I need a new fridge. I have a short list, but would welcome opinion etc re various brands.
The old one, an Electrolux 'minibar' type had the advantage of being perfectly silent and was hidden away in a kitchen cupboard, but was really too small even for one person flat within walking distance of any number of city-centre shops open 24/7. It lasted 20 years but now I've renovated the kitchen a new arrangement is required.
Constraints: needs to be freestanding with a modest footprint (the usual 60cm wide ~63cm deep is ok, W-55cm better. even a 85cm (table height) would be bigger than the old one but I'm inclined to think H-140cm or more may be the best use of the floor space, more than 160cm height would however dominate my small (4x5m) room. I don't pay too much attention to all this 'keep refrigerated' labelling nonsense but the changes to the cupboard space mean that it will probably store things that need only a larder.
This is a living room with kitchen-in-corner so noise matters - the intermitent noise from a fridge starting and stopping is particularly irritating, whereas the steady hum of a motor running may go unremarked amid the traffic noise from outside.
I really don't _need_ a freezer compartment, however a fridge with bottom freezer would save bending to reach thing more often needed. A fridge with bio-fresh (~0deg) would be more useful than one with a freezer.
I am not price sensitive, it's the quality and appearance that matters, but at about £700 I start to think of other things I could do with my money.
This is going to be a conspicuous feature of the room so any colour but white - stainless steel will do.
The shortlist so far
Liebherr KBes 3650 larder with bio-fresh 164cm
Siemens KG26 fridge with bottom freezer 155cm KG28 independent compartments each can be fridge, freezer or 0deg. An attractive idea but is 185cm high and a lot of money. KG30 fridge with bottom freezer 170cm
Zanussi Z57si 140cm, cheap, if I don't need th freezer then it's no bigger than a 85cm
Fisher&Paykel look nice but, deeper (70cm) than normal, and energy class C - why? I don't mind the cost (~£40 pa against ~£20 pa for the competition according to the labels in John Lewis) but that implies the motor does more work ad therefore more noise? And, if I was to be green about this transporting domestic appliances from NZ seems rather extravagant. E402B E415H
Baumatic Saw these on display and the quality dosn't seem any better than Zanussi Retro1 (120cm) Retro2 (157cm) BF315 (152cm) top freezer not really what I want
Also ran? Smeg, choice of colours but not sure about the retro look and as far as I can see a lot of money for what is, apart from the style, a very ordinary fridge. Bosch: badge engineered Siemens, most models white only Miele: could be Liebherrwith a different embossed logo on door Hotpint RFR50: retro 158cm, no better than Zanussi or Baumatic, probably worse. Anyway, alone of manufacturers. they havn't bothered to send a brochure and there isn't enough info on the website.
Oh dear this has got rather long, but I would welcome any comment.