Office Fridge: How to Choose a Fridge for the Office and Kitchenette

Choose by the number of people using the fridge: a small ⁦90–99⁩ liter office fridge for ⁦5–10⁩ employees, and a tall ⁦200–330⁩ liter fridge for ⁦10–20⁩ employees.

Office fridge is a general term, and in stores it covers three products:

• Small office fridge: ⁦90–99⁩ liters, about ⁦83–⁦86 cm⁩⁩ high and about ⁦45–⁦47 cm⁩⁩ wide, usually with a top freezer compartment. This is the product most people are looking for when they search for a small office fridge.
• Mini fridge / mini bar: about 50 liters, under ⁦50 cm⁩ high. Enough for coffee milk and water in an office of ⁦2–4⁩ people. We covered it in our mini fridge guide.
• Tall fridge: a regular home top-freezer fridge, ⁦120–330⁩ liters, ⁦50–⁦60 cm⁩⁩ wide. Suits a medium office's kitchenette.

Quick sizing table:

• ⁦2–4⁩ employees: a 50-liter mini fridge, about ₪⁦370–610.⁩
• ⁦5–10⁩ employees: a ⁦90–99⁩ liter office fridge, about ₪⁦580–1,150.⁩
• ⁦10–20⁩ employees: a ⁦300–350⁩ liter top-freezer fridge, about ₪⁦1,470–2,000.⁩
• Over 20 employees: a regular kitchen fridge of 450 liters and up, or two fridges in two kitchenettes.

How you know the fridge is too small: containers pile on top of each other, the door does not close fully, and milk stays on the counter because there is no room. A fridge that is opened a lot and packed full also struggles to stay cold, and that is already a food safety issue.

What about a big second-hand fridge? Offices are sometimes offered an old home fridge from someone's house. That solves capacity, but an old fridge usually uses more electricity and has no warranty. If that is the solution, at least make sure the door seal closes tightly and the compressor is not running nonstop.

A small office fridge is about ⁦83–⁦86 cm⁩⁩ high, so it will only fit under a countertop if there are at least a few centimeters free above its height for ventilation; in most kitchenettes it is better to place it next to the counter.

Dimensions from model pages:

• Midea HS-121LN: ⁦47.2 cm⁩ wide, ⁦45 cm⁩ deep and ⁦86 cm⁩ high, per the Midea Israel site.
• Sachs EF-140: 47 × 83.2 × ⁦44 cm⁩, with no freezer compartment. At the time of writing it was temporarily out of stock in the store we checked.
• General GE93R: ⁦47 cm⁩ wide and ⁦44 cm⁩ deep per one offer; height not stated.
• Haier HNF395SS: 60.5 × 170 × ⁦67 cm⁩, already a tall fridge.

The under-counter problem: office kitchenette countertops are usually about ⁦85–⁦92 cm⁩⁩ from the floor including the countertop itself, and the free height underneath is lower. An ⁦86 cm⁩ fridge simply will not fit under many counters, and even when it fits tightly, it has no room to release heat.

A freestanding fridge needs air: office fridges in this range are freestanding and release heat from the back and sides. A fridge squeezed into a tight niche works harder, is noisier and wears out fast. A fridge designed to go inside a closed cabinet is a different product, a built-in fridge, and costs several times more.

How to measure correctly:

• Free height from the floor to the underside of the counter, at several points.
• Niche width, plus a few centimeters on each side.
• Depth to the wall, plus clearance behind, so the fridge does not stick out into the passage.
• Door opening direction and whether it opens fully next to the wall.

If the height is not enough, there are two options: a mini fridge of about ⁦46–⁦49 cm⁩⁩ under the counter, or an office fridge next to the counter, with a small work surface above it for the kettle and coffee machine, as long as hot appliances do not stand directly on the fridge.

Among ⁦90–99⁩ liter office fridges the differences are small: all are about ⁦45–⁦47 cm⁩⁩ wide, with a top freezer and manual defrost, and prices range per store prices from about ₪580 to ₪1,150.

