Is It Better To Have A Separate Fridge And Freezer?

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t know separate fridges and freezers were options available to you. That is unless you use freezers in your garage or outside.

But having this option begs the question, is it better to have separated freezers and fridges, or the combined option?

The combined fridge-freezer excels at initial cost and is slightly less expensive to run each month. However, the separated fridge and freezer can be more convenient and hold more food with their separate spaces.

Keep reading if you would like to see which factors the combined and separated fridges and freezers either excel at or fail at.

Initial Cost

Easily one of the most important factors to consider, the cost of these appliances together and separated can make or break your dream designs you had in mind initially, not counting the energy cost or installation.

In terms of cost, the combined fridge freezers definitely win as the cheaper option. This combination appliance can certainly range from $380 to more than $11,000 bought new from the Home Depot.

This is a vast and expensive range, with the lowest spectrum belonging to mini-fridges, but the average price homeowners usually pay for a freezer fridge is between $1,000-$4,000. 

On the other hand, imagine paying something within that range for a fridge, and then paying that again for the freezer.

In terms of initial cost, their range is about the same: $500 – $6,000 bought new from the Home Depot, depending on the cubic feet of space you get.

Convenience

For about half you readers, convenience with these appliances could mean having both of them together so that the food they need is all in one place.

Depending on the layout of the kitchen, such as alleyway kitchens, it isn’t convenient to come in from one end of the kitchen and need the appliance that’s on the other end, making your way past your relatives who are also trying to get to the other side of the kitchen.

But for the other half of you, splitting the appliance in half is exactly what you need! Maybe it would be a greater cost to make the room for the freezer fridge you had in mind.

You may even want them split because of the roles each person in the house takes in the kitchen. If someone is responsible for the dinners, they might need the freezer more, while someone who fixes the breakfasts and lunches uses the ingredients in the fridge. Separate appliances with their own counter spaces and burners is a terrific way to stop stepping over each other.

Energy Efficiency

In addition to the initial cost, you have the question of how much it costs to run either the one or two separate appliances.

Does it take more energy, is there more strain on the system, to run both a fridge and freezer at once, or does it take more to run them both in separate appliances?

The formula to calculate the cost to run an appliance is power(kW) x time(hours) x Rate($), which will vary from family to family based on their location.

However, the study from electric radiators direct from the UK showed that to run a standalone fridge and standalone freezer cost £58.68 together ($77.34) while a fridge freezer took £51.24 ($67.53). 

A surprising conclusion!

Depending on who you are, even the difference of $10 has already helped you make up your mind.

Space

A major deal breaker with men and women alike for an appliance is how much it holds. With the fridge and freezer combo, you are absolutely going to have less space for each appropriate function than if you had the fridge and freezer separately. 

In the United States, the average size of the household fridge and freezer combined appliance is 90cm. or 35.4 in. The fridge will usually get ⅔ of the room in the popular french-door style while the freezer gets the bottom drawer. 

But separated, all of your produce and all of your meats and frozen dinners would have ample space and be easily found, with receiving anywhere between 60cm-80cm or 23.6-31.5in. of shelf depth.

Just be aware that the cost of the appliances will absolutely be affected by the amount of cubic feet of interior space you want.

Conclusion

Here is where you come to your own conclusion. Do you need a single appliance that has less space but all the food together in one area and costs a little less?

Or do you need two appliances for your household’s needs that do cost more as separate purchases, but hold much more food? Which one works better with your current layout or desired future layout of the kitchen?