An Expert Guide to Buy a Fridge or Refrigerator

Last Updated on May 12, 2021 by Rupesh Patil

Urban Dictionary defines ‘Bachelor Fridge’ or commonly knows as a refrigerator as: “A condition commonly seen in fridges of single people, and people living as roommates, in which the fridge contains 237 half-empty condiment jars, leftover pizza and takeout, and not much else.”

In severe cases, there may also be Tupperware containers that everyone is scared to open, full of unidentified stuff that may once have been food, or dairy products that have passed their expiry dates multiple times.

In these cases, it is not recommended to attempt to clean the fridge without proper bio-hazard gear.

Living alone as a bachelor can be challenging, even when you are buying appliances, you have to think of a thousand things. Do you buy a big fridge or small? Do you need a dispenser?

Are you paying to chill empty spaces? So many things to consider, and yet, everyone thinks you have it easy. Let’s simplify it then – let’s tell you about the best refrigerators for bachelors.

Refrigerator Capacity

Obviously there is no way you will cook as much as you promised mom, so more often than not, there will be nothing to put in the fridge. But a really tiny fridge will also not do because when you do cook, it won’t have space to hold everything. A good size to have is around 190-litres.

That way, there will be ample space on the shelves to hold the occasional bowl of leftovers, the takeaway you couldn’t finish, a few cans of your drinks, a couple of wine bottles and water.

The vegetable box will have enough space to hold the produce you do buy for the week when your cook shows up, and the the freezer section can hold a few packs of salami and cold cuts for those quick sandwiches.

But there won’t be space for much else, which is a good thing, because your fridge doesn’t have to chill empty spaces on the shelves.

So there, we have the most ideal size for your needs as a single person living alone.

You could buy a bigger fridge – but you would be overestimating your requirements and you will most often have a very empty fridge that you are paying to run for no practical reason.

Refrigerator Door Style

In the 190-litre range, you’ll only get a single door, direct cool fridge in that size. Single door fridges are often in the size best suited to a single person or even a couple and anything more is just extra space you do not need.

But if you must buy a bigger fridge, as a future investment perhaps, a double-door fridge is good. If you go no more that 240-250 litres, a double door fridge will give you a bigger freezer (if you like having a lot of frozen food) and even a bigger vegetable box (so your cook always has something to make).

In addition, there will be bigger door bins so you can store larger bottles, and those 2-litre bottles of soft drink can be cooled on days when you have a house party.

There will be ample space in the fridge too to store a pizza box plus the leftovers from what your cook made. In most cases, such fridges will also have enough space to hold your midnight snacks and enough eggs for that post-workout heavy breakfast.

Also, double door fridges will also give you some superior features than a single door fridge, but not be as great as a multi-door fridge.

Practically speaking, you do not need a French door fridge or even a side-by-side fridge because they only come in very large capacities that would be wasted if a single person is using the fridge.

Even if you are every mother’s dream and only eat at home, these fridges will have too much space remaining even if you store an entire week’s worth of cooked food in them.

In fact, these kinds of refrigerators are meant for big families and a single person would never be able to really fill it up. And the emptier your fridge is, the more uneven its cooling temperature will be. This means a shorter life for the compressor and higher electricity bills.

However, the only reason you might still want a side-by-side or French door fridge is if you like the fancy features they offer – an ice dispenser for example, or a wine rack built into the shelves.

But other than that, there is really not much use getting fridge of these door styles for a single individual.

Refrigerator’s Features

From quick cooling to faster ice and moisture control, fridges are now built to ensure a better user experience. But what features do you really need? How many of these features should you really care for?

Toughened glass, spill proof, adjustable shelves: Let’s assume you have a party on Saturday and you are going to be in office during the day so you won’t have time to buy food.

So you buy 6 portions of biryani for your friends on Friday and because you are too lazy to sort it out, you shove the entire pack into your fridge. It isn’t light, and it isn’t a small pack.

So you need a fridge that will let you re-adjust the shelves to make more vertical space and you need a fridge that has tough shelves that won’t give or bend under such weight. This is where adjustable, toughened glass shelves will be useful.

You need spill-proof shelves too. There is no saying when a particularly clumsy friend will spill the cola on a shelf when he is pouring it out in his glass. Sometimes people don’t even focus very well and spills can happen.

Instead of the spill running all around your fridge, isn’t it better if the shelves have upturned edges that contain the spill? So what you need, besides adjustable and toughened glass, are shelves that are spill-proof so there’s never a disaster.

Moisture Control: You may have bought the vegetables on a Sunday, but there is no guarantee you will cook them on a Monday.

