Russell Hobbs RH143L Larder Fridge

Is the Russell Hobbs RH143L Larder Fridge worth buying?

The Russell Hobbs RH143L Larder Fridge is worth buying if a stainless steel front and five glass shelves are what you want to look at, at £329 for 242 litres. That is the dearest 143 cm model of the ten ranked, so the finish has to be part of the decision. It fills a 55 cm gap at 143 cm tall, and 36 owners rate it 4.3.

Buy it when the fridge front stays on show in the kitchen. Put it in a utility room or behind a cupboard door and the £100 premium over the £229 models buys steel that nobody sees, because the litres inside are the same 242.

What does the Russell Hobbs RH143L work out at per litre?

At £329 for 242 litres, the Russell Hobbs RH143L Larder Fridge works out at £1.36 per litre of fresh food, the highest figure of any 143 cm model ranked for this page. The Fridgemaster MTL55242E covers the identical 242 litres at £0.95 per litre. The gap is £100 for exactly the same capacity.

A litre of larder fridge space is what holds the shopping, and 242 litres takes around 13 bags of it. The running side is cheaper than the buying side: this fridge draws 104 kWh a year, roughly 2 kWh a week, so the cabinet is inexpensive to keep cold. Expensive to buy, cheap to run.

What comes in the box and what does the Russell Hobbs RH143L measure?

The Russell Hobbs RH143L Larder Fridge arrives as a single 38 kg cabinet standing 143 cm high, 55 cm wide and 58 cm deep. Two people should take it through a doorway, and the adjustable feet level it once it stands in place. The 55 cm width suits a standard slot, while the 58 cm depth pushes the front a few centimetres further into the room than the 54 to 55 cm bodies.

Inside are five glass shelves, four of them removable, plus four door racks and a salad crisper drawer, with LED lighting over the front. The thermostat dial is adjustable, the door is reversible so the hinge can sit on either side, and a standard Type G socket at 230 V is all it needs. The guarantee starts at one year and stretches to two when the fridge is registered.

Where does the Russell Hobbs RH143L fall short?

Defrosting is manual, so the Russell Hobbs RH143L has to be emptied and the back wall cleared once or twice a year. Four of the ten models ranked alongside it handle that job themselves. On top of that, 36 ratings is a thin owner base next to the 221 behind the Fridgemaster MTL55242E, so the 4.3 average rests on fewer voices.

The £329 price is the other hard limit. Nothing inside the cabinet is larger than on the £229 models, and the fifth shelf is the only storage difference. A buyer who wants maximum space for the money spends that £100 elsewhere, on litres rather than on steel.

How does the Russell Hobbs RH143L compare with the Fridgemaster and the HADEN?

The Fridgemaster MTL55242E gives the same 242 litres for £229, which is £100 less at £0.95 per litre against £1.36. It carries 221 owner ratings at 4.4 against 36 at 4.3, and four toughened glass shelves instead of five, so it is the better buy when the shopping matters more than the finish. Take the Fridgemaster for value, the Russell Hobbs RH143L for the look.

The HADEN 242L Tall Larder Fridge sits between them at £269, £60 less than the Russell Hobbs RH143L, with the same 242 litres, four movable glass shelves and a silver finish at 40 dB. Choose the HADEN if you want the lower price and a quieter cabinet, and the Russell Hobbs RH143L if you want five shelves and stainless steel in front of you every day.