Fridge freezer sizes explained: the measurements that matter

Fridge freezers are sold by height, width and total litres, and none of those tells you what you need to know on its own. Here is how to read them.

Width sets everything

Standard freestanding width is 60 cm. Slimline is 55 cm. American-style side-by-side and French-door models run 90 cm and wider. Your gap decides this before anything else, and it needs 2 to 5 cm of ventilation space depending on the model, so a 60 cm machine needs a 62 to 65 cm gap.

Height is capacity

Within a width, height is what buys litres. A 60 cm wide fridge freezer at 170 cm holds around 250 litres; at 200 cm around 330. The tall models also put the freezer drawers lower, which is fine unless you have a bad back.

The split

Look at the fridge-to-freezer ratio, not the total. A 70/30 split gives a big fridge and a small freezer; 50/50 is balanced. If you batch cook or buy frozen, 50/50 or even 40/60. If you cook fresh and freeze little, 70/30. Total litres of 300 with a 70/30 split is a 210-litre fridge; the same 300 at 50/50 is 150. Very different machines.

Frost-free and the rest

Frost-free means the freezer defrosts itself. It costs a little more to run and a little more to buy, and it means you never chip ice out of a drawer again. On any freezer you'll own for a decade, have it.

Water and ice dispensers need plumbing (or a tank you refill), add cost, reduce fridge space and are the component most likely to fail. Nice to have; not worth much.

Energy rating matters more here than on any other appliance because the thing runs 24 hours a day. The gap between a D and an F is real money over ten years.

When to buy

Fridge freezers are the appliance most often bought in a panic, when the old one dies. If yours is over ten years old, watch a replacement now and buy on a dip rather than on the day it fails and you pay full price for next-day delivery.