It might be another six days before you bring out anything from the vegetable drawer. So for this entire time, it will not do to have these vegetables wilt and shrivel.

You need a fridge that has good humidity control to maintain the freshness of your vegetables for the longest time possible. In most cases, this is about a week, and anything less than that means your vegetables will start to lose their moisture.

Cool Pack: No matter where you live in the country, the occasional power cut is inevitable.

If you are lucky, it’s only for a few hours, but there are those times when there’s a power cut that lasts for almost half a day, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees outside. This is when a Cool Pack is absolutely necessary.

It sits in your fridge during normal times absorbing the cold so in the event of a power cut, it can distribute it and maintain the coolness inside your fridge till power is restored.

This means that your fridge can still protect your food from spoiling even when there is no electricity to keep it running.

Sliding Shelves: Shelves that slide out let you check what’s at the back so you can get an idea about what’s really in your fridge. It is easy to forget items that you cannot see when you open the fridge, and sliding shelves will let you see those items.

But it might not be a feature available on single door models so you will have to look around for this. Oh, and they are also easier to clean.

Covered Chill Tray: Some chill trays are open at the top, and some have a cover that lift when you slide the tray out.

Normally, chill trays hold items like cheese and butter, and with an open chill tray, there is a good chance that odours from the pizza you have stored will get mixed into the butter making it smell very funny when you spread it on bread the next time.

A covered chill tray will not block odours 100% but it will still ensure there is lesser mixing of odours.

Quick Cooling: Some fridges offer a quick chill mode where any item you place inside the fridge cools down faster than in other fridges.

So if you are just back home with a couple of cans of beer, you can put them in the fridge and they will be chilled faster than you can finish your shower.

Open Door Alert: Some brands offer this feature where an alert will sound when you haven’t completely closed the door.

When you are taking out stuff from the fridge with both hands and use your elbow or hips to close the door, often a small gap remains which affects the cooling inside. With a door alert, you’ll know if the door is left slightly ajar.

Quick Ice: Very useful for those parties when you need a constant supply of ice, this feature makes ice very quickly so you never run out.

Energy Efficient: An energy efficient fridge will cost you less to run it and reduce your carbon footprint. Opt for a model with three to five stars for maximum savings in electricity bills.

Deodoriser, Anti-Bacterial Coating: We don’t know anyone who hasn’t forgotten to throw out really old food from the fridge. Even in the cold temperature inside the fridge, bacteria can thrive, and fungus can form on really old food.

Plus, there is always a chance of food odours mixing and creating a terrible mixed smell. A deodoriser will take care of any bad smell, and the anti-bacterial coating will hinder the harmful growth of bacteria on the inside of the fridge from any rotten food.

Deep Door Pockets: Whether it is a bottle of water or any other beverage, a deep door pocket will hold your drinks comfortably without requiring you to make space for horizontal storage on the shelves.

Ease of Use

No appliance you own should be high maintenance. This means that your fridge should also be easy to use and maintain. When you buy a fridge, make sure that:

Defrosting is easy: Unless you buy a frost-free fridge (double door onwards), your fridge will require you to manually defrost it.

Some models are more difficult this way because they require you to turn off the fridge and wait for the ice to melt and then there is a pool of water to deal with.

The better option is to buy a fridge that has a simple defrost function – a button press can raise the temperature inside the freezer briefly so the ice melts and the water is collected in a drain pan behind without requiring you to clean up afterwards.

When the defrosting is done, the button returns to normal and the temperature is restored so the fridge continues to work as usual.

Cleaning is easy: Your fridge should have shelves and door pockets that can be removed for when you decide to clean it. Removal of door bins should be easy and not require force that might break the plastic bins.

Wire shelves are tougher to clean than glass shelve

So know your needs, do your research and you will find that there are a number of refrigerators for bachelors like you out there, with features built to accommodate your requirements.

Oh, and don’t forget to buy Extended Warranty when you buy a fridge – repairs and servicing will become one less thing to worry about for you with a good plan.

Recommendations

• Samsung RR19J21C3RJ Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (192 Ltrs)
• LG GL-B201AMLN Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (190 Ltrs)
• Haier 2157 BS-R Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (195 Ltrs)
• Whirlpool 205 IM PWCOL Roy 5S Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (190 Ltrs)
• Whirlpool Fp 263D Royal Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (240 Ltrs)
• LG GL-B252VLGY Double-door Refrigerator (240 Ltrs)

What else would you look for when buying appliances such as refrigerators for bachelors like you? Tell us in the comments!