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What are the best refrigerators for a small kitchen under $1500?

4

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Jan 3, 2018

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Here’s the Deal

4 Options Considered

Best refrigerators for a small kitchen under $1500	Price	Power consumption	Total capacity
82 Summit FF1935PL	$1,186.90	472 kWh/Year	18 cu. ft.
-- Frigidaire DGUS2645LF	$1,359.99	509 kWh/Year	26 cu. ft.
-- Whirlpool WRS322FDAB	$1,469.23	658 kWh/Year	22 cu. ft.
-- Haier HRF15N3AGS	$1,103.90	486 kWh/Year	15 cu. ft.

Summit FF1935PL

Top Pro

It packs a lot of features that expensive fridges have

This fridge stands out because it provides what much more expensive refrigerators offer - a good amount of storage space, great cooling performance, various compartments, an ice maker, all while remaining comparatively cheap, compact, and energy efficient. This is possible because it's a top-freezer fridge, which is the cheapest type to produce, with the most usable space. It also doesn't have an expensive automatic ice maker but instead relies on you to empty it manually. See More

Top Con

Somewhat inconvenient food placement

Since the freezer is on top, to access fresh food in the refrigerator compartment, you will often have to bend down. See More

Specs

Power consumption:472 kWh/Year

Total capacity:18 cu. ft.

W/D/H:27 x 29 x 73 inches

Top Pro

Very compact

This refrigerator is only 27 inches wide, it will easily fit in almost any kitchen. See More

Top Con

You have to defrost it regularly

To avoid ice from building up inside the fridge, causing cooling efficiency to fall, you have to manually defrost it at least once a year. See More

Top Pro

Large capacity for a compact fridge

The total capacity of this fridge is 18 cu. ft., enough space to store food for of 3-4 people. See More

Top Pro

It quickly cools down items you just loaded in

If just loaded your fridge with fresh groceries, you can activate the Power Cool function that, for a short span of time, lowers the temperature of the entire compartment. This helps to keep your newly-bought food items fresh for longer. See More

Top Pro

Convenient ice factory

To get some ice cubes, you just have to fill a small reservoir with water and load it inside the ice factory. The water is then poured into the ice tray. When the ice is ready, you can access it by pressing on a lever that drops it into a convenient container right under the ice maker. See More

Top Pro

Can go into power saving mode

You can activate the Holiday function that cuts back on power consumption if the fridge isn’t going to be opened for some time (over 24 hours at least), saving you money during vacations. See More

Top Pro

Open-door alarm

If activated, the open-door alarm will signal when the refrigerator’s door is left open for over a minute. This can save you a lot of money if you accidentally leave the fridge slightly open and all your food goes bad. See More

Top Pro

You can set the specific temperature inside

Instead of ambiguous "levels" or modes, this refrigerator can be set to a specific temperature. See More

Top Pro

You can quickly cool down your drinks

If you need to quickly cool a bottle of wine or couple of beers, you can place them in the Express-chill zone. It’s a separate area inside the freezer that can be set to lower temperature than the rest of the compartment. There your drinks will be cooled as fast as in 10 minutes. You can also set an alarm in order not to forget about them. See More

Top Pro

Shelf layout is highly customizable

You can easily reconfigure your fridge's inner layout to fit any type of product, like a wide pizza box, or a tall bottle. See More

Top Pro

Convenient fast-access compartments for drinks and snacks

Both refrigerator and freezer have small compartments located on the front side that you can reach in to grab your favorite snack or a drink without opening the fridge. See More

Top Pro

Spill-proof shelves

This fridge has tempered-glass shelves that can be cleaned easily if you accidentally spill something. See More

Frigidaire DGUS2645LF

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Top Pro

Large capacity

Total capacity of this fridge is 26 cu.ft. This is enough space to store food for a family of five people. See More

Top Con

It's quite large

This 33-inches wide fridge may not fit in every kitchen. For a particularly tight space, you'd want something under 30 inches. See More

Specs

Power consumption:509 kWh/Year

Total capacity:26 cu. ft.

W/D/H:33 x 36 x 70 inches

Top Pro

Specialty drawers for keeping your produce fresh

The fridge has two drawers with separate temperature and humidity controls than the rest of the compartment that are meant to keep fruits and vegetables fresh for as long as possible. See More

Top Con

High running costs

The water and ice dispenser requires a lot of power, in fact, it adds up to 20% of the running cost. See More

Top Pro

Doesn’t let frost to build up

Thanks to the auto-defrost feature, this refrigerator prevents ice from building up inside and clogging air ventilation, which can severely reduce cooling efficiency. See More

Top Con

Onerous setup and maintenance

You need to plan carefully where you place your refrigerator. It has to be hooked up with your plumbing in order for you to use the water and ice dispenser. The built-in water and air filters will require regular replacement. You also have to remember that these devices tend to malfunction and break quite frequently and so, will require periodic repairs. See More

