Refrigerators have come a long way in recent decades and can do much more than just keep your food cold. Modern refrigerators include innovative technology that you can use to enhance your refrigeration experience and kitchen convenience. At Landers Appliance, we have extensive experience navigating the pros and cons of these new smart refrigerators. If you believe this might be the best option for your kitchen, we can help you determine whether smart refrigerators are worth it and which make and model might be ideal for you. So, what can smart refrigerators add to your household?
Touchscreen Technology
Most smart refrigerators, such as ones produced by Samsung, offer a type of screen technology, typically touchscreen. These interfaces allow you to do various things, including watching TV, watching video recipes, viewing family calendars, adding items to a grocery list, and leaving notes for family members. This feature is a more advanced version of leaving sticky notes or communicating with your smart home voice assistant during cooking. Your enjoyment of the touchscreen may vary based on your needs and preferences.
Internal Refrigerator Cameras
Some new models of smart refrigerators are equipped with internal cameras. These are used to give you a live view of your fridge so you can check at any moment to see what items you need more of. The cameras don’t have complete visibility of the fridge, but this feature can be helpful if you want to avoid opening your fridge doors multiple times a day to search for food.
Automatic Grocery Orders
Smart auto grocery orders are some of the newest technology emerging in smart refrigerators, and many US models don’t have this feature yet. The process should ideally work by taking stock of barcodes as they are added to or removed from the fridge. The smart fridge then links up to your local grocer to, for example, order milk when you run out.
For this to work its best, the technology relies on where you live, grocery store chains in your city, their connectivity to your fridge brand, and the ability to deliver certain products.
Creative Touch Options
Some smart refrigerators and appliances can do things through simple touch activation. For example, LG’s InstaView line of refrigerators turn on a light and illuminate its door-in-door so you can see what is in the fridge after knocking twice on the door.
Other LG models respond to motion sensors. For example, if you put your foot in front of a light on the floor by the fridge, technology can detect if it is human or pet and open it for the human. If your hands are full, this lets you open the fridge mess-free.
Smart Notifications
Some of the most helpful features of smart refrigerators and appliances are their Wi-Fi connections and notification abilities. For example, if your ice maker water filter needs changing, you may receive a push notification on your phone that alerts you to this maintenance need. When something is wrong with the fridge, you will also receive information, including error codes that can tell repair technicians precisely what is wrong without playing a guessing game.
Are smart refrigerators worth it? If you enjoy the high-tech features of modern appliances, this may be the fridge style you want. However, everyone’s preferences depend on their lifestyle, budget, and design preferences.
