7 ms·

There are major usability issues with chest fridges. * People in wheelchairs. * Children and shorter people. * Cleaning is hard if there are messes or spills

There are major usability issues with chest fridges. * People in wheelchairs. * Children and shorter people. * Cleaning is hard if there are messes or spills. * You can't see what's in a chest fridge very easily which is a problem if there is more than one person in the household. * Shelves are really useful when you have things that can't be stacked on top of one another

pjc50 4y ago
Never mind that, the major issue is real estate: a horizontal fridge uses twice the real estate, and in a Western country the cost of that small patch of ground will vastly exceed the running costs of the fridge.
- i_am_proteus 4y ago
  It's possible to engineer around hurdles like this: - Put the fridge under a counter on rollers (with a cableway for the necessary electrical hookup). - Put rolling shelves(with lips) inside the fridge to allow ready access to the bottom storage areas. Even if consumers won't trade off a little bit of convenience for energy efficiency today, they probably will when electricity is much more expensive.
  - badcppdev 4y ago
    Do you feel that a vertical fridge with a 'normal' outer door and individual drawers or doors in both the fridge and freezer sections could compartmentalise the fridge and give better energy efficiency and require fewer engineering changes? I'm inclined to think that engineering improvements to a vertical fridge is easier than the changes required for a chest fridge.
laputan_machine 4y ago
Then we should definitely never use them. Honestly, this line of reasoning really grates my gears. Yeah a tiny portion of people can't use them, so nobody should use them, I shouldn't put one in my house, etc. If that's not what you're stating, then what _are_ you stating? I don't get it.
- qwytw 4y ago
  I'm pretty sure: 'You can't see what's in a chest fridge very easily which is a problem if there is more than one person in the household.' Applies to a majority of people.
  - _rs 4y ago
    That’s also something touched on in the article though with baskets. In my experience, these freezers are often for longer term storage anyways, so their contents usually isn’t changing often enough for this to be a problem
    - twaway24 4y ago
      You are right for freezers, but the article mentions a freezer that was converted to a fridge, which implies that the contents are for shorter term storage and is a different use case.
- tiarafawn 4y ago
  Parent did not imply that nobody should use them, but maybe offered some valid points to explain why they might not be seeing a very wide adoption. Your response seems more hostile than it needs to be.
  - laputan_machine 4y ago
    I disagree. Parent's comment is like me posting an article on how toothbrushes work and this guy pops up and tells me that toothbrushes have some serious usability issues because Tetraplegic people can't use them.
    - KolenCh 4y ago
      Did you read the original article? It is a one-side argument basically saying there's no reason at all to not use a chest fridge and the parent comment just objectively gave a few. If one aren't capable of rational thinking and be able to hold different views (ie pros and cons) simultaneously then they shouldn't be giving opinion at all. Next you know everyone holding a different opinion is just stupid or selfish or whatever.
Atixx 4y ago
Space efficiency comes to mind as well on overall usability, can't stack anything above it (aside from storage shelves way above), kitchens are rarely big enough to store such a horizontal device, let alone in places where the $/m2 is high, like many city centers. Also practical reasons, in horizontal config it's way harder to avoid my tomatoes getting squished by leftover casseroles, let alone having a small item roll around to the bottom never to be found again.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
Which is fair, but if these do not apply then a chest fridge is a great way to reduce energy consumption, wouldn't you say?
vesinisa 4y ago
Chest freezers are not meant for daily use. We have a normal vertical frige/freezer combo in the kitchen, and a large chest freezer in the basement for storing berries, meat etc. over the winter. I access the chest freezer maybe once a month to move stuff to the kitchen freezer.
- badcppdev 4y ago
  I agree 100% but I commented because I felt the article was talking and criticising the use of a vertical fridge/freezer for daily use.
mromanuk 4y ago
Children not reaching it is an asset, in my household
- badcppdev 4y ago
  So many pluses and minuses... getting themselves food versus the mess....
alimbada 4y ago
Exactly. The original article's "WHY"'s are narrow sighted and only focusing on energy efficiency. There's a whole load of other factors that led to the more popular fridge design and thinking about it for just one minute would have led them to realise that.
andai 4y ago
I don't know what it's called or if it's commonly available but I saw a video of a fridge where the shelves are metal racks that can be raised up out of the fridge, so they are easily accessible. The air itself mostly stays in the fridge.
mrtksn 4y ago
All very solvable problems. Short people can get a stand, people with disabilities can get something appropriate too(depending on the disability). For cleaning, you can have paper at the bottom and just remove the paper when something messy happens. To see what's inside and to store items hard to stack you can put basic wire shelves inside it.
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  Maybe short people *could* get a stand but that would be a *horrible* idea. Too much of your body mass will be over the freezer, falling in is a substantial safety risk. Falling headfirst into a hole is a position that can be hard to escape even for those in good shape. This is a known hazard of winter recreation (falling into an unseen hollow under the snow) for which the only real defense is not to go alone as you're unlikely to survive long enough for search and rescue to get to you even if you are able to call them.
Slartie 4y ago
People in wheelchairs, children and shorter people are also unable to reach the upper areas of vertical fridges. So what should we do - ban vertical fridges? Ban vertical fridges higher than the size of a small child?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

pjc50 4y ago

Never mind that, the major issue is real estate: a horizontal fridge uses twice the real estate, and in a Western country the cost of that small patch of ground will vastly exceed the running costs of the fridge.

