What you need to look for when replacing an Integrated Fridge

Integrated Fridge come in several different size and are either Built-in or Built Under. The latter sits on the floor under the kitchen worktop and the cupboard door attaches to the fridge door, the kick board then runs across the front of the fridge. Built in fridges require a housing so if you are replacing one you will need to know the height of the housing before you purchase a replacement. The depth and width of the housings are standard. The next thing you need to know is What type of hinge has your existing appliance? Fixed – the cupboard door is attached to the fridge freezer doors. Sliding Hinge – The cupboard doors have their own hinges, and a slider connects them to the fridge door. 

Are they Easy to install?

If you have never fitted one before and your not a DIY whiz, then we would recommend getting a professional fitter. It can be fiddly to get the doors aligned and the numerous bits they come with can be bewildering to a novice fitter. It is possible for a good fitter to change a sliding hinge appliance to a fixed hinge appliance. We offer a full installation service by a qualified kitchen fitter within a 10 mile radius of one of our shops. This covers Oxford and towns like Bicester, Brackley, Buckingham, Witney, Abingdon, Woodstock and surrounding villages. Outside this area there may be an additional charge for mileage (please call for a qoute).

What’s the best make?

Like everything in life, you get what you pay for and buying the cheapest appliance is not always the best idea considering the cost and hassle of installing an appliance. With this in mind we would recommend the following brands. Blomberg is a midrange brand and comes with a 5 Year Guarantee for peace of mind. Bosch, Neff and Siemens are all a step up and have a huge range offering more sophisticated methods of food preservation and things like soft closing hinges to stop the door banging close or being accidently left open. Liebherr who happen to make all of Miele refrigeration is the best make. They make a huge range of integrated refrigeration with excellent build quality, precision temperature control and an array of food preservation technologies.

Why buy a Premium Integrated Fridge?

In a basic fridge, the fridge maintains the same temperature throughout. You can adjust this temperature up or down but typically it will be between 2 – 7^oC. The cheaper fridge freezers just have a twist dial 0 – 5 (5) being the coldest (0) the warmest. The better-quality fridge freezers have a more accurate digital temperature control and allow you to set the fridge temperature in degrees centigrade.  

Different foods have different optimum temperatures to extend their shelf life, but a standard fridge cannot cater for this. So manufacturers have therefore developed a range of premium fridge freezers that allow food to be stored within the fridge at different temperatures and different humidity levels.

Unfortunately, every manufacturer calls these features something different so look out for names like BioFresh, VitaFresh, VitaFresh +, hyperFresh. These appliances will have a separate drawer for storing Meat and Fish at 0°C which will greatly improve its preservation and shelf life. They may also have a sealed humidity control drawers for storing Fruit and Vegetables.

Fruits like apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blackberries, melons, kiwis and avocados like Low Humidity, high humidity will cause them to go soggy and rotten more quickly. Vegetables however are the opposite and like High humidity therefore they need to be stored in a separate drawer to the fruit.  

Other Premium features include things like soft close hinges which will stop the door banging shut and also ensure that the door is always properly closed