American refrigerator or 70 cm Combi? Be careful with making mistakes when buying liters that you may not be able to use

I don’t know about you, but when I go to the grocery store, it often feels like I’m preparing for a catastrophe. Many of us live at home and I don’t like going shopping every other day, so I try to put in the cart what I need for at least a week. What’s happening? Then you need space at home to store it.. I have plenty of cabinets and drawers, but my kitchen refrigerator doesn’t have as much space as I would like.

Even though I don’t have a kitchenettethis whole situation has made me consider more than once about jumping into an American refrigerator (you know, the ones with two doors with a left-right distribution). But, Is it really worth it compared to a wide combi? Let’s see which one can fit best in your kitchen and your needs.

Choosing an American refrigerator

If you start browsing stores looking for an American refrigerator, you will see that they all have a very large capacity measured in liters. This is something that cannot take us by surprise, although it has a certain “trick”, since it adds the space of the refrigerator to the freezer. What not many people notice is that, although these refrigerators are very large, the reality is that they are also narrow. And that’s where it comes in the pizza box test.

There’s not much science to it, it’s just what you think: since the shelves are narrower, a pizza box does not fit horizontally. This is the most visual example, but you can take it to other everyday things that you are more likely to keep in your refrigerator. There we can include food trays, cakes, large tupperware or even watermelons if they are large.

Now, what you lose in width you gain in height. This is ideal if you are one of those who practices batch cooking and you cook in one sitting for several days, so you can stack the tupperware without any problem. In addition, you can also take advantage of the more vertical distribution of the refrigerator to your advantage, placing the things you use most at the top and the things you use least at the bottom.

More things to keep in mind about these refrigerators. First, the best thing they have: the freezer. The left-right distribution means that we have plenty of room to freeze things of all kinds and have them very well organized. Not only that, but its more vertical distribution also means that we can have a lot of space at eye level and not have to bend down every time we want to check what we have frozen. All this has a price (and never better said), since American refrigerators have higher energy consumption.

There is also the issue of the water and/or ice dispenser that these types of refrigerators normally come with. It depends on the model, but there are those that need a water intake to make this workalthough there are others that have a tank that we can fill without the need for installation. And, speaking of installation, be careful with American refrigerators: they are deeper. This can make them stand out from the line of the furniture, something that aesthetically does not look very good.

Choose a wide combi

The vast majority of vans in stores are about 60 centimeters wide. We would not put one of these to compete in capacity with an American, but things change if we add 10 centimeters to the formula. It seems like very little difference, but from 70 centimeters wide, the combi gains a lot more capacity. And, of course, without taking up as much space in the kitchen as an American refrigerator.

These pass the pizza box test without breaking a sweat, since its shelves are much wider. Now, the extra total capacity they gain is not enough to beat the American refrigerators. Not through the refrigerator, but through the freezer. There they clearly lose out, so if you have a freezer full of food, it may not be worth it to go for a combi.

There is also the issue of consumption. It will depend a lot on the model we choose, but as a general rule, one of these wide combis It will consume less energy than an American refrigerator. It will not be a consumption figure large enough for us to rule out the Americans, but it will be something to take into account.

The good and the bad of both options, face to face

In summary:

👉 Choose an American refrigerator if: You have plenty of space and if you prioritize maximum capacity in your freezer.

👉 Choose a wide van Yeah: You prefer to have wide shelves and you want a large refrigerator, but not gigantic.

Recommended models

American refrigerator: Bespoke AI RS70F65QETEF

As an American refrigerator option, we have this one from Samsung. Here we are talking about a refrigerator with a total capacity of 659 litersdivided into 239 liters for the freezer and 420 liters for the refrigerator. The refrigerators from this manufacturer also have a technology called ‘SpaceMax’, which basically serves to reduce the thickness of the interior walls as much as possible. This means that, of course, the interior can be used better.

Its RRP is 1,599 euros, although we can get it for only 936.81 euros in the official Samsung store by doing two things: asking for a discount code from the expert chat (which will be 10%) and choosing Delivery and Release. Of course, it must be taken into account that, although it has technologies to reduce its electricity consumption, It has energy classification E. For this price, one of the best American refrigerators we can buy.

A cheaper alternative: Hisense RS3P558NEIE

If you want one of these refrigerators, but are looking for something cheaper, one of the best-selling options on Amazon is this Hisense RS3P558NEIE. We are before a refrigerator with 544 liters of total capacitydistributed in 347 liters for the refrigerator and the rest for the freezer. It has an XXL compartment in the door (ideal for bottles) and a rapid cooling system that we can use when we need it.

This model is currently at an excellent purchasing time. It had been costing almost 660 euros, but now it is available for 599.99 euros. It is its historical minimum so far.

cwide ombi: LG GBBW322CPY

The alternative that we propose is this LG GBBW322CPY. Despite being a combi, it has a total of 465 liters of capacitywhich is not bad at all. The freezer holds 139 of them, while the refrigerator has 279 liters of capacity. With it you can have a larger capacity than what a conventional combi gives you, but without having to find space for an American refrigerator, one that does not fit in all kitchens.

Furthermore, even with the great price of the Samsung above, it is a refrigerator that wins in price (it costs 882 euros) and in energy classification (it has a C). Here you have to weigh your priorities: whether to have more total capacity in your new refrigerator or spend less money on one that, despite having less capacity, can also be used very well by having more horizontal space.

A cheaper alternative: Beko B7RCNE407

As was the case with the Americans, we give you a cheaper alternative in case you prefer a wide combi. This model from the Beko brand is very interesting. It is true that it has been a little cheaper before, but taking into account what it offers, its price 605.57 euros It’s not bad at all.

This refrigerator It has a little more capacity than the LG model abovespecifically 490 total liters (340 for the refrigerator and 150 liters for the freezer). In return, it has a worse energy efficiency, since it has an E label. It has a system that distributes the cold evenly throughout the space, which will ensure that everything we store inside is well preserved.

Do you want to see more models?

If neither of these two that we propose convinces you, we leave you this purchasing guide for refrigerators for American kitchens or this other one about ‘No Frost’ refrigerators.

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Image | Samsung, Bosch, LG

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