Avanti RA7316PST: Apartment Size Fridge Where You Want It

Note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Do you live in a smallish apartment with little space for appliances? Do you travel in an RV where space is always at a premium? Do you have a garage mostly filled with cars and tools? And do you want a refrigerator freezer that fits into any of those places? And on top of that, is the space so small that you doubt you could fit a refrigerator into it?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of the above questions, you should take a close look at the Avanti RA7316PST apartment size refrigerator.

Most apartment fridges have volumes between 7 and 14 cubic feet and are between 21 and 24 inches wide. You’ll see below that the Avanti is at the low end of both of those ranges.

If you’re in a hurry and just need to check on the pricing and availability of the Avanti refrigerator at Amazon now, click (or tap) the link below. Otherwise, keep scrolling (or swiping) to read the details about this small refrigerator.

Avanti RA7316PST Refrigerator

You can click (tap) a link in the box below to skip ahead to a specific section of this review.

The Avanti Fits Just About Anywhere

As I hinted at above, the Avanti RA7316PST is one of the smaller fridges that fall into the apartment size category. This is a 7.4 cubic foot fridge that measures 55 ½ inches high by 21 ¾ inches wide by 22 ½ inches deep on the outside.

Those 7.4 cubic feet are divided into a 7 cubic foot refrigerator area and a 0.4 cubic foot freezer area.

Furthermore, you get 4 glass shelves for the fridge and one for the freezer. These are removable and adjustable. See the photo above to get an idea of where the slots for these shelves are located. Each shelf measures about 18 inches wide by about 12 inches deep.

The 4 bins in the refrigerator door are also removable as well as adjustable. One of these (normally the lowest one) can hold 2-liter bottles with ease.

The bottom section of the fridge is a see-through crisper with a glass cover. Keep your fresh produce in there so it stays fresh as long as possible.

All of these features contribute to an extremely versatile appliance that should be able to store whatever you need to keep cool or frozen inside.

The Avanti Fridge from the Outside

The RA7316PST model shown here has platinum (some would call it chrome or silver or gray) doors. The trim and the rest of the cabinet are black. (There is a different, yet similar, model that comes in white.) The back side is enclosed; that is, no coils are visible, and is also black.

The sides of the unit are magnetic but not the front, so you’ll have to hang those pictures your kids or grandkids drew on the black surfaces next to your grocery shopping list and your bottle opener.

The door, which you can switch to be either left- or right-opening, opens flush with the side of the cabinet. You don’t need to allow for extra space there.

Since you need to make sure the unit is level for proper cooling, you can adjust the two leveling feet at the bottom front of the refrigerator. If you’re sure the floor is level, you can remove these feet completely. (I would suggest labeling them and keeping them is a handy junk drawer just in case you need them in the future.)

The Avanti weighs 92 pounds, so keep that in mind if you’re intending to lift it into an RV or move it up a flight of stairs. A ramp or dolly would be extremely useful in those cases, as would an extra body or two.

What Makes the Avanti Work

The Avanti apartment refrigerator uses CFC-free R600A refrigerant. It runs on 110 volts at 60 Hertz.

Apparently, when you search for fridges that run on propane, this model tends to turn up in the search results. However, this refrigerator only runs on electricity, not propane (or natural gas).

The RA7316PST is Energy Star rated and uses about 345 kWh per year. If such power usage matters to you, you’ll want to compare this figure with that of other similarly sized units.

There is only one temperature control that handles the coolness of the fridge area and the frosty freezer area. Avanti says the defrost system implements a “Cycle Defrost”. I think this means that you shouldn’t have to manually defrost the refrigerator, but you may need to do so in the freezer from time to time. Other users have had mixed results in this area.

This fridge is ADA compliant.

You can use an E14, 110 volt light bulb (or something similar) inside, so you can see what’s there even in the dark.

Miscellaneous Features of the Avanti Refrigerator

You do get an ice cube tray for the freezer. Considering that this model seems to keep things especially cold, you shouldn’t have any troubles making as many cubes as you want.

When you first install the fridge, you should level it, leave it turned off for about 2 hours, and then plug it in and let it run overnight (4 to 8 hours). This process should get it set to normal cooling temperatures as soon as possible.

This Avanti runs very quietly. At least one owner who has used it in a camper didn’t even notice it was running at night. Sleeping was not a problem.

Some (but not all) owners have complained about their unit arriving with dents. Considering that it comes from China, this maybe isn’t too surprising. Maybe Avanti could improve on their packaging.

Conclusions about the Avanti RA7316PST

The biggest advantage of the Avanti RA7316PST is its small size. It should fit pretty much anywhere you want a fridge/freezer to go.

Coming in second place is its flexibility inside. Take a shelf out. Leave it out. Move it into another slot. Take a door bin out. The possibilities aren’t endless, but there are a lot of them.

This fridge doesn’t have as many features as some others, but at a price point that should be under $500, you get a lot of cooling capability in a lot of locations.