We first covered refrigerators on 22 August ‘07.  It is indeed a tough task to select the right product given the different choices out there. In this article we intend to make you familiar with certain terms which might come in handy while purchasing one for your home.

Image Courtesy : Godrej India

First a pointer to start the topic. We perfectly understand that price is really a differentiating factor for any appliance purchase. Refrigerators are no exception. But if there is not much of a difference in price, we would recommend:

• Higher capacity - People, especially young married couples tend to buy the smallest capacity because they feel that it is more than adequate for them. This is a misconception. A family would grow. People would have guests in which case they need to stock food. But most of all, we have seen poorly managed refrigerator overflowing with articles inside. One of the biggest contributors to faults and high electricity bills is overloading a refrigerator beyond its rated capacity.

• Technology - There could be a theoretical difference of about 5000 rupees between a normal refrigerator and a frost free refrigerator. But at the end of the day, this cost is quickly recovered by the convenience factor. The biggest drawback of a normal refrigerator is that it needs periodic defrosting. This tends to be cumbersome. If we forget to do so, prolonged frosting can cause lot of dripping water inside damaging contents of the refrigerator.

As we mentioned before, the water is normally collected outside in a tray beneath the refrigerator. This can cause foul smell and also insects like moist places. So choose wisely. If you are prepared to do the regular defrosting then it should not be an issue.

 Now let us cover some other terms involved in the refrigerator jargon:

• CFC/HFC free - Chloro fluoro compounds and Hydro fluoro compounds are notorious for messing with the ozone layer. All respectable companies avoid these common refrigerants in their products. Just make sure they are not there in your fridge.

• Space - Make sure there is a proper correlation between the advertised space in litres and the actual space inside. Don’t be taken for a ride. Try and avoid including door space as it is of little practical value in storing bulk items. The door stores eggs, bottles , butter perfectly. But nothing more.

• External controls/displays - It makes sense to change the setting of the refrigerator without opening the door. An external display (could be a light or a digital panel) would be nice as well, although this could be present only in present in high end models.

• Quick Ice maker/dispenser - This would come in handy for beating those summer days. Refrigerators come with a twist and turn ice dispenser. Gone are the days when you had to wrestle with the ice tray to get the cubes out.

• Plastics - Plastics are more durable components which sit inside the fridge. However make sure they are high grade ones (if possible covered by warranty). We have seen some of them failing/breaking within a few weeks of usage.

• Alarms - Some refrigerators come with high temperature or low voltage alarms. This would be useful to prevent permanent damage to your refrigerator.

• Power save mode - Some products are designed to be energy efficient. If you invest in these, your electricity bills can be kept in check.

• Castors - Makes sense if you want to relocate your refrigerator yourself at home. We would advise you to only shift empty refrigerators with extreme care and only for smaller models. Expensive models are heavy and may require professional assistance for relocation within your home.

Tip from the article : Plan the location of your refrigerator and also the electric socket in advance!

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