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Indesit CAA55
by MoleyGoldpaws
The Indesit CA55 is an economical and stylish fridge freezer with plenty of room for your fresh food.
I previously owned an old fridge freezer that had the upper freezer compartment and always felt it was never enough storage for my frozen food so I began searching for something with more space. I did a quick search online and ... decided to visit Currys for a look at the ones on display to get an idea of the size.
My kitchen is quite small so I needed something slimmer than the American style fridges and immediately spotted the Indesit CA55 in its striking black colour. Having browsed the range of other models, I wanted something that had sensible use of space. Inside the fridge there are two movable glass shelves, two generous salad and veg drawers in the bottom of the fridge and shelves built into the door that can house large milk containers, 2L bottles, small jars and at the top, an egg tray and butter shelf.
I've found that the space inside the fridge is generous enough yet because the fridge is slim, the height may pose a problem for short statures reaching to the back of the top shelf.
The freezer is nice and roomy, has four drawers which not all do and the upper drawer has a fast freeze function so you have the option to place items in there first. It also comes with ice cube trays but sadly no dedicated area for them to be housed in, I tend to keep them in the bottom drawer. You can easily see whats in each drawer thanks to the transparent fronts and they all individually slide out easily which makes it very easy to keep clean.
I have an Indesit cooker in my kitchen - also in black - so this new addition fitted in well. You can choose to have the model in white or silver which may suit your kitchen better. It sometimes attracts finger marks on the doors as the seal around the doors are pretty tight but a quick pull is all it takes. The fridge I felt was a little noisy at first but it soon settles down and there are adjustable feet on the base if your flooring is a little uneven.
Based on what I paid for the CA55, £239, it is excellent value for money. Indesit appliances come direct from the manufacturer and delivery was no hassle so I am very pleased with my purchase.
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Hotpoint FFA52P
by Roobedoo
I work in a halls of residence and we put these fridge freezers in their communal kitchens. When it came to me buying my own fridge freezer for home I had a limited budget but wanted something reliable and sturdy. The price of this refrigerator makes it very affordable and it is worth it!
We moved house with it and it got quite a ... few knocks and bangs, but still works fine. I wouldn't say it was a good size for a family, but for a couple maybe even a couple with a young child it is fine. The freezer capacity is sufficient, and there are 3 shelves, 2 drawers and door storage in the fridge. They have even increased the door capacity in a specific location to fit larger bottles in.
The ice cube trays that it comes with are a bit odd, and I wouldn't use them but the blue color contrast they provide to the drawers in the freezer is nice.
A few negatives - There is only one adjustable leg which when you change the side the door hangs or your floor is particularly uneven then you can't get the fridge to balance very well without some shifting and moving on your part. The only other negative is from my experiences of these fridge freezers in halls. The way the salad drawers in the fridge have been constructed means that if stuff gets in it is hard to get it out, and so cleaning the fridges at the end of term when milk and beer and all sorts has got in the gaps and gone mouldy is quite difficult.
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Hoover HRFA54S
by Drewster_Rooster
The one kitchen appliance I've wanted and waited to buy for a long time has been an upright fridge freezer. In my last home I didn't have the space to stand one so made do with my under-the-counter fridge with a small ice box for storing frozen goods however when I moved to my new home last year I found that there was more than enough ... room to accommodate one but budget restraints and other priorities meant that I had to wait before I could afford one. Buying recently from Currys online during their Easter sales I took the plunge when I saw the Hoover HRFA54 on special offer at £249.99 from its supposed original price of £499.99, it seemed to offer me everything I wanted for a very good price and now that I've owned mine for a few weeks I thought the time was right to review it here.
The HRFA54 is a large, upright fridge freezer, the "S" in it's name stands for Silver and a "W" model in white is also available for roughly the same price. The features are the same whichever model is chosen but as the silver one was the one on offer at Currys that's the one I bought a few weeks ago. Aesthetically speaking it's not particularly remarkable looking, it's a freestanding fridge freezer that keeps food cold/frozen so nothing to get overly excited about but my first and ongoing impressions when I saw it were positive and inside it features a few extras that lift it from being a standard run-of-the-mill model. It measures 175cm in height, 55cm in depth and 58cm in width and given that I had a 60cm gap between my worktop and wall meant that mine is a nice, snug fit and fills the gap I had very well. The fridge is at the top and the freezer part sits beneath it, the doors open from left to right as standard but can be changed over if desired and I would say that it's a 50/50 fridge freezer with the same amount of space given to each section. There are a couple of wheels underneath the unit along with 2 feet at the front which makes moving it around a lot easier than other fridge freezers I've owned in the past so getting it stood in position was hassle-free and easily achieved.
