American Fridge

You have probably seen an American fridge on a TV show, in a store or in one of your friend's houses and have realised not just how good they look but how big they are. American fridges are becoming much more common in households all over the UK this is mainly because of the great looks, increased storage capacity and additional functionality such as Ice/Water dispensers in the front doors.

The first thing you should think about is that a standard fridge is 600mm wide; an American fridge is around 400mm wider, so 1 metre in width in total. Does this fit in the space that your current fridge is in or will some worktops/cabinets have to be removed. If so you may want to rethink and come back at a later date. The reason American fridges are so much wider is that the freezer and fridge are side by side as opposed to being on top of one and other. Don't just measure for a 1 meter space, give an extra inch or two at each side to allow opening of the doors, just incase!!

There are many benefits of having an American fridge; the storage capacity alone is great - especially in the fridge side of things. However the freezer space falls short of a standard chest freezer so you could be disappointed in that area. Just like a regular fridge, American fridges have doors that are designed to hold the usual bottles, cans, jars, egg cartons and cheese etc. This type of design allows you store the items you use most in the door, allowing you to find them quicker and easier. The main difference in an American fridge is that the doors usually have an ice or water dispenser in them which is really cool and fun if it's something that you are not used to having. Basically you just place your glass under the ice dispenser, ice comes flushing down and like magic you have a cook refreshing drink - think how good that would be in the summertime!

Some American fridges go that small bit extra and allow you to choose between cubed or crushed ice!! One thing to watch out for is that some models need plumbed in, so if you have no water pipes near where the American fridge will be going then go for a non-plumbed model instead, the difference is you have to fill the non-plumbed models with water yourself. An American fridge comes with all the same type of features you would expect from a normal fridge such as antibacterial, frost free, fast freeze etc.

With an American style fridge freezer, you can expect all the best features you'd get with a traditional appliance such as frost free, fast freeze and antibacterial protection, built in. The thing is that with these American fridges you get some extra features that are pretty cool (no pun intended).

Home Bar
Instead of having to open the fridge door to get a drink out, bottles and cans etc are stored in a small compartment on the front of the fridge door. This means it's faster to get a cool drink out and you are not disturbing the food in the fridge Door cooling This feature allows air to flow from all sides of the fridge instead of only the back, which is what happens in old fridges.

Door Cooling
Gives a more even temperature and can help keep food fresher for longer.

Twin cooling system/twin thermostat
Basically this is just a separate cooling system for both the fridge and the freezer, this is more efficient and again helps keep food fresher for longer.

Miracle Zone
This feature lets you customise the temperature of each compartment, depending on what you are storing in it. Some food like fruit you may want to keep at a different temp than milk. Certain models have compartments that are kept just above freezing which is handy for meat produce.

Digital control panels
Some American fridges have digital control panels on the front; you have probably seen these types on adverts on the TV or in a movie. It looks really stylish and cool.