Refrigerators for Couples: What You Should Consider Before Buying

Last Updated on June 24, 2021 by Rupesh Patil

When you start living with your significant other, a number of things change. From small things like which side of the bed you now sleep on to something major like which appliances need a rehaul or which ones you need to buy.

What your appliances did for one so far now has to be done for two, and therefore, more space, better efficiency with an eye on long-term savings, and a host of other features come into play.

However, not all couples are the same, so we’ve broken down our picks of refrigerators by the most common kinds of couples we have come across.

Type 1: The couple that is both working professionals

The first kind of couple is where both partners are working, and they only have dinner at home. Lunch is cooked with dinner and packed away in the fridge, and there is hardly any leftover.

This couple also shops once a week, so they need adequate space in the fridge to hold a week’s worth of vegetables and meat/fish.

Our recommendation for this couple would be a single door 190-litres+ direct cool fridge. These fridges have large enough vegetable boxes and freezer space to store produce for the week.

The fridge space, with at least two, toughened glass shelves, and the veggie box cover acting as a third shelf give ample space to hold packed lunches and leftovers. The door bins are big enough to hold bottles. For this couple, we recommend:

• Samsung RR19J21C3RJ Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (192 liters)
• Whirlpool 205 Genius Cls Plus 4S Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (190 Ltrs)
• LG GL-B201AMLN Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (190 Ltrs)
• Haier 2157 BS-R Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (195 Ltrs)

This size is good enough whether the couple routinely eats at home, or has the occasional meal outside, or gets takeaways.

Type 2: The couple with one homemaker/work-from-home person

Our second kind of couple has one partner who is a homemaker or works from home while the other goes to the office. This couple either buys for the week or buys only for 2 or 3 days at a time.

In this case, one partner routinely eats at home, and the other join him/her for dinner. But because one person stays home, the fridge has to have enough space to hold quick eats and breakfast mixes in case this person is peckish.

So essentially, this couple stores more food in the fridge. So our recommendation for them would still be a single-door direct cool fridge but in a larger size – 200-liters upwards.

This means more space to hold produce as well as leftovers and fresh foods. A double-door fridge would still be a bit much for this couple, and they will need to pay to chill empty spaces.

A larger-capacity single-door fridge will hold all the refrigeration requirements of this couple adequately. For this couple, we recommend:

• Samsung RR23K274ZUZ Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (230 Ltrs)
• LG GL-D245BMPZ Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (235 Ltrs)
• Godrej RD EDGE SX 221 CT 5.2 Direct-cool Single-door Refrigerator (221 Ltrs)

A fridge of this capacity will be good enough for the couple whether they routinely eat at home and has the occasional meal outside.

Type 3: The couple living with parents

The third type is a couple that lives with one or both parents. Whether or not both of them go out to work, there will always be someone at home for whom there must be food in the fridge.

Therefore, the requirements of this couple are almost double that of other couples – the fridge needs to hold food for 3-4 people. Naturally, with one or two extra people in the house, the vegetable drawer and the freezer also need to have more space.

This means a larger capacity fridge. A single-door fridge will no longer suffice, and they need the space offered by a double-door.

For 4 people in the house, they need upwards of 240-liters capacity, with ample storage area in the freezer and the vegetable box. For this couple, we recommend:

• LG GL-I292RPZL Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (260 Ltrs)
• Whirlpool Fp 263D Royal Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (240 Ltrs)
• Samsung RT28K3022VJ/HL/NL Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (253 Ltrs)

For this couple, this kind of fridge is enough to hold food and produce for up to 4 people.

Type 4: The couple with parents and children

The fourth type is a couple that lives with parents and children.

The requirement now shoots up because there are 5 or 6 people that will be using the fridge. The double-door is now a minimum requirement, and the capacity of the fridge now needs to be close to or above 300-litres.

In this case, the couple can go with a traditional top-mount freezer or a bottom freezer fridge. Since parents will also operate the fridge, and the requirement for fresh food is always more than frozen food items, the bottom freezer models are ideal for such a household.

Our recommendations for this couple would be:

• Samsung RT39K5458SL Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (394 Ltrs)
• Whirlpool Pro 355 ELT Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (340 Ltrs)
• LG GL-T402HPZM Frost-free Double-door Refrigerator (360 Ltrs)
• Haier HRB-3404BS-R Frost-free Multi-door Refrigerator (320 Ltrs)

In India, Side-by-side fridges start from a minimum capacity of 500-litres and therefore, they are best for either very large families or for couples who do not mind the additional power consumption required to chill large amounts of empty space in the fridge.

In all our recommendations, the basic requirements from a fridge are fulfilled.

They have adjustable shelves for more flexibility, toughened glass shelves for sturdiness, excellent BEE ratings, and trademarked technology to ensure that food stays fresher for longer.