Over some time there has been a debate whether if or if not a Refrigerator was needed in our homes. The importances of Refrigerators have increased, thus making it a necessity.

Here are few brands and their latest models…

SAMSUNG
Side by Side
576L side by side refrigerator

Basic features:

Capacity- Gross Total  -576L

Cooling Features-Cooling System-No

No Frost    -Yes

Multi flow    -Yes

Refrigerator Features -CoolSelect Zone -No

Exterior Features-Dispenser-Yes

Display & Control  -LED

Colours -Platinum ,Silver

Others -Silver Nano health system – No

*Price on request*

Bottom Freezer

514L bottom freezer refrigerator

Features :-
Capacity-Gross Total -514
Cooling Features-Cooling System -Yes
No Frost – Yes
Refrigerator Features- Tempered Glass-Yes

*Price on request*

Frost Free :

RT77

Features:-

Capacity-Total (Gross, ℓ) 570
Freezer (Gross, ℓ) 157
Refrigerator (Gross, ℓ) 413
Total (Net, ℓ) 566
Freezer (Net, ℓ) 154
Refrigerator (Net, ℓ) 412

Dimensions
Width (Packing, mm) 896
Height (Packing, mm) 1,963.5
Depth (Packing, mm) 776
 

*Price on request*

Direct Cool

RA19Y

Features
Capacity
Total (Gross, ℓ) 190
Others
Energy Grade (BEE Star Rating) 5
Refrigeratror Features
Fire Retardant Wires Yes
Stabilizer Free Operation Yes
Diamond Cut Liner Yes

*Price on request*

LG

Side By Side Refrigerator

GR-P267ZGB

Features

Capacity : 721 litres
Home Bar and Water & Ice dispenser
Exterior LCD – Touch Panel
Ice Beam Door Cooling Technology
Eight Digital Sensors
Miracle Zone & Magic Crisper
Express Freezing, Child Lock & Door Alarm
Wine Rack

MRP: Rs 150000

FROST FREE

GR-M712YTQ

Features

Capacity : 604 litres
Green Ion Door Cooling Technology
External Micom
Child Lock
Convertible Veg Box
Opti Fresh
Vitamin Plus
One Touch Twist Ice Tray
Catechin Deodorizer
Cell Fresh Crisper
Humidity Controller
Anti Bacteria Door Gasket
Freezer Lamp
VCM Door Finish
MRP: Rs 59900

Direct Cool Refrigerator

GL-281SMG5

Features

Capacity : 270 litres
5 Star Rating
Fastest Ice Making
Open Door Alarm
Toughened Glass Shelves
Cell Fresh Crisper
Color: Light Inox, Fantasy Blue
MRP: Rs 15200

Videocon
Frost Free Refrigerators

VCL503 (Ecofresh)
Features
• Capacity 500 Liters
• 3 Star BEE Rating
• Crisper cooling technology
• PCM Door for luxurious Fit & Feel
• E – Fresh (Ionizer)
• Insitu foaming
• Twist Ice Tray
• Transparent interiors
• Toughened glass shelves
• Center Lock facility
• Humidity control
• Stabilizer free operation
• Energy efficient compressor

Direct Cool Refrigerators

VCP314

Features
• 4 Star BEE rating
• PCM door for luxurious fit & feel
• Transparent Door Accessories
• Removable Door Gasket
• Door Lock
• 1+4 yrs warranty
• Stabilizer free operation
• Capacity 307 Liters

WHIRPOOL

Direct cool
GENIUS XL ROYAL 200 LTS

Key features :-
Unique Health Guard
Jumbo Bottle Rack
Chill Max
Modular Shelves
Thick Door Design
Unique Utility Drawer

MRP:Rs.11900

FROST CONTROL

FUSION 24 SUPREME 230 LTS

Features

6th Sense Frost Control Technology
Unique Health Guard
Roll bond freezer
Chill Max
Modular Shelves
Veg-Fresh Crisper Cover

MRP:Rs.14975

FROST FREE
MASTERMIND ELITE 220 LTS

Features

6th Sense Tower Cooling
Electronic Control
Fast ice
Auto power Save
D-oxidizer
Toughened glass shelves

MRP:Rs.17325

Panasonic India has launched their new series of refrigerators – VEGERATOR. It is an inverted refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom and the more commonly accessed parts on the top. This has advantages of not having to stoop low and fetch the vegetables which are one of the most commonly used section of any refrigerator. The philosophy of having the vegetable section at the bottom was to keep it away from the cooler parts so that the vegetables didn’t become frigid and die or cold.

Panasonic has removed this issue by separating the freezer section from the normal section via a two door access. This is also seen in many of the frost free and also direct cooling refrigerators these days. Only the very low end refrigerators have a single door.

Image Courtesy : panasonic.co.in

There is no word on the pricing on the website though. The following are the features of this refrigerator.

