need to be something pretty special to be worth spending more than £1000.

Any advice welcome...

D

majjie

Funnily enough, I was looking at fridge-freezers recently (I was writing about them for Yell.com).

If I was to choose a big (but not enormous) fridge-freezer, it would be Liebherr's CBNESF5113

I'd choose it because:

• Liebherr have a better reputation than Hoptpoint
• it has two compressors, not one - so it's unlikely that both the fridge and the freezer will break down at the same time, and you can switch the fridge off when you go on holiday
• it has more freezer capacity than the Hotpoint
• it has the same fridge capacity - but 107 litres of that is "Biofresh" - which keeps some foods for much longer than an ordinary fridge
• it has an impressive A+ energy efficiency rating

.... but it's going to cost over £1,000.

So, if I was hard up, I'd go for the Hotpoint. I don't think you'll do much better - for that sort of money

Majjie

Mummy_Jo

I've just bought the Miele KFN 12924SD Fridge Freezer from John Lewis. At £799 it is cheaper than the above and the freezer was the biggest that I could find under £1000 and I too don't have the space for the american style ones.


You can turn the fridge off and leave the freezer running too. Miele as a brand have a very good reputation too.


http://www.johnlewis.com/230490330/Product.aspx


The above is the link to the item on the JL website


Hope you get sorted

majjie

That's a good fridge-freezer too - because Liebherr make Miele fridge freezers!

It's white, though, not stainless steel, and it only has one compressor - although I'm impressed that you can switch the fridge off. It doesn't have the Biofresh compartment and it's only A rated. That's why it's cheaper.

Also, it's a 50:50 model, so it has a larger freezer but a smaller fridge.

I could easily become a bore about fridge-freezers ... oh - hang on a minute ....

Majjie

richardw

This one looks good http://www.hotpointfridgefreezer.org.uk/hotpoint-fridge-freezer-review/hotpoint-ff4dk-fridge-freezer-review/

Double check that it would go in and through doors etc though.

Deladuro

That's really useful folks and exactly the reason I decided to put up a post on here.

The problem I'm having is that until I decide on the f/f - or at least the width - then I can't get on designing the rest of the kitchen.

My favourite at the moment is the Miele...(it seems to have the decent freezer capacity without being too bulky - and makes use of the height)...but I am still totally open to suggestion.

I had been looking at the Hotpoint you suggest Richard, but it doesn't appear to have a particularly good bulk:capacity ratio.

Majjie - bore away. What's your take on the Miele vs the ff7190 hotpoint?

Although cost isn't a major issue, value for money most definitely is.

My plan is to head up to John Lewis for a proper look on the shop floor to play with doors & shelves etc.

richardw

Deladuro wrote: »

I had been looking at the Hotpoint you suggest Richard, but it doesn't appear to have a particularly good bulk:capacity ratio.

Ok that's interesting.

sunshinetours

You would want something 200cm tall and 60cm wide for that size kitchen IMO. As you say use the height in a smaller room.
Its exactly what we did and bought a Siemens model that was 185cm high which gave us ebough whilst still being able to use storage on top

Only 200cm model I can see is this one. Keep eye out for 5 year warranties on certain models

Also avoid drink dispensers which take up valuable room and cheaper makes some of which have very small freezer capacities (Hotpoint is certainly one whose internal dimensions don't match their percived outside ones)

EDIT Actually just seen John Lewis do the one I mentioned and indeed it does have 5 years parts and labour warranty via redemption. No idea if you could get it cheaper eleswehere but it is same sort of price as the Miele mentioned with a better warranty

majjie

Actually Deladuro, if I was going to go for a Hotpoint, I'd probably go for the Quadrio that Richard mentioned. It's a bit deeper than the others - but I'm a sucker for good looks in a kitchen - and it actually has quite a bit more freezer space than the FF7190. Also, in a small kitchen, having two shallow fridge doors (when they're open), rather than one deep one might be an advantage.

If your kitchen is 2.5m wide - then approximately speaking you need 1.2m for the units either side - leaving you a generous 1.3m thoroughfare. So a deeper fridge-freezer makes sense (unless you have a more complicated layout in mind).

From the point of view of reliability and customer service, though, I think Liebherr or Miele would win hands down.

Mummy Jo's Miele has more freezer space - but it's at the expense of fridge space - which wouldn't suit me. I'd sooner have a bigger fridge ... but that's personal choice.

Majjie

zagubov

Slow down! Check the feedback on the internet on the Quadrio from Hotpoint -ours went bang after thirteen months -went online - behold there's tons of warnings about it (and there was none when we bought it). It's a good size and shape for the price but the wiring in the door hinge is dodgy and you may want to find a way of protecting it if you do decide to buy.

morgyporg

We have a similarly sized kitchen, and went for the John Lewis JLFFW2012, at £589. It's 60cm wide but 2 metres tall, so has plenty of space for our family of three. Comes with a 3 year guarantee, too. If you have a garage/utility/outbuilding with power, you could always get a chest freezer, too - we got one for about £70 off ebay