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Every member of your family can appreciate a good refrigerator. Assuming that you make it to the grocery store now and then, the fridge is the one place in your kitchen where you can usually find a good meal, be it a deli sandwich, a salad or a heaping bowl of fruit.
All refrigerators keep food cool and fresh, but there are a few important variables to consider when planning a new kitchen. For example, some refrigerators boast more storage space than others. Some offer precision temperature control. Some are built-in, and others are freestanding. And then there are those refrigerators that can function like a computer, a television and a message center all in one.
Feature for feature, no one refrigerator stands out as the clear winner. Rather, finding the best refrigerator for your kitchen depends on your lifestyle and the design of the room.
Totally New Features
Internet Connectivity. Even before the dawn of high-speed broadband Internet connections, refrigerator manufacturers envisioned machines that could keep an inventory of the foods inside, create a shopping list of all the items you needed, and email the list to an online grocer that could deliver everything to your doorstep within hours. That grocery-getting fridge is still a little pie-in-the-sky, but manufacturers, including Samsung and LG Electronics, have recently introduced refrigerators with at least the ability to talk to the Internet. No, these iceboxes aren't emailing Bob the Butcher with an order for four T-bones, and no, they aren't calling you at the office to remind you to pick up a carton of milk. But they are coming pretty darn close.
Grocery Getters. The Internet Refrigerator from LG Electronics, for example, will tell you when a block of Swiss cheese might be growing mold or if the eggs are getting old, but only if you take the time to manually input the expiration information for each and every product you load into the fridge. Based on the purchase and expiration dates that you enter into a page on the LG web site, the screen of the refrigerator and any Internet- connected computer can pop up reminder messages automatically.
Knowing what's inside the fridge at all times is a feature that most appliance manufacturers recognize as adding real value and usefulness to the kitchen. A refrigerator with inventory management features, for example, could maintain a grocery list for you. Instead of requiring users to input or scan each item manually before placing it inside the refrigerator, the appliance would be able to read an entire grocery cart full of tagged items -- recognizing not only the identity of each product, but also its expiration date and other information.
Electrolux is already testing radio-frequency (RF) tagging and reading through a concept refrigerator called the CyberFridge. Currently being studied in commercial kitchens, the CyberFridge not only reads RF tags and maintains a log of a constantly changing food inventory, it also eliminates the bother of hand-tracking perishable foods. Should a busy chef grab the newest package of cheese rather than the oldest, for example, the CyberFridge emits a beep as a warning.
Another technology hurdle that keeps companies like Whirlpool and Electrolux from releasing their prototype smart refrigerators to the market is the slow development and implementation of online grocery services. When online grocery services become pervasive, an RF-reading, Internet-connected refrigerator will be able to scan the contents of the appliance, and, based on a recipe you enter into its built-in touchscreen, can determine which items you need and place the order with an online grocer automatically.
Space Saving Entertainment. So what can these ultra-advanced refrigerators from LG, Samsung and others do right now? For the most part, the screen that's built into the door can effectively replace a TV and a computer screen. This in-the-door design preserves counter space and provides a central location to surf the web, snap a picture and email it to Grandma, catch the news or leave a voice message for a family member. The Internet Refrigerator from LG, which was rolled out nationally last September, incorporates a 15.1-inch LCD touchscreen into one of its double doors. The frame of the screen holds a built-in camera for taking pictures and a microphone for recording messages. The screen can display content from the web, cable TV programs and DVD movies. Components such as a DVD player and a high-speed modem plug into a small box that sits on top of the appliance, the "brains" of the refrigerator.
The Samsung HomePAD side-by-side refrigerator features a similar touchscreen-in-the-door design and can handle many of the same entertainment, information-gathering and communications tasks as the LG Internet Refrigerator, but with one advantage: Its touchscreen is detachable. You can remove it from the door and carry it elsewhere to watch TV or write a long email.
Precision Controls. A screen on the door shouts high-tech, but the new generation of refrigerators are smart in other, less-obvious ways, too. For example, built into the GE Arctica refrigerator is a sophisticated temperature-management system that adjusts the climate based on the type of food placed inside. By engaging the Arctica's Express Chill feature, for example, you can chill a warm bottle of chardonnay in just 17 minutes. The Express Thaw feature does just the opposite to frozen foods. The same pound and a half of meat that used to take 30 hours to defrost in a conventional refrigerator takes a mere eight hours in the Arctica.
Back to Basics
Energy Efficiency. Although screen fridges are available and are certainly compelling, no manufacturer believes that these appliances will be flying off the showroom floors anytime soon. For this reason, manufacturers continue to make subtle improvements to their traditional lines. One of the most important upgrades to look for is a boost in energy efficiency, says Brian Maynard, director of marketing for KitchenAid Home Appliances. (You'll know it's an energy saver when you see the Energy Star emblem. But be sure to compare apples to apples. A larger refrigerator will naturally consume more energy than a smaller one.)
Thanks to strict guidelines established by the Department of Energy, today's refrigerators are more energy-efficient than those of 20 years ago, and the bar gets raised every year. That's a good thing, given the growing popularity of kitchens with dual appliances. "You can have two of everything and still be very energy-efficient," says Jill Notini, director of communications and marketing for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
Storage Space. Exactly how much food will you need your refrigerator to hold? Naturally, a family of five will need a lot more storage space than a jet-setting couple with no kids. The family of five will probably need gallon storage on the doors and plenty of clearance space on the shelves. For them, a freestanding 27-cubic-foot fridge might be the ticket. For the couple, a 36-inch built-in is probably fine.
Style. Refrigerators come in two basic configurations: freestanding and built-in. The capacities of freestanding refrigerators are measured in cubic feet; the capacities of built-ins are rated in width. A built-in offers a sleek, modern appearance but is usually more expensive and less roomy than a freestanding model. If you want the best of both worlds -- style and storage -- look for a countertop freestanding model. These refrigerators are manufactured to be shallower than conventional freestanding ones, which allows them to sit flush with the outer edge of the counter.