What actually differs:

• Premier PR90: 99 liters gross, 91 liters net for the fridge, reversible door, about ₪⁦580–800⁩ in ten stores. The cheapest in the group for anyone who wants full capacity.
• Premier PR92G: per one offer 63 liters fridge and 25 liters freezer net in a separate compartment, class E, one-year importer warranty, about ₪⁦720–890.⁩
• General GE93R: 93 liters, ⁦44 cm⁩ deep, Defrost, about ₪⁦580–1,090⁩ in nine stores.
• Midea HS-121LN: 93 liters net (121 gross per one offer), 47.2 × 86 × ⁦45 cm⁩, class E, fixed-speed compressor and R600a gas per the Midea site, about ₪⁦770–1,150⁩ in 15 stores.

Net vs gross: in a small fridge the difference is large in percentage terms. 121 liters gross is 93 usable liters, and 99 liters gross is about ⁦88–91⁩ net. Compare net to net.

Watch for contradictions on the pages: several models have a contradiction between the title and the offers, for example 99 liters in the PR92G title vs 91 liters in an offer, or a different energy rating between stores. Before ordering for an office, ask the seller for the importer's spec sheet.

What about an office fridge with no freezer? The Sachs EF-140 is a 90-liter fridge with no freezer compartment, so all the capacity is for cooling. In an office that mostly drinks and has no frozen meals, that can be an advantage, but at the time of writing it was temporarily out of stock.

Retro for a designed office: in some offices the fridge stands in an open space. Midea sells the HS-121LN in a retro design per the manufacturer's site, and Zap also lists taller retro fridges of about 208 liters. The look costs money and does not add capacity.

If employees bring frozen meals, choose an office fridge with a separate freezer door; an internal freezer compartment without an insulated door mainly suits ice.

Three types:

• No freezer: all the capacity for cooling. Suits an office that keeps drinks, milk and fruit.
• Internal compartment: a small compartment at the top inside the fridge, usually with a plastic flap. Its temperature depends on the whole fridge's setting, and it suits ice and ice cream for a short time.
• Separate freezer door: a 2-door office fridge, like the Premier PR92G. The freezer compartment is better insulated, and you can keep frozen meals in it for a few days.

How much freezer space an office needs: 25 liters is enough for about ⁦8–12⁩ frozen meals in flat containers, depending on size. If every employee brings a frozen meal on Sunday for the whole week, it will not be enough, and you need a tall fridge with a ⁦70–80⁩ liter freezer, like the Haier HNF395SS with 77 liters of freezer per one offer.

Defrosting: in the freezer compartment of a small office fridge, ice builds up gradually. When the layer reaches about half a centimeter, take out the contents, unplug, lay down towels and let the ice melt. In a fridge opened dozens of times a day ice builds faster, because every opening lets in humid air.

Office fridge vs separate freezer: in an office that keeps a lot of frozen food, for example for events, a small separate freezer next to a fridge without a freezer may be more convenient than two fridges with small freezer compartments. See our best freezer guide.

In an office of ⁦12–20⁩ employees, a ⁦300–350⁩ liter top-freezer fridge ⁦60 cm⁩ wide solves the space problem, and per store prices costs about ₪⁦1,470–2,000,⁩ less than twice the price of a small branded office fridge.

The standout example: the Haier HNF395SS, per the model page on Zap: 333 liters net (256 fridge and 77 freezer), ⁦60.5 cm⁩ wide, ⁦170 cm⁩ high and ⁦67 cm⁩ deep, No Frost, and one offer mentions a switch to turn off the light for Shabbat. The price is about ₪⁦1,470–1,990⁩ in eight stores. For the price of two small office fridges you get 3.5 times the capacity and no manual defrosting.

Between 120 and 250 liters: there are small top-freezer fridges ⁦125–⁦143 cm⁩⁩ high, like the 120-liter net Normande ND-140 we reviewed in our small refrigerator guide, and retro fridges of about 208 liters. They suit an office of ⁦8–12⁩ employees, or a kitchenette without ⁦170 cm⁩ of free height.

When a tall fridge is not a good idea:

• When the kitchenette is narrow, and ⁦67 cm⁩ of depth blocks the passage.
• When there is no free wall, only room under the counter.
• When the office is a temporary rental and will move in a year, since a tall fridge needs professional moving.

No Frost in the office: in a fridge nobody is responsible for, No Frost is a real advantage. No defrosting, no puddle on Friday, and the freezer does not fill with ice. In the 300-liter-and-up range it is almost standard.

Over 20 employees: here we are already talking about a regular ⁦450–600⁩ liter kitchen fridge, like a 4-door or a bottom freezer. The decision is by niche width, not by the search term office fridge.

