No matter how big or small your home, apartment, townhouse, or other place of residence, you’re going to need to eat there, which means you’re going to need a few appliances–for starters, a stove to cook on and a fridge to store food in. If you want a buy-it-for-life 30″ gas range, we’d recommend buying a Thor Kitchen (e.g., the HRG3080U)or Kucht (e.g., the KRG3080U) and calling it a day. But where are you going to store whatever you’ve cooked? The other day we talked about all refrigerators and their pros and cons; today we’ll take a similar look at top freezer-mounted refrigerators to help you figure out if this is the right style for your lifestyle.
What are the benefits and advantages of a top freezer mount refrigerator?
The top freezer-mounted refrigerator is the most popular style of fridge found today in the United States and Canada; it has a number of advantages that have brought it to the number one position, and we’ll take a look at all of them.
First of all, let’s define thee style: it features a refrigerator and freezer built into a single unit; the top portion, which is typically 1/3rd of the appliance’s full volume, is dedicated to the freezer, and has a swing-open door. The lower 2/3rds are dedicated to fridge space and include a correspondingly larger door. This style is popular because it combines the fridge and freezer into one unit; you don’t need to buy a separate chest freezer or find storage space for multiple food-preserving appliances. You simply buy one unit and you’re done. Because the approach is simple and straightforward, people and manufacturers alike like it; it’s easy to use, easy to buy, easy to install, and easy to manufacture. The Kenmore 71215 Top Freezer Refrigerator is a good example of a high-capacity (21 cubic feet), modern, and affordable top-freezer style fridge. As described above, it’s available in a range of colors and capacities, including stainless steel, black, and white matte finishes.
The independent doors give you flexibility in food preparation and overall use
When it comes to food preservation, the door design allows you to keep your freezer temperatures more constant than in other fridge/freezer combinations because the freezer has its own door and isn’t opened each time you reach into the fridge. The popularity of the design means you have a nearly unlimited range of choice when it comes to capacity, features, and finishes (e.g., stainless steel, which continues to be popular in many parts of the US and Canada). The design also allows you to completely open both your fridge and freezer, as the doors swing open and shut the way normal home doors do. With many models, you can also switch the door hinges to adjust for the positioning of nearby appliances and cabinets, or simply to accommodate left-handed cooks. Overall, the top freezer mount is typically the choice we recommend for people looking for a simple and traditional fridge/freezer setup that doesn’t require much customization or a large budget to make work.
What are the cons and drawbacks of a traditional top freezer fridge setup?
However, it’s important to note that no fridge design–not even the top-freezer mount refrigerator–is perfect; there are always some disadvantages to keep in mind. Top freezer fridges, while reliable, are ultimately more prone to failure than separate, dedicated units, such as all refrigerators and all freezers (i.e., chest freezers). The reason behind this is simple: the more appliances you try to combine in one, the more likely any (or all) of them are to fail, as whoever makes the appliance will need to make more compromises when combining two (or more) appliances in one metal box and at a given price point than when simply designing one. This doesn’t mean that you can’t buy a top-freezer fridge that will last for 20 years or more, but it does mean that your odds of needing to replace or repair it sooner are somewhat higher than they would be if you bought separate dedicated fridges and freezers; all you have to do is look at combination washer/dryers to see how bad reliability can get when certain appliances are combined instead of kept separate. Fortunately, fridges and freezers are simpler appliances and don’t provide nearly as much trouble when built into the same machine.
How do top mount fridges compare to all refrigerators?
That said, as noted above, if you’re interested in long term reliability, your best bet will be to invest in two appliances–one purely for refrigeration and the other purely for freezing foods–instead of in one that tries to do both. An all fridge and an all freezer (commonly known as a chest freezer) will beat a top-freezer mount fridge in long term reliability. You’ll also be able to buy much larger capacities in both your refrigeration and freezing units when you buy them separately, and you’ll of course have far more options when it comes to installation locations (e.g., you can plug your freezer in your garage, basement, or anywhere else where you can find room instead of being obligated to keep it in your kitchen).
The downsides to all refrigerators and freezers are that you’ll typically pay more to buy two of equivalent capacities as what you’ll find in a combo fridge/freezer unit; you’ll also need to find two places to fit your appliances instead of one. If you can look past these drawbacks, however, we truly recommend the design. The Danby DAR110A2LDB is a great example of a large (11 cubic feet) contemporary all fridge with classic leanings while the Danby DCF032A2WDB-3 is a quality 7.2 cubic foot chest freezer with equally high reliability ratings.
You can buy the Kenmore 71215 top freezer refrigerator in a range of sizes and finishes here on Amazon. If you’d prefer an all fridge instead, buy the Danby DAR110A2LDB 11 cubic feet classic all refrigerator in red, white, black, and stainless steel here. For a reliable chest freezer, buy the Danby DCF032A2WDB-3 7.2 cubic feet chest freezer here.
Canadians can buy the Kenmore 71215 top freezer refrigerator here on Amazon. For an all fridge, buy the Danby DAR110A2LDB all fridge here. For a dedicated freezer, buy the Danby Premiere chest freezer with a 7.2 cubic foot capacity here.
If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home appliances by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.