 |
Indesit BIAA10
by FrostBite
Since being in our own flat we have always just had a small fridge with a caravan size freezer as we could not afford anything more. After about four years every chrsitmas was becoming more and more awkward as we like to treat ourselves to Iceland party foods, joints of meat and salmon etc. The trouble is they tell you not to pack your ... fridges or they work inefficiently, well ours was packed to the rafters! After some looking around I bought this Indesit model from the Littlewoods catalogue last year in the sale for £249.99 so I would be able to pay the amount in installments interest free.
This fridge freezer is made by Indesit who are a famous Italian appliance manufacturer founded in 1975 who sponsored Arsenal football club in 2011. I bought this type of fridge as I needed more freezer and fridge space, in this case the fridge is larger than the freezer but this is fine as I had enough space to buy an extra upright freezer. The capacity is 182 litre in total with 51 litre freezer and 131 litre fridge leaving plenty of space for fresh foods. The energy rating is A+ not only good for bills but for the environment conscious of us.
The fridge freezer came wrapped in polystyrene to protect all the edges and was in great condition. At first turn on the fridge freezer needs to be left for 24 hours for the gases to settle.
The fridge itself is fantastic for storing a large amount of items and the height of the fridge makes life a lot easier not having to bend down for milk every time I make a cup of tea. The door has a top shelf ideal for butter blocks and eggs (the egg tray is moveable but I put it up here so the eggs are out of the way from being knocked). The middle shelf has more space for all of my jars of jam, marmalade and the shorter squeezy sauce bottles such as ketchup. The third shelf has the most space and this is where I store milk (4pt), juice bottles and taller sauces. The door makes organisation easy and looks tidy.
The main part of the fridge has 2 moveable shelves; the top I always use for my butters so I have this higher. The middle shelf I use for puddings and yogurts plus any water bottles I lay down; and the bottom for the fish and meats. A great little organisation idea is the two drawers in the bottom which fit a large amount in. In my two drawers I store cheese in one and the other has lettuce, peppers, chillis, onions, tomatoes (yes its that big!).
The freezer has three normal drawers and one drawer for fast freezing, this drawer is ideal for meats or ice cream if it has melted a little on the journey home from the shops. I find the freezer holds plenty enough for a couple and I suppose even with a child there would be plenty; I have mince, steaks, a chicken, chips, vegetables, a gateux and other bits and pieces in here.
The freezer is frost free but the fridge occasionally freezes up at the back and things stick to it so I keep them away from the back. There is an antibacterial lining, I find cleaning is very easy I just use a wipe to go around the shelves whether it looks dirty or not. The shelves are easy to remove in the fridge as are the drawers in the freezer. The fridge is fab at keeping temperature though and I feel that it keeps milk fresher as my milk often lasts longer than the dates on the pack.
The door opening sides can be changed as can the leg heights on the bottom, this is handy as we have tiles and the fridge freezer can become uneven.
I love my fridge freezer having no issues with it yet.
Read the complete review |
 |
Beko BC502
by bringingsexyback
WHAT IS IT?
A fridge freezer made by Beko. It has got a larger fridge than freezer and that was what I was looking for when I researched my purchase because I do not buy a lot of frozen food.
WHY I BOUGHT THIS MODEL
I needed to replace my fridge freezer because it had started to make a loud buzzing ... noise that disturbed everyone in the house at night, it also was not keeping my food fresh for as long as it should. I did not have any brand on my mind and chose this Beko appliance because it has got a 155 litre capacity in the fridge and 70 litres in the freezer, that suits my family unit because my fridge is usually filled with fresh foods and vegetables but I use my freezer for home cooked then frozen meals like stew and chilli. I am energy conscious when I choose home appliances so the A+ energy rating also helped me to decide.
WHAT I THINK
I am very happy with my new fridge freezer and think it fits in with what I need from this large appliance. The shelves in the fridge can be moved and this is easy to do so I often move them if I have bulky things to store like large cakes, at Christmas I took the bottom shelf off altogether so that I could fit my turkey in while it defrosted. I like that the salad drawers have got a glass shelf covering them because that helps to keep my vegetables crisp and fresh and it also lets me put plates of food on this glass shelf because it is more solid that the other wire shelves. The salad drawers are deep and I can keep quite a lot in them, they are cut out a bit at the backs though so I cannot fit long pieces of celery or cucumbers in them without disturbing the loose glass shelf.
The inside of the door has got a wide shelf for my milk and the other shelves are narrower so I use them for jars and yogurts. The door moves smoothly so they do not rattle around when I open and close the fridge. It comes with a removable wine rack but when you put 4 bottles of wine in it it takes up a lot of room so I took mine out and keep my wine in a wine cooler instead of the fridge.
The freezer has got 3 drawers and a shelf at the top with a drop down front. The drawers are very good because they are dead square so I can stack my containers of meals when I have finished cooking, it holds enough containers and bags of peas, frozen potato products to feed my family of five for a week if I am very busy with no time to cook in the evening. I use the top shelf for containers of pureed foods for my baby daughter that I batch cook every second Sunday. It is a very quiet fridge freezer and does not even make a humming noise when it is running.
The freezer is frost free and does not damage food that is kept in there for quite a long time, it also stays clean and it is not very often that I have to wipe it only usually when my husband spills peas in it like he always does. When we had a powercut last week I made sure nobody opened the door and left it for an hour for the coldness to come back after the power had been restored, I was happy that none of my food had defrosted and think the freezer must be very well insulated. The food in the fridge did not seem to be so fresh though and I had to throw some dairy products and cooked meat away.
