I wrote this article originally in 2014. I remember thinking, “These options are all expensive, really expensive.”
You are paying for the privilege of far less cubic feet. It doesn’t seem fair.
Six years later, selection has changed for the better. New companies are now marketing more reasonable, smaller counter depth refrigerators.
It will never be the commodity and low price of a regular family size 18 cubic foot refrigerator for $699.
Still, you can feel a bit better about your options than you did six years ago.
In this article, we will review your best options under 30 inches. We recently wrote two articles about the best 30 and 33-inch counter depth refrigerators. I will highlight a couple of those as a reference.
If you are looking for a decent refrigerator for your small kitchen in the city or just a smaller refrigerator for a home office (where we all may be working in the future), this article has several excellent options.
Let’s get started.
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Refrigerators fit cabinet widths.
Manufacturers design appliances to fit your cabinets and not the other way around.
That’s why you see a 30-inch stove and 24-inch dishwasher, not a 26-inch stove or a 22-inch dishwasher because the most common cabinet sizes are 24 and 30 inches.
For refrigerators, the most common size is 36 inches, followed by 30 inches. Thirty-three, 28, and 24 inches are all popular sizes for smaller kitchens.
Let’s review the other mid-size refrigerators:
Features:
I am placing a link below this post so you could look at your other options in this size range. However, this refrigerator is by far the most popular 33-inch counter depth refrigerator.
It also has the lowest price of $300-500, depending on promotions or sales.
The refrigerator has twin evaporators, so the cool refrigerator air doesn’t mix with the dry, colder freezer air. Your food, especially in the freezer, will taste better.
GE has a decent option as well. Fisher & Paykel is stylish but expensive.
You can learn more about the Best 33-inch Counter Depth Refrigerators by clicking here.
You have some choice in this size, unlike 33 inches. Sub-Zero, Miele, Beko, Bosch, and Thermador all make a smaller unit at 30 inches.
Below, we’ll list the very best option and also a more affordable option for 30-inch counter depth refrigerators.
Features:
It’s the obvious choice for being the best. Then again, at about $10,000, it should be. Sub-Zero builds their refrigerators with the premise of keeping food fresher for a longer time.
There is an air scrubber “scrubbing” ethylene gas off spoiling foods, so they last longer. You have a vacuum seal, two compressors, and magnetic crispers all designed to keep the air in its proper place.
Features:
At $1,259, this is a decent refrigerator and an excellent buy. You have two evaporators, so the air doesn’t mix similarly to a Sub-Zero.
Their “Blue Light” emulates sunlight for a longer life for fruits and veggies.
Beko is a huge European appliance manufacturer based out of Turkey. You may have purchased their products under their Blomberg label.
You may have also purchased a Beko product under another name. They produce appliances for several different brands.
You can learn more about the Best 30-inch Counter Depth Refrigerators by clicking here.
Features:
This is one of the only top freezer counter depth refrigerators on the market, and one of the few at 28 inches wide.
Twenty eight-inch widths is an older but still a common dimension. Way back early in my career, we used to sell GE 16 cubic foot refrigerators in 28 widths, especially in the city.
It’s a well-featured, refrigerator with Everpure+ and Blue Light in their crispers emulating sunlight to prolong the life of your fruit and vegetables.
Like every other Beko refrigerator, it has two evaporators to keep the air and refrigerator separate.
You will find more manufacturers in 24 than 28 inches with Whirlpool, LG, Electrolux, and Miele manufacturing a 24-inch counter depth refrigerator.
Look at these two:
Features:
Features:
Bosch is the larger size. They both have twin evaporators, but Beko has better crispers for far less money.
Beko 24-Inch Bottom Mount Refrigerators
This is the narrowest you can buy before compact and under cabinet models.
Features:
Features:
Miele is a grand refrigerator with great lighting and bins. Beko is a good option for panels, which brings us to LG.
The price is great at $649, but it’s a bit cheap on the inside.
Still a great price.
I saved this until the end. In the beginning, I said appliances follow cabinets. There is no such 27-inch cabinet.
You can still use this in a 28-inch cabinet if your preference is having a bottom mount refrigerator (freezer on the bottom) versus a top mount (freezer on top).
However, 20 years ago, Sub-Zero designed the first integrated refrigerator at...27 inches.
It was a smart play because they would own that dimension. Designers, in theory, would specify a 27-inch refrigerator and would only be able to use a Sub-Zero.
That never happened. So Sub-Zero discontinued that series years ago. Now Beko is the only alternative replacement (other than redesigning your kitchen).
Unlike six years ago, you have choices. In the high end, Sub-Zero certainly, however, you now have a good line of affordable yet decent refrigerators like Beko and a few others.
Refrigerators have more service issues, so make sure there is the adequate repair for whatever you buy.
Additional Resources
Get the Yale Counter Depth Refrigerator Buying Guide with features, specs and inside tips to counter depth, professional and integrated refrigerators. Over 800,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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