A compact mini refrigerator,  can be a great choice if your lacking in space or need an extra refrigerator at home. A portable mini refrigerator can be useful if you just want to store a few cans but want to be able to carry your fridge with you to the office with your briefcase in your other hand.

If your off to college and you need a mini dorm refrigerator, if you work on a temporary site and need an easy to relocate mini office refrigerator or if you just want a second side by side refrigerator for your home to store beers, wines and juices then there is now a wide range of cheap compact mini refrigerators for you to chose from on the market now, and best of all because of their size, you can buy on the internet and still get a good deal as delivery charges are not high for such small fridges.

There are so many choices when it comes to selecting the best portable or compact mini refrigerator that before you go shop you should look to limit your choices down to a reasonable number so you don’t end up wading through endless offerings. Before you go shop consider:

1. What size mini refrigerator do you need?

Mini compact refrigerators tend to be sized from 1.1 cu ft capacity through to 3 cubic feet capacity. Bear in mind what you are actually going to store in your refrigerator and where you are likely to place the fridge. The smaller sizes are great for desk top placement whereas the larger compact mini office refrigerators are better placed on the floor under a desk or in a convenient area. Small portable mini refrigerators are good for handling a few cans or bottles where as the larger sizes will obviously give you more storage choices but at a trade off of portability.

2. What color or design style?

Before you go shop consider what style you want the compact mini fridge freezer in. Are you looking for a sophisticated stainless steel mini refrigerator or a pop art style colour scheme, many manufacturers can offer red, black, and other color schemes as well as the more traditional white color schemes. Do you want a glass door mini refrigerator or are you looking for a standard door compact fridge? If you are after a portable mini fridge cooler does it need wheels? What type of carry handle might suit? Do you want a bright conspicous color or something that will blend in?

3. Are energy requirements important?

If the energy the refrigerator will use is important to you, you can quickly narrow down choices by selecting only a mini compact refrigerator that has the energy star marker available. Check energy labels to see if the product carries the energy star label. Refrigerators with these labels will be more energy efficient and therefore cheaper to run and better for the environment. If you are after a mini portable refrigerator do you want a car adapter, usb adapter or a normal plug? Consider how you intend to use the fridge.

4. What type of storage do you need?

Before shopping consider whether you want a compact or cube refrigerator with shelving or without, do you need a mini refrigerator freezer combo and if so how large a compartment or a door with or without storage. If you have already considered the size and know what you want to store then selecting shelving and compartments should be a straightforward choice. If you want a hand held mini portable refrigerator do you intend to store two cans or a six pack?

Once you have considered these factors you are ready to search the market for the best deal you can get. Picking up a compact mini refrigerator could cost as little as $60 or as much as $1000 all depending on manufacturer and specification, most fall in the $150 range. Portable mini refrigerators can be found for as little as $30 through to $100. Some of the most widely recognised manufacturers you should try are Haier, LG, Avanti, Sanyo, Hitachi, Danby, Igloo and Magic Chef. These manufacturers can easily be found in stores on the net without having to go checking out offerings on foot.

If you like to have a cool drink at any time and any place then a portable mini refrigerator may be for you. Mini portable refrigerators tend to be very small, generally only able to hold from one drinks can through to about 8 cans at the Max.

Whilst this can be limiting in some circumstances, if you need a small portable desktop office fridge in the summer, a 12 volt portable car refrigerator on a long journey or just something small and easy to carry from place to place then a portable miniature refrigerator is probably ideal for you.

Mini portable fridges tend to vary in size from 1 litre through to 6 litre sizes. One litre mini fridges are generally good for one drinks can whilst the 6 litre sizes tend to be branded as eight pack mini fridges. The most common sizes available on the market are the four litre or six pack variant.

The smaller one litre mini portable refrigerators are ideal for keeping a single can cold or coffee hot on a desktop space. That’s right, portable refrigerators tend to come with heating options as well as cooling option. A one litre capacity portable mini refrigerator can be powered by as little as a USB connection right through to 12v cigarette plugs in a car or use a mains plug for power.

Whilst it is possible to find a one litre usb mini fridge, there is generally only a small selection on the market. By far the most common mini portable refrigerators tend to be the 4l and 6l versions. These portable mini refrigerators tend to be either powered by a cigarette car socket or by mains. These larger models are commonly available in a multitude of colors, it is easy to find red, pink, yellow, blue and black portable mini refrigerators in these common sizes. Like their smaller compadres they tend to offer both heating and cooling options with temperatures 25 Celsius below ambient or room temperature and 55 degrees above being achievable from these portable fridges.

The 4 litre six pack and eight pack 6l portable mini refrigerator are generally constructed from a plastic case that comes with a convenient carry handle to the top of the fridge for ease of movement. These models tend to weigh in at circa 3-4kg which isn’t light but then isn’t as heavy as a mini compact refrigerator coming in at 35kgs! At these weights carrying the portable to the car then out to the office isn’t particularly difficult. In terms of size a six pack portable refrigerator is usually 7.5ins wide x 11ins high x 9.75ins deep, so easy to manoeuvre, and takes up very little space under or on a desk top.

In terms of power usage, the smaller the fridge the less power is used. You won’t find a portable mini refrigerator with a freezer or ice making ability so this helps to keep power usage down to a minimum. Expect a 4l mini portable fridge to use 40 watts on AC power per hour and 30 watts on DC power per hour, a six litre eight pack refrigerator will use 40-60 watts depending on your power source.

When it comes to these small portable refrigerators price wise your looking at a relatively competitive market with a tight price range. Expect to pay between $30 and $60 on the basis of size of model you are looking at. There aren’t any particular well known or household brands to look out for with portable mini refrigerators coming from all sorts of manufacturers.