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Servis Electra E7316CR
by zombieflesh
My fridge freezer is something that I totally rely on but mostly don't give a second though to - it just does what it needs to do and I carry on using it. I selected the Electra model by Servis as I was on a budget and this was a generously sized fridge freezer that came in at an affordable price of around £280.00. I bought this from ... Comet who also delivered and set it up for me so this was a very nice and easy way to start before I began using it. I bought this as I was moving into my first house and had to buy a lot of other appliances and products at the same time. Something that I discovered when I was shopping around was the energy rating score that is now given to all electrical goods. I was keen to purchase a product that had a high energy efficiency rating as this was good for the environment and also good for saving money on running costs. The Servis Electra has a top class A rating meaning that it uses power efficiently, and along with the other requirements that I had in mind I was sold on this.
There are several modes that the fridge freezer can run on and this includes a variable setting that you can use to adjust the temperature of the fridge and the freezer. These controls are handled independently of one another so this is great as you can customise exactly how you want your fridge to run and exactly how you want your freezer to run. There are 5 temperature settings for the fridge that I can control by turning a button from 1 (warmest) through to 5 (coldest). The freezer section also has a separate temperature control that features a "super" function to provide a quick freeze that runs for 24 hours, and an "eco" function that regulates the temperature to the ideal amount across the compartments to save energy. I found it very easy to use these settings, although now I am happy with how it runs I have not had cause to adjust it.
The fridge freezer is a large and bulky appliance which is to be expected, and it takes up a considerable amount of space in my kitchen. The appliance is designed so that the fridge section is larger and sits above the freezer section at the bottom. The fridge and freezer are accessed by separate doors that pull open on hinges. The design inside is useful for keeping organised. In the fridge there are 2 adjustable shelves as well as a base level shelf that is permanently fixed above the 2 salad drawers at the bottom. Inside the fridge door there is a tall shelf compartment along with a small shelf compartment and a further lidded shelf compartment at the top. This gives plenty of spaces that I use to sort my food items into and this makes it easy to use as well as allowing me to clearly see and retrieve things when I need them. Keeping my fridge organised really helps me to take stock of what food I have and lessen the amount of waste or unnecessary purchases as I can keep on top of what I have and nothing gets shoved to the back and forgotten about! The freezer section has four different compartments with one fixed shelf at the top and three sliding drawers underneath. These sections are all covered with a plastic front, and although these seem fine on the drawers as they are fixed, the plastic cover over the top shelf was hinged and this broke away very quickly. I didn't bother to replace it as the plastic seemed very brittle and fragile and I have been using the shelf since without any need to have a cover over the front of it.
There is also a large amount of storage space inside the fridge freezer with the fridge section containing a volume of 220l and the freezer section containing a volume of 100l. This gives a total volume of 310l storage capacity which is more than enough to meet my needs seeing as we are a 2 person household. Within this space we always have a little extra space in the fridge, but the freezer stays stocked closely to the brim so a larger household may require something larger again. However, we do tend to rely on quite a lot of frozen foods and there is a whole drawer dedicated to ice cream and ice lollys so maybe if you eat more fresh food and manage your space better this would be adequate for your household as well!
Servis was not my first choice of manufacturer but I was happy with the features and the price I paid. I did have a problem with this fridge freezer within the first year of purchase, where the temperature went totally out of control and my fridge was actually heating up! As this was within the period of the manufacturer's warranty I got this fixed for free which was a relief seeing as the problem was with the printed circuit board (PCB - basically the 'brains' of the machine) and this is usually the most expensive component to buy replacement parts for. Since then I have not had a single further breakdown problem to report and it has given me a consistent and reliable performance. The only little niggle that I have is when the freezer gets a bit too iced up then it can be hard to fully push in the drawers which means that the door seal occasionally has issues where it does not provide a complete seal as it has not closed correctly. I try and keep a close eye on this to avoid leaving the door ajar and this problem disappears once the freezer has been defrosted.
The Electra fridge freezer is a frost free model which I naively assumed meant that I didn't have to manually defrost it. Thankfully my other half knows better in these sort of areas and he gives the freezer a check over and defrost once or twice a year. This is quite a messy business and can take a matter of hours before the freezer is ready to use again. The fridge section has a drip tray collector at the back of it which catches any condensation, and this seems to fill up quickly. It also gathers crumbs and can get clogged up which creates a big mess if I haven't been vigilant enough to spot it, and there have been several times when it has overflowed. As the outside of the fridge freezer is white it can be quite tough to keep it looking spotless, as it shows up marks easily and has actually stained in a couple of places. Scrubbing with diluted bleach helps to keep it clean and tidy for the most part but after 5 years of constant use I can accept that it has a few stains as it's been through a lot!
Overall I can highly recommend the Servis Electra Fridge Freezer. It was great value for money, gives plenty of room and organised storage inside, has proved to be reliable and to top it all off it has an A level energy efficiency rating. 5 stars all round from me :)
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