For convenient storage of heavy, space-consuming vegetables, the vegetable case is located in the center where items are easy to see and take out. Panasonic’s Vegerator is a completely new style of refrigerator.
Convenient, Revolutionary “THE VEGERATOR”

Easy to See – The frequently used vegetable case is right at waist height, so you can see all the way to the back.

Easy to Get – You can reach the food inside while standing straight up. It’s easy to get even heavy or bulky foods in and out

Easy to Arrange – You can do everything in a natural posture, with no bending down. This makes it more efficient to use while cooking.

Twin Bio Attacker

Our washing machine from whirlpool had a standard service done under the AMC today. At the end of the service the service man introduced a product from whirlpool – A defrost timer.

Image courtesy : whirlpoolindia.com

So what is this device? We all know that defrosting a fridge involves shutting the compressor off for a period of an hour or so. (depends on the brand and the settings). The red button for defrost is a timed switch which turns the compressor off and back on at the end of the pre-defined timeout.

This is a good thing but requires manual intervention. Most of us forget to defrost the fridge and end up seeing layers of ice in our freezer. This is actually not good for the fridge. Ofcourse this is applicable only to Direct Cooling fridges and not the frost free ones.

So this device, sits in-between the mains and your fridge. Every 8 hours, it shuts the supply to the fridge off and turns it back on. It is not clear how long the fridge stays off though.

The features are given here from the website:

• Pleasure of Frost Free in Dc
• Power Saver
• Auto defrost after every 8 hours
• Hassle free installation
• 1 year warranty

The price as mentioned on the website is Rs. 800/-

One thing strange here is that the technician mentioned it has a 6 month warranty whereas the website says it has one year warranty. Not sure who is correct!

Williams bough this fridge about a week back and we wanted to cover it on aavaas. The main criteria for Williams was that he didn’t want a big unit. He is a single guy and his requirements are very limited. The main use for the fridge would be to store beverages, some bakery items and cold water. So purchasing a standard 160 0r 180 litres model would not have made any sense. Also the space constraints at his place prompted him to look for a small model.  

Image Courtesy : .videoconworld.com

Surprisingly, in India, there are only two companies which make sub 100 litre models. One is Videocon and the other is Haier. The former is easily available though.

We purchased the unit at NEXT shop at Usman Road in T-Nagar. The unit cost was close to 6000 rupees if I am not mistaken and the special offer gave us a steam iron from an unknown brand along with the unit – FREE.

This is the address of the shop:

Address  : New No.50 , Old No.39 , South Usman Road , T.Nagar , Chennai – 600017 – Tamil Nadu
Contact No  : 044-32972768
Email  : tnagar.retail@next.co.in

Specifications of the fridge

Model No. S-091DX
Capacity (L) 80
Door Finish: Stainless Steel Grey
Colours: Stainless Steel Grey
Door Handle: Recessed
Door Emboss: No
Freezer Door: Transperant
Lock: No
Chiller Room: Yes
Ice Trays: 2
Shelves: Wire shelves, 1 nos.
Crisper cover: Glass
Crisper Box: Transperant
Bottle Rack: Yes
Egg Tray: Yes
Utility Tray: Opaque
Water Dispenser: No
Table Top: Yes
Humidity Control knob: No
Special Refrigerator Mount: No
Dimensions (W X D X H) in mm : 437 x 530 x 777
Net Weight (in kg): 25

Review

The unit is not an excellent value for money. For about 2000 rupees more you can get a standard 160 litres fridge. The space inside is not that great either. We will try to post some pictures of the interior later on. The bottle rack can hold only one litre bottles and that too only 3 at the most. The bigger bottles such as 1.5 and 2 litres are impossible to accommodate inside.

The unit only came with one ice tray than the two which is mentioned on the website. The cooling of the unit is ok. It has an inbuilt voltage stabilizer. So there is no need for a separate one. The compressor is visible from the behind and there is plenty of gap at the back. This could be a great place for pests if you are not careful.

There is a small cooling adjusting knob inside the fridge which allows you to select your preference. In the centre there is a defrost button (red color) which would shut the compressor off and thaw the ice which has formed in the freezer compartment.

The quality of plastics inside is average and could have been more solid. There is also a dedicated egg shelf. I think it can hold around 6 eggs. There is also a small vegetable tray available.

The unit has an energy efficient compressor. It operates between 135 V to 145 V hereby consuming less power and better energy efficiency ratio.

The unit has a 6 year warranty.

This post comes from real experience at home. About a week back, we started getting a real bad smell in our living room/dining room. We were really not sure what the issue was. We tried to mop the floor with fragrant oils, left the windows open so that fresh air could come in, and even cleaned the washbasins and kitchen sinks. Nothing seemed to work at all.

First we thought that maybe some organic matter has got lodged in the sink so we tried to use Drainex to flush it out too. This also had no real effects. Finally we suspected the fridge and realized that this maybe the problem. We were unable to see or solve the issue.

