How much space does your fridge freezer waste?

Why are fridge freezers measured in litres?

Litres are a liquid measurement and are meaningless and impossible to visualize. Space should be measured as a cubic capacity. You can visualize cubic metres or feet but not litres.

I have noticed other solid items measured in litres and must only be to confuse the consumer.

In the days when we could pop along to Comet and compare half a dozen fridge-freezers that would fit in the space available, it was fairly easy to look at the space available and decide whether it would suit our needs. Now that many appliances are bought online rather than in shops, it is more of a gamble.

Let’s hope that Which? gives us useful guidance on usable space. Expecting all manufacturers to be more honest is a bit of a non-starter in my view.

I seem to remember some car manufacturers measuring the capacity of their boots with ping pong balls – in litres. So all the odd nooks and crannies were included, even though they were not generally usable space.
Our difficulty with fridges is that things get hidden behind other items, and you can’t organise diverse foods very well. Same in the freezer drawers where inevitably new stuff gets put on top of old, which then gets forgotten.
So whilst usable space is important, so is access to food. I would like to see proper (deeper)storage shelves on doors that carry food as well as bottles and small items, with consequently shallower shelves in the main body where you can see what needs using. The American-style 2 door fridge does this to some degree, but is too big for many kitchens.

I bought a fridge freezer in Curry’s this week. Comparing what I saw with what the labels said about storage capacity, I smelled a rat. A Samsung had a bigger claimed freezer capacity than the Hotpoint I was considering, but the drawers looked smaller overall. I didn’t have a tape measure so I pulled the drawers out of both and put them side by side. This seemed to confirm my impression that the labels were not giving the true picture

I ended up buying an Indesit which is internally identical to the Hotpoint I had chosen, but the Hotpoint was out of stock. Indesit was on promotional offer and 70 quid cheaper for what appears to be exactly the same thing bar the badge and other minor external cosmetics! It was not on display (even though this was a big store) but they had hundreds in the warehouse. This only came to light when the salesman thought I was about to walk after I didn’t go for the alternatives he suggested (like the aforementioned Samsung). Then it came out that Indesit and Hotpoint are the same company and the models are often shared and Curry’s sells things that are not on (or not yet on) display…

Anyway, my previous FF was a Hotpoint (17 years old) with claimed freezer capacity of 100L. I measured the usable storage spaces (internal drawer and compartment dimensions) and calculated 83 litres usable capacity – 17% less. Well I never. The Indesit comes out at 80 litres but 87 litres are claimed.

When I queried the discrepancy between what the labels said and what I thought I saw, the salesman told me that the way they are calculated is governed by law, as if to say it is totally standardised and above-board so the labels must be right and I must be wrong. Well clearly I was right and the law leaves enough wriggle room for significant dishonesty or it is just not being followed.

Astonishing as it may seem, I want to know how much stuff it will actually take, not a measure of the elasticity of the marketing exec’s morals.

So for once, I was glad I’d shopped in person rather than doing my usual online bargain hunt. A good result in terms of price paid and getting what I wanted.

Strangely, the bargain must-have extended warranty (or maintenance contract as they’ve been rebranded), which at £99 was a mere 33% of the cost of the fridge freezer, did not appeal despite a valiant attempt at Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt by the salesman.

Looking at getting a new f/f. The curry one one offer at the moment looks ok on paper.(Beko CXFD825s (or w) It says 87 litre. Just found a bin on line that holds 87 litre. it measures 760H 520W 290 deep. this seems to fit with the sizes of the freezer except it is 210 less in depth!!!! Also looking at the bin makes me realize how little food i would be able to fit in. So it is worth seeing before buying.