i_am_proteus 4y ago
It's possible to engineer around hurdles like this: - Put the fridge under a counter on rollers (with a cableway for the necessary electrical hookup). - Put rolling shelves(with lips) inside the fridge to allow ready access to the bottom storage areas. Even if consumers won't trade off a little bit of convenience for energy efficiency today, they probably will when electricity is much more expensive.
- badcppdev 4y ago
  Do you feel that a vertical fridge with a 'normal' outer door and individual drawers or doors in both the fridge and freezer sections could compartmentalise the fridge and give better energy efficiency and require fewer engineering changes? I'm inclined to think that engineering improvements to a vertical fridge is easier than the changes required for a chest fridge.

laputan_machine 4y ago

Then we should definitely never use them. Honestly, this line of reasoning really grates my gears. Yeah a tiny portion of people can't use them, so nobody should use them, I shouldn't put one in my house, etc. If that's not what you're stating, then what _are_ you stating? I don't get it.

qwytw 4y ago
I'm pretty sure: 'You can't see what's in a chest fridge very easily which is a problem if there is more than one person in the household.' Applies to a majority of people.
- _rs 4y ago
  That’s also something touched on in the article though with baskets. In my experience, these freezers are often for longer term storage anyways, so their contents usually isn’t changing often enough for this to be a problem
  - twaway24 4y ago
    You are right for freezers, but the article mentions a freezer that was converted to a fridge, which implies that the contents are for shorter term storage and is a different use case.
tiarafawn 4y ago
Parent did not imply that nobody should use them, but maybe offered some valid points to explain why they might not be seeing a very wide adoption. Your response seems more hostile than it needs to be.
- laputan_machine 4y ago
  I disagree. Parent's comment is like me posting an article on how toothbrushes work and this guy pops up and tells me that toothbrushes have some serious usability issues because Tetraplegic people can't use them.
  - KolenCh 4y ago
    Did you read the original article? It is a one-side argument basically saying there's no reason at all to not use a chest fridge and the parent comment just objectively gave a few. If one aren't capable of rational thinking and be able to hold different views (ie pros and cons) simultaneously then they shouldn't be giving opinion at all. Next you know everyone holding a different opinion is just stupid or selfish or whatever.

Atixx 4y ago

Space efficiency comes to mind as well on overall usability, can't stack anything above it (aside from storage shelves way above), kitchens are rarely big enough to store such a horizontal device, let alone in places where the $/m2 is high, like many city centers. Also practical reasons, in horizontal config it's way harder to avoid my tomatoes getting squished by leftover casseroles, let alone having a small item roll around to the bottom never to be found again.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

Which is fair, but if these do not apply then a chest fridge is a great way to reduce energy consumption, wouldn't you say?

vesinisa 4y ago

Chest freezers are not meant for daily use. We have a normal vertical frige/freezer combo in the kitchen, and a large chest freezer in the basement for storing berries, meat etc. over the winter. I access the chest freezer maybe once a month to move stuff to the kitchen freezer.

badcppdev 4y ago
I agree 100% but I commented because I felt the article was talking and criticising the use of a vertical fridge/freezer for daily use.

mromanuk 4y ago

Children not reaching it is an asset, in my household

badcppdev 4y ago
So many pluses and minuses... getting themselves food versus the mess....

alimbada 4y ago

Exactly. The original article's "WHY"'s are narrow sighted and only focusing on energy efficiency. There's a whole load of other factors that led to the more popular fridge design and thinking about it for just one minute would have led them to realise that.

andai 4y ago

I don't know what it's called or if it's commonly available but I saw a video of a fridge where the shelves are metal racks that can be raised up out of the fridge, so they are easily accessible. The air itself mostly stays in the fridge.

mrtksn 4y ago

All very solvable problems. Short people can get a stand, people with disabilities can get something appropriate too(depending on the disability). For cleaning, you can have paper at the bottom and just remove the paper when something messy happens. To see what's inside and to store items hard to stack you can put basic wire shelves inside it.

LorenPechtel 4y ago
Maybe short people *could* get a stand but that would be a *horrible* idea. Too much of your body mass will be over the freezer, falling in is a substantial safety risk. Falling headfirst into a hole is a position that can be hard to escape even for those in good shape. This is a known hazard of winter recreation (falling into an unseen hollow under the snow) for which the only real defense is not to go alone as you're unlikely to survive long enough for search and rescue to get to you even if you are able to call them.

Slartie 4y ago

People in wheelchairs, children and shorter people are also unable to reach the upper areas of vertical fridges. So what should we do - ban vertical fridges? Ban vertical fridges higher than the size of a small child?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]