The Best Mini Fridge

Buying Guide

When school’s back in session and young adults head off to college, there’s always one must-have item on their shopping list: a mini-fridge. Mini fridges have long been a standby for dorm rooms, but they’re useful in a number of other settings too. Offices, classrooms, community centers, apartments or a home that needs some extra fridge space can all benefit from the mighty mini-fridge.

There are a few different kinds of mini-fridges. Some of them only hold beverages. These are useful for offices — you can have a wide range of beverage choices for new clients, or keep all of your employees’ favorite drinks at the ready. Look for adjustable shelves, quick-cooling fans and easily adjustable controls with beverage mini-fridges. This will help you cool down several drinks of different sizes rapidly. A glass door is a handsome addition that helps people choose their drink without opening the fridge and wasting energy.

Another type of mini fridge is a fridge-only mini-fridge. These are compact, affordable machines for cooling drinks or small meals. (They’re the standard “dorm” fridges.) They’re usually only a few cubic feet and may or may not have a small chamber for ice. Look for a fridge-only mini-fridge if you’re working with a very small space or want to cool snacks or lunches.

Finally, there are mini-fridges with freezers. These operate like standard-sized refrigerators on a smaller scale. They’re definitely larger than beverage mini-fridges or fridge-only mini-fridges, but their additional features make them well worth the extra space. They have enough space to hold several days’ worth of meals or snacks, plus drinks and frozen items. Many also come with crisper drawers to keep vegetables fresh. These are best for homes that need additional food storage space, dorms or apartments with a little extra space for a bigger mini-fridge or workplaces with overflowing standard refrigerators.

Now that you’ve peeked into our frosty facts about mini-fridges, slide on over to our Tips & Advice for more details on selecting the best mini fridge for your needs.

• Measuring your available space is the first step you should take when purchasing a mini-fridge. Buying a fridge that’s too large for your space defeats the purpose of your mini-fridge!
• To narrow down your choices, consider what you want to store in your mini-fridge. There’s no reason to pay for a mini-fridge with a freezer if you only want to store cans of soda. 
• Make sure that the spot you’d like to put your mini-fridge in has a power outlet nearby. Mini fridges use up too much power to safely use with an extension cord, so you’ll want to plug it directly into the wall. 
• There’s no reason your electric bill has to spike when you buy a mini-fridge. Many of them are very energy efficient. Take note of the voltage and wattage of your mini-fridge before you buy, and see if there’s any sort of energy-efficient rating on the fridge. 
• Clean your fridge thoroughly when it arrives. 
• Maintaining your mini-fridge will keep it humming for years. Remove food as soon as it starts to turn bad, and wash your fridge’s shelves, drawers, walls and doors at least once a month. Scrape off and clean residue from stuck-on food immediately.
• Use a rag dipped in warm, soapy water to clean the inside of your mini-fridge. Wash it clean with water, then dry it with a dry towel. Disinfectant cleaners are a good idea to use after you’ve gotten a cold. Keep a small, open box of baking soda in the mini-fridge to cut down on odors.