We cleaned the interiors of the fridge and left it without powering on for a couple of hours. But when we switched it back on, the smell returned. Giving up on self remedies, we called the Godrej mechanics. Our fridge is nearly 5 years old and is the regular (non frost-free) model.

The mechanic opened the rear portion of the fridge where there is a tray to collect water from the chiller tray. Since only water is supposed to accumulate in this tray, it is not accessible to users. The tray is designed in such a way that its proximity to the coils of the fridge dries up the water that collects in it.

In our case, what had happened was that one of the milk packets leaked and drained completely into this tray. The temperature differences spoilt the milk which caused all sorts of smells to emanate from the fridge.

The mechanic cleaned the tray thoroughly and we are now able to use it normally.

The take away from this post is:

• Regularly defrost your fridge if it is not a frost-free model.
• Avoid keeping milk packets in the chiller tray and check them for leakage prior to storing.

Interested people can also take annual maintenance contracts (AMC) for their refrigerators.

We first covered refrigerators here:

Refrigerator – An introduction

Refrigerator – Selection criteria

For those of you who use the normal refrigerator, we are sure you are familiar with the sight of a frost covered freezer like the one shown below:

Image Courtesy : unknownroad.com

The major difference between traditional refrigerators and the “frost free” refrigerator is the formation of frost in the former type.

So what is frost?

Water vapor from the food, ice trays and even the moisture tends to get accumulated into the coolest part of the fridge. Here they get converted to a solid ice like structure. Over  a period of time, due to constant opening of the fridge and contents of fridge there can be a build-up of frost around the freezer. This is called “frost”.

How do we prevent frost?

Well, there is no avoiding frost in a normal refrigerator. The only option is to regularly defrost the equipment.

How do we perform defrost?

Usually in most refrigerators, there is a small and tiny red button (see in the picture above). This is present on the thermostat dial.  Pressing this will initiate the defrost process.

What happens during defrost process?

The compressor of the fridge would stop working and the built up frost would start melting naturally. Typically refrigerators have trays and ducts to collect the melted water and it can be collected in the tray at the bottom of the unit. At the end of the preset time, the compressor would start to function again.

Can we defrost while the fridge is fully loaded? Would the food get affected?

Yes. Defrosting can be performed even if there are contents inside the fridge. Just make sure that it is not a long pending one as the internal tray may overflow.

Usually the cycle time of defrost is short and the insulation of the fridge would keep the food intact without any problems.

How often should we defrost our fridge?

This is a good question. The recommended cycle for most Indian users would be once in a week. If done regularly we not only prevent the build up of ice, but also minimize the amount of water that is ejected from the refrigerator. With optimum usage, there would be almost no water to collect as most refrigerators channel the drain water through the hot portions of the compressor where the water would potentially evaporate.

What are the problems if we do not defrost?

- The ice formed can reduce the overall efficiency of the refrigerator.

- If there is a power failure, the built up ice will melt and mess up the interiors of your refrigerator. This will not only spoil the food items but also cause the interiors to smell.

- Items inside the refrigerator will stick to each other.

- The water which would result from a long pending frost would not evaporate and tend to reside in the tray. This can be an excellent spot for mosquito breeding.

So, we hope that this article prompts you to defrost your fridge at-least once in a week.

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!

comments would make our day!

• Years back refrigerators were seen as a necessity for storing milk based products, eggs, butter vegetables and so on.

Today this hasn’t changed much in Indian market, but there is an awareness about options. For those who are looking to buy a new refrigerator, here is an article which hopes to introduce the miracle gadget which is probably the next most wanted on every homemaker’s list after television.

Typically a refrigerator is a cooling device and offered in many flavors. Each has a unique advantage and a disadvantage associated to it. Lets try and analyze the types out there.

• Single door , normal refrigerator
• Double door, normal refrigerator
• Single door, frost free refrigerator
• Double door, frost free refrigerator

In the above classification the single door predominantly has another smaller door inside for the deep freeze section.

Similarly, the double door is a stacked option. There exists two doors one on top of another each opening the normal and freezer sections respectively.

Apart from these categories there are also more expensive 2 door refrigerators which are placed adjacent to each other. Here even advanced features such as cold water/ice dispenser are present in the refrigerator.

 The frost free refrigerator is definitely superior as it requires no periodic maintenance. The regular refrigerator however requires periodic defrosting otherwise the freezer portion becomes highly crowded and inaccessible.

Some refrigerator types have water collecting trays located at the bottom. You may want to avoid these as they can be good spots for mosquitoes to breed.

You may also want to buy a plastic stand on which your whole refrigerator rests. This is just a trick to cause more space under the refrigerator for cleaning the home.

 We highly recommend that you use a 15A socket and plug point, 3 pin of-course to avoid nasty shocks while operating the refrigerator.

Depending on the voltage fluctuations we would also advise usage of a stabilizer with some kind of an auto timer which only resumes power to the refrigerator after 3 minutes or so.

Periodic cleaning of the refrigerator inside and outside ensures odor free operation.

More on this topic in the coming days…..

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