Frost free. While most fridges are frost free, there could still be ones around which aren’t.
A good frost free fridge should dehumidify the air at the heat exchange, rather than condensation forming on freezer surfaces. This will prevent ice buildup in the freezer.
Are you intending to install the fridge in an area that is subject to air con or must it survive the full onslaught of the external environment? Some of us banish the second fridge to the garage extra hot in summer with poor ventilation. Others to the under cover alfresco, on a concrete slab floor or raised on decking.
Our experiences of living north of the tropic in NQ for 25 years and now on the also humid SE QLD coast suggest not all refrigerators are created equal. Some work best in a temperature controlled, (air con also reduces humidity) environment.
Our current fridge 2010 model was chosen because it was one of the more energy efficient options for its size. Electrolux SS front panels - coated side panels. The Choice reviews assess performance for energy and temperature. A good place to start on particular if the fridge is not in a moderately controlled space.
Experience with older style fridges and insulation is condensation within the panels will cause mould and or ice build up in the panels.
Disaster for performance and other reasons.
P.S.
Our previous 1998 higher end Westinghouse struggled with the tropics until we moved to a home with better insulation and AC. Even then the temp controls were always set to max for the freezer, and not quite the same for the fridge.
Hi @TropicalLiving (and thanks for the nudge @grahroll )
I think the forum has largely covered the considerations for you already.
The vast majority of fridges sold in Australia are T-rated, or Tropical, which means they’re designed to cope with 43 degree ambient temperatures. However we’ve found some of the expensive European brands (not to name names, but I’m sure you can figure it out) have fridges that don’t perform well in Australian conditions becasue they’re designed more for the cooler European climate. So stick with a fridge from brands closer to home.
It’s already been mentioned, but fridge location is important - the kitchen is the best place for your fridge because temeratures tend to be stable. If you put your fridge in the garage, on the patio or in full sun it’s going to have to deal with warmer overall temperatures, and much bigger temperature fluctuations, which will make it work harder and drive up your energy bill.
Speaking of energy bills, whichever fridge you choose, make sure you set the temperatures to -18 in the freezer and 3 degrees in the fridge - that’s the sweet spot in terms of safe food storage and energy efficiency. Don’t just trust the default settings - measure the temperature with a thermometer and adjust the settings accordingly.
Also make sure there’s adequate space around the fridge for heat to dissipate - we reccomend 10cm clearance above the fridge and 5cm at either side and the back. More is of course better.
Regarding features to look for - that’s a sensible choice on avoiding the ice dispenser - they tend to be thing that most people have problems with on their fridge. What will be useful for you will be a chiller compartment - it’s the best for storing meat and other proteins. Also have a think about capacity - while we generally advise keeping bread and tomatoes on the counter not in the fridge, in the tropics that may lead to them going bad very quickly, so you’ll probably need room for a greater variety of foodstuffs in your fridge than you would in a more temparate climate. And despite saying no to an icemaker, a chilled water dispenser might be something you would consider - of course, you can always just keep bottles of water in the fridge if you’d prefer.
Thank you for the great advice! I really appreciate it!
In the latest fridge reviews I happened to notice that the photo of the Husky HUS-268VFWH_1, which CHOICE describes as “Fridge only model. 238L total volume” looks more like a freezer than a fridge. The test details are all about fridge, so I wondered if the photo was wrong.
However, the exact model on huskybrand.com.au is described as
Apparently, this “hybrid fridge and freezer” can be manually switched between freezer and fridge modes.
Presumably, CHOICE’s testing was done with the appliance switched to fridge mode, but it’s confusing that there’s no mention of the hybrid nature of the appliance, which is rather unusual.
Thanks for the feedback @isopeda! I believe it was tested in fridge mode but noted that this wasn’t super clear, it’s definitely an unusual unit so maybe we can take a ‘spotlight’ look at some point.