A shared office fridge stays clean only if there is a simple rule: a fixed cleaning day, a name and date on every container, and throwing out anything older than a week.

The common problem: forgotten containers. They take space, spread odors, and in a small fridge they make employees leave food outside. A packed fridge also struggles to stay cold, because air does not flow between the shelves.

Rules that work:

• Name and date: stickers and a marker next to the fridge.
• Cleaning day: once a week, for example on Thursday afternoon, take out everything unlabeled or older than a week.
• A shelf per team: in an office of 10 or more this prevents arguments.
• Monthly defrost: in a manual-defrost fridge, decide who is responsible and when.
• Thermometer: put a simple thermometer on the middle shelf. An office fridge should be at about 4°C.

Odors: a bowl of baking soda in the corner of the bottom shelf absorbs some odors. When cleaning, wipe the door seal, because dirt builds up there and prevents sealing.

A door left open: in an office it happens. A door left open overnight defrosts the freezer compartment and leaves a puddle and warm food. If it recurs, check that the fridge is level so the door closes by itself, and that no shelf or container sticks out and blocks it.

Shabbat and holidays: an office that is closed on Shabbat does not need a Shabbat mode. An office that operates on Shabbat and cares about it will look for a fridge with a light switch, as mentioned in one offer for the Haier HNF395SS, and consult a rabbi.

When buying for the office, ask for an invoice in the business's name, prefer an offer from an official importer with a one-year warranty, and check whether service comes to a business address.

Power use: on small office fridges the annual kWh figure barely appears on model pages, and the energy rating is inconsistent between offers. The Midea HS-121LN is marked class E per the manufacturer's site, the Premier PR92G class E per one offer, and the Premier PR90 class F per another offer. An office fridge is opened much more than a home fridge, so actual consumption will be higher than stated in any case.

How to reduce consumption: do not place the fridge next to a coffee machine, microwave or window; leave clearance behind; and do not put in hot food. Timely defrosting saves more than any difference between models.

Warranty: in offers that state an official importer, the warranty is one year. A ₪⁦600–900⁩ office fridge that breaks after a year and a half is usually a replace-not-repair decision. On a ₪2,000 tall fridge the repair pays off more, so it is worth checking for an extended warranty.

Delivery and installation: a small office fridge weighs about ⁦19–21⁩ kg per the Midea site, and fits in a private car. A ⁦170 cm⁩ tall fridge needs delivery, and in an office building make sure there is access to a freight elevator or nearby parking. Transport it upright, and if the fridge was lying down, let it stand for a few hours before plugging in.

Kitchenette electricity: a fridge, coffee machine, kettle and microwave on the same circuit may trip the breaker. Connect the fridge to a grounded wall outlet, not a power strip shared with the kettle. (Israel uses 230V/50Hz.)

For an office of ⁦5–10⁩ employees, buy a ⁦90–99⁩ liter office fridge with a freezer compartment for about ₪⁦580–900,⁩ and for a kitchenette of ⁦12–20⁩ employees, a top-freezer fridge of about 333 liters with No Frost for about ₪⁦1,470–2,000.⁩

• The lowest budget for full capacity: Premier PR90, about ₪⁦580–800.⁩
• Frozen meals: Premier PR92G, with a separate freezer compartment of about 25 liters per one offer.
• Shallow kitchenette: General GE93R, about ⁦44 cm⁩ deep.
• Clear spec and wide store choice: Midea HS-121LN, 47.2 × 86 × ⁦45 cm⁩.
• Medium office without defrosting: Haier HNF395SS, 333 liters No Frost.

What not to do: do not squeeze a freestanding fridge into a tight niche under the counter, do not buy a 50-liter mini fridge for an office of ten people, and do not give up warranty to save ₪50.

The order of steps that saves mistakes: first count how many people use the fridge on a normal day, then measure the space with clearances, and only then compare models and prices. The two easiest mistakes in a kitchenette are a fridge that does not fit under the counter and a door that opens toward the wall, and both are avoided with a five-minute measurement. Once you have chosen, write on the fridge who is responsible for it and when cleaning day is, and keep the invoice and warranty certificate in the office folder, so whoever calls service in a year will find them without searching.

For a very small office see our mini fridge guide, and for a home kitchen see our best refrigerator guide.