Refrigerator water filters take the benefits of regular filtered water and add that oh-so pleasing chill to your eight daily glasses. Whether they pair with an ice maker, run through the internal workings of the fridge, or sit in a pitcher in the fridge shelf, these devices turn your tap supply into a premium product, rivaling bottled spring water.
Which means that, if you are currently keeping a supply of bottled water inside your fridge, there’s really no reason not to switch over to a fridge filter. The benefits even extend to the environment, by encouraging less consumption of single-use plastics, while also helping you avoid the growing worries over the health risks of microplastics.
So, here are the best refrigerator water filters available online right now!
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Hygiene and maintenance
Spend some time researching refrigerator filters online, and it won’t be long before you come across conversations concerning the hygiene of refrigerator filters.
Because most refrigerators hiding the tubing and inner workings of a filter inside their casing, it can be hard to access filters for inspection or cleaning. Plus, fridges consistently rank among the most suspect appliances when it comes to sources of bacteria in the home. A 2013 survey by the NSF (the leading water filter certification board) on household germs found that refrigerator water dispenser rank first among the ‘germiest’ kitchen devices—with other components of fridges, such as the meat draw, also making the top 10!
These kinds of waterborne contaminants can make their way into a refrigerator’s filter system and pass through a carbon component. Leaving food to mold will obviously increase this risk—as will leaving expired filter cartridges inside the filter.
Most refrigerators use a light indicator to signal when it’s time for replacements, but the indicator is usually a simple timer. This makes indicators helpful guides, but not necessarily always correct. Instead, use the indicator, along with an estimate of how much you’ve been using your filter, along with how contaminated your water source is, to judge when’s the best time to change the filter. This Consumer reports ‘You Test’ app for refrigerator filters can help you to make that judgment.
To see how refrigerator filters stack up against other types of home filtering in categories such as maintenance and usability, read our guide on Comparing the different types of home water filters.
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Summary
Refrigerator filters combine the benefits of carbon filtering, chilled water, and reduced use of plastics
Refrigerator filters are either integrated into a fridge or stored in a fridge shelf. They can be found in a fridge ceiling, bottom grill, inside door, or on the outside of the fridge (outside filters mean extra energy savings).
Refrigerators are high-risk appliances in terms of household germs and bacteria, so proper care of refrigerator filters is important in order to avoid waterborne pathogens.
All fridge filters will need their cartridges replacing. The average time for a replacement cartridge is six months, but this can vary depending on how much you use the filter, and how contaminated your water source is.
FAQs
Refrigerator filters are either integrated into the fridge itself or stored on a fridge shelf. Some might come as standard with new fridge models; others are offered as optional extras. Of those integrated into the fridge, filters are normally located in the door (inside or outside) and may be combined with an additional ice maker.
All fridge filters use replaceable filter cartridges—stored either in the fridge, on the water pipe that feeds the fridge (inline), or at the point of entry into the house (this is a whole-house or POE filter). Most of these cartridges have an approximate lifespan of six months.
Refrigerator filters that aren’t part of the appliance itself may be offered with the fridge. Alternatively, common pitcher filter brands such as Brita often design the shape of the products to be compatible with the most commonly found sizes of fridge shelves.
Fridge suppliers normally conceal unused filter attachments with a plastic hood, so it’s a more common question that you might expect!
If you’re looking for a filter attachment and don’t have access to an instruction manual (many manufactures upload manuals online), the first place to look is at the top-right corner of the fridge, for any component that protrudes or hangs down. A second common filter placement is in a moveable compartment, may drop down from the ceiling or slide out from the side, inside the fridge. If both of those are a no go, you might also find the filter in the front grill at the bottom of the refrigerator.
Refrigerator filters are usually on par with activated carbon filters, which are the most common point of use filter mechanisms, found in kitchens. Activated carbon is great for removing common chemicals and particles that make water taste off or unpalatable. These are compounds such as chlorine, which often remains in tap water from city treatment plants.
Like pitcher or faucet-mounted filters, fridge filters are intended to heighten the flavor and purity of tap water that’s already generally safe for consumption, rather than turning undrinkable water into a hydrating beverage. Some carbon filters are modified through special structures or additional materials such as silver and aluminum oxide to take on a great range of pollutants, including lead. Generally speaking, however, filtering beyond taste should be achieved with a whole house, point-of-entry filter.
A minority of fridge brands offer unfiltered water/ice dispensers. For these products, it’s relatively easy to install an inline filter to treat water before it reaches the fridge dispenser. This can be done either at the point where the water pipe enters the fridge, or earlier on in your home’s plumbing.
