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 are after a mini refrigerator but also need a little freezing capacity then you are going to want to see if you can find the ideal mini refrigerator freezer combo for your circumstances.

Straight away you’ll find that you just can’t get a portable mini refrigerator freezer. Portables are the ultra small fridges that come with a carry handle and usually take six to eight cans but can usually come slightly larger, they tend to have heating and cooling modes and can be run off AC or DC power giving you mains or 12 volt power options, generally these are ideal for desk top or car use.

What you will find is that you have a number of compact mini refrigerator freezer combos to choose from. Compact mini refrigerators are similar to under counter refrigerators except they are simply smaller and lighter. Generally the compact mini refrigerator freezer options start from about 1.7 cu ft in size and go as large as 4 cu ft. Larger than that and your getting into a not so mini or portable situation. Compared to a mini portable refrigerator, a portable weighing 3-4kgs, a compact or cube refrigerator will weigh between 30 and 45kgs depending on the size option you go for.

Before you go looking through at the various compact mini refrigerator options you really need to decide what amount of freezing capacity you really need. If your after something that will make you a few ice cubes then a number of manufacturers have small 1.4 cu ft compacts in their ranges that come with a ice compartment ideal for making ice cubes. Check out Haier mini refrigerators, Sanyo, Magic Chef and Danby ranges. The larger freezing capacity you require, the larger the mini refrigerator freezer will generally have to be as most manufacturers make mini refrigerators to store 2l bottles and general issue drinks cans. Bear in mind the larger the compact the greater the trade off on portability and usefulness.

Most mini refrigerator freezers will have a single interior wire or glass shelf in the refrigeration department and door storage for bottles and cans. From sizes 2.4 cu ft and up you tend to get two interior shelves or a single shelf with larger freezing capacity. In terms of power, compacts tend to be mains power only, but if you are concerned about power use you can get an energy star mini refrigerator freezer combo that has been certified under the US scheme for energy consumption from a number of manufacturers including Danby and Haier.

In terms of cost you are looking at $70 through to $140 for most mini refrigerator freezer combos found on the internet market. The lower cost models will generally be the smaller models rather than a reflection on quality of brand, so bearing in mind your budget and what type of freezing capacity you need you should be able to make a well judged choice from the many mini refrigerator freezer sizes on the market.