I like that you can change what way the door opens and we did this because the way the door was hinged when we bought it would have been awkward in our L shaped kitchen. My husband did this and it looked easy but I had to help him hold the door while he clipped the hinge back in on the other side so I do not think it would be so easy to do alone.
ANYTHING ELSE
We paid £350 for our Beko BC502 and I think that is very good value for a fridge freezer that costs less than £3 a month to run even when it is full up.
5 Dooyoo Stars.
Read the complete review |
 |
Essentials CUL50W12
by ladybracknell
When my under-counter freezer died a few months ago I opted to not only replaced the freezer but also my rather ancient fridge and I chose the same manufacturer. By buying both appliances together giving me a matching pair, I not only got a discount but also gave my kitchen a bit of a facelift.
I intend to move house within ... the next couple of years and will be replacing these appliances with a free-standing fridge/freezer so I didn't want to spend a fortune on items which will probably be left behind when I move and also I was fairly limited in the amount of space the two units were to occupy. After an internet search I decided to buy a freezer and fridge from the Currys Essentials range, not least because it came with a £30 discount and free delivery. This particular model is currently on sale for £129.99.
Basic specifications:
Dimensions: 839 x 494 x 494 mm (H x W x D)
Storage capacity: 104 litres or 3.67 cubic feet
Energy Rating: A+
Energy Consumption: 118 kwh per annum (average)
Storage Temperature: Up to -18⁰C
So what do you get for your money?
Well, for a kick off you get free delivery and the delivery men take away all the packaging! I've already sung the praises of Currys delivery service in my freezer review but it's worth repeating that this service is efficient and effective.
When my new fridge was revealed in all its unassuming glory I discovered I'd purchased a sleek little white number which fits perfectly under my worktops and doesn't shout to the world that I've bought cheap. There isn't a logo in sight and the door is opened using a recessed groove along the top. The door is reversible so if you prefer a left hand opener, it can be changed though Currys recommend using someone qualified to do this rather than attempting the job yourself.
Inside the fridge is every bit as streamlined. This particular model is frost-free so storage capacity is increased and besides the two moveable glass shelves, there is a third which doubles as the cover to the salad crisper drawer. The plastic door shelves are slightly wider than average and are removable for easy cleaning.
My opinion:
After three months of ownership and despite a couple of reservations I had when I first examined the fridge, I feel I can state quite categorically that this appliance definitely punches above its weight. When I first looked at the build quality, which is admittedly not up to the quality of a high end manufacturer, I wondered just how robust such fittings as the door shelves might be but so far they've stood up to the usual wear and tear of daily use. That being said, there are definite grades of plastic and this appliance isn't manufactured from the best quality. Although it doesn't look ultra cheap, close examination shows that the plastic is of a thinner quality which is certainly going to need more care when using on a daily basis. For that reason, I feel this fridge is probably not up to life as a family fridge where it's likely to receive rough treatment during its lifetime.
The fact that it's frost free is a huge bonus as far as I'm concerned. I hate defrosting the fridge and the fact that it's now a chore I'll no longer have to do is liberating and of course the extra space freed up by not having an ice box is very welcome.
Although the fridge doesn't run totally silently, it's not very loud. The specifications state it has an airborne acoustical noise level of 40 decibels but as I haven't a clue how loud even one decibel is, that means nothing to me. The fridge merely makes a rather comforting and pleasant little burbling noise every so often and compared to my previous ancient model it's very quiet.
The fridge door shelves are a really good size. My previous fridge door shelves were quite narrow, only being deep enough to take a litre of milk or an average wine bottle. The Essentials fridge comes with deeper shelves, roomy enough for storing all the usual bottles, packets and jars. The bottom shelf has enough headroom and is wide enough to comfortably take a bottle of champagne (not that I have much of that in my fridge at any given time) or one of those 4 litre plastic cartons of milk and the other two door shelves again are wide enough for larger tubs of butter/spread and all the other cooking accoutrements you might need to store. These shelves are easy enough to remove for cleaning but given the quality of the plastic, extra care should be taken when doing this.
The glass shelves are all easy to remove for cleaning and of a good enough quality for me not to worry about their longevity. The salad crisper pull out drawer, however, is deep and narrow and like the other plastic items is not the best quality so, again, I feel care should be taken when removing this drawer.
Unlike its companion freezer, the thermostatic control for the fridge is placed in an easy to reach location at the top of the appliance and is integrated with the fridge light.
My previous fridge belonged to an era before energy ratings were even dreamt of and I can't say I've noticed a huge drop in the amount of electricity I'm using since I bought this fridge. So despite this model having an energy rating of A+ I daresay over the course of a year, I'm only saving a few pennies but every little helps.
Overall pros and cons:
~~ Pros
Sleek design which fits well with any kitchen
Frost free
Quiet running
Wide door shelves for larger bottles and packets
~~ Cons
Plastic is quite cheap and of a thinner quality
Might not be suited to wear and tear of family life
Summing it all up:
Overall I'm delighted with my new fridge. Unlike its companion freezer, there are more positives than negatives and I'm especially pleased that it's banished the need for regular defrosting. The appliance runs quietly enough to not be noticeable and although the build quality may not be the best available, with care I feel this appliance will give quite a few years good service.
For a basic appliance, Currys have produced a winner with the Essentials under-counter fridge which should suit the needs of anyone setting up home on a budget.
Read the complete review |