The fridge has a gross capacity of 164.5 litres which equates to 5.8 cubic feet and the freezer 95.5 litres (3.4 cubic feet) It's A+ rated in terms of energy efficiency and other than a gentle hum I would say that it's very quiet and sits efficiently in place doing the thing it was designed for. Inside the fridge are 2 glass shelves, 2 salad boxes and the very nice inclusion of a wired bottle rack which I thought made for an unexpected bonus seeing as how I didn't notice when I ordered mine. The edges of the shelves are finished off with a chrome detailing which again gives it a nice look and lifts it from being just a standard-looking fridge and I do think that Hoover have put a lot of effort into delivering a very nice looking appliance that I'm very pleased to own. The shelves can be adjusted to suit, there are a number of grooves that allow them to be moved up and down the fridge so you can space them to your own requirements. There are 2 shelves in the door along with space for storing milk as you'd expect from a fridge and other than a temperature control there's nothing else in there to take up space or get in the way. I do like the bottle rack, this is a very handy inclusion for families I think and I make use of mine with bottles of fizzy drink and wine when it needs chilling. The salad boxes are of good depth that they hold a fair amount of produce and are the perfect size for storing cans or salad bags which are then kept chilled and fresh. The chrome edges are easy to keep clean, they wipe easily as do the glass shelves themselves so keeping the fridge at its best is easily to keep on top of. The interior light is quite a bright, white light and gives a cool look rather than a yellow illumination you'd might expect from a fridge, I think it adds to the quality and look of the appliance and in its own way is quite stylish and something a little bit different. Keeping the exterior of the fridge freezer clean is easy enough only requriing a wipe over with a damp cloth and even though the silver is quite glossy it's not prone to showing marks or fingerprints although I suspect it might not retain its sleekness should there be young, sticky fingers around.
The freezer section is split into 4 equally sized plastic draws that pull out and push in, again they are of good depth to hold a fair amount of boxes, bags etc and I would say that there is enough room to accommodate a family's freezer shop without running out of space. The only thing missing is a pull-out ice cube tray which could be a negative point for some, this doesn't bother me personally as I buy bags of ice cubes but I thought it worth mentioning here as that's the only drawback that comes to mind. The plastic drawers are well made, tough and durable. Made from thick plastic I don't doubt their durability whatsoever and they have a nice, smooth action when pulled out and pushed back in again. The freezer is well designed I think, I like how each of the drawers are the same size and providing 4 of them gives me more than enough space to store my frozen goods and as there is no waste of space with an ice cube section I find that there is no ice formation thus removing the need for defrosting the unit. The freezer drawers are clear so you can see what's in there, again this is a nice touch I think although I still forget where I put things so have to go searching but that's more down to me being disorganised rather than a problem with the appliance itself.
The Hoover brand is discretely displayed on the front of the fridge in a silver decal but other than that it's a clean and sleek appliance that fits my kitchen well. I do think that it has been very well made, the finishing touches are good with the bottle rack being my favourite part of the fridge as it's inclusion was unexpected. I do think that the unit as a whole is big enough for a couple or a small family, there's certainly enough space for my grocery shopping and for the money I paid I think it has been a very good buy. I don't think it's a £500 fridge freezer though in all honesty and believe that Currys inflated the price just so that it appeared to be a 'bargain' when offered on sale. It doesn't have a water dispenser which I know is a popular inclusion on some higher-priced fridge freezers for example and its minimalistic design may be a bit on the plain side for some but for me it's an efficient and functional item that serves its purpose well. For a shade under £250.00 I think it has been a good buy and have no criticisms with the space it offers or how it keeps my food frozen and chilled.
Available from the usual electrical retailers the Hoover HRFA54 in both white and silver is still a current model so shouldn't be too hard to track down. I'd recommend it to others and as far as my rating here goes it gets 5 stars as I can't fault it at all. Thanks for reading my review.
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