Top Pro

Spill-proof shelves

The surface of the shelves is easy to clean if you accidentally splatter something. The edges are raised to prevent puddles from spilling down. See More

Top Pro

Automatic ice maker

Automatci ice and water dispenser is built into the fridge. You can always grab a glass of filtered drinking water or get some ice for your drink with a push of a button. You can choose between ice cubes and crushed ice. See More

Top Pro

Goes into power saving mode

To cut down on energy costs, this refrigerator automatically switches to energy saving mode if the door isn’t opened for 24 hours. This in no way affects the food you store, just reduces power consumption. See More

Top Pro

Eliminates odor

Inside the fridge are PureAir Ultra filters that fight odor that comes with storing different kinds of food. It's a nice feature that makes using this refrigerator more pleasant. See More

Whirlpool WRS322FDAB

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Top Pro

Unique design

There are two designs to choose from: the classic faux stainless steel housing, and an option with black housing that has a distinct, modern look to it. See More

Top Con

Housing of the refrigerator scratches easily

You have to be careful during transportation and installation of the refrigerator to avoid scratching the housing. Also, be sure to clean it with a soft rag instead of a sponge with abrasive surface. See More

Specs

Power consumption:658 kWh/Year

Total capacity:22 cu. ft.

W/D/H:32.8 x 34.6 x 65.9 inches

Top Pro

It's highly energy-efficient

This refrigerator has received Energy star badge, indicating its low resource consumption. On average, fridges awarded with Energy star consume 20% less power than non-rated counterparts. See More

Top Con

Onerous setup and maintenance

You need to plan carefully where you place your refrigerator. It has to be hooked up with your plumbing in order for you to use the water and ice dispenser. The built-in water and air filters will require regular replacement. You also have to remember that these devices tend to malfunction and break quite frequently and so, will require periodic repairs. See More

Top Pro

Large capacity for a compact fridge

With total capacity of 22 cu. ft., this refrigerator has enough space to store food for about 4 people. See More

Top Con

You can't reposition the shelves in the freezer

There aren't any additional slots in the freezer to change the shelve position, so you're stuck with the pre-set layout. See More

Top Pro

It doesn’t let frost to build up

Thanks to the auto-defrost feature, this refrigerator prevents ice from building up inside and clogging air ventilation, which can reduce the cooling efficiency. See More

Top Pro

Spill-proof shelves

This fridge has tempered-glass shelves that can be easily cleaned if you accidentally spill something. See More

Top Pro

Automatic ice maker

Automatic ice and water dispenser is built into the fridge. You can always grab a glass of filtered drinking water or get some ice for your drink with a push of a button. You can choose between ice cubes and crushed ice. See More

Haier HRF15N3AGS

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Top Pro

It's very compact

The width of this refrigerator is only 28 inches, it will easily fit in almost any kitchen. Moreover, the fact that it has two French doors instead of one big door means it requires less clearance to be opened. See More

Top Con

The housing scratches easily

The housing of the fridge is faux stainless steel. It gives the refrigerator a modern look, but requires that you are very careful to avoid scratching it. See More

Specs

Power consumption:486 kWh/Year

Total capacity:15 cu. ft.

W/D/H:28 x 26.5 x 71 inches

Top Pro

Large capacity for a compact fridge

The total capacity of this fridge is 15 cu. ft., which is sufficient for 2-3 people. See More

Top Con

You can’t store wide boxes and other large items.

This fridge, being narrow and compact, can’t fit large items, like big pizza boxes. See More

Top Pro

You can set the specific temperature inside

Instead of ambigous "levels" or modes, this refrigirator can be set to a specific temperature. See More

Top Con

There's little shelve customization you can do

You are pretty much stuck with the producer’s layout of the shelves. There is only one extra slot that you can use to change the height of the middle shelf, but the difference is just a couple inches. See More

Top Pro

Smudge-resistant doors

The housing of the fridge isn't made out of real stainless steel, and while that has some drawbacks, one particular advantage is that it doesn’t pick up smudges and fingerprints as easily. See More

Top Con

The shelves are not spill-proof

The plastic shelves don’t clean very easily from various stains and spills. See More

Top Pro

Convenient food placement

You will find most of your food items placed conveniently at eye-level. Meanwhile, the freezer, which is usually opened less often, is at the bottom. See More

Top Pro

It's energy-efficient

Most often you only need to open one door at a time to get what you need, keeping half of the compartment closed. This way you let out much less cold air than it is the case with a regular refrigerator and thus, save on energy costs. See More

Top Pro

It doesn't require manual defrosting

Thanks to the auto-defrost feaure, this refrigerator automatically prevents ice from building up inside and clogging air ventilation, which can severely reduce cooling efficiency. See More

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