Freezers can be vertical as you don't require easy access multiple times a day, don't require shelves as solid frozen food can be stacked without getting squished, you don't put pots, plates, etc in them, don't require drawers as you don't want multiple temperature and humidity zones, and on and on and on.
The efficiency increase is also greatly exaggerated in the article. For one see the comment by avian in here. Secondly that converted freezer has a lot more insulation than a fridge because of its thicker walls (which take more space) and also the lack of ventilation for moisture than any modern fridge has. And thirdly we have no real comparison with the same usage, as far as I know that person might open it every 2 days.
If we ignore all those problems we might as well weld a box shut and be happy with perfect efficiency at zero usability.
The efficiency increase is also greatly exaggerated in the article. For one see the comment by avian in here. Secondly that converted freezer has a lot more insulation than a fridge because of its thicker walls (which take more space) and also the lack of ventilation for moisture than any modern fridge has. And thirdly we have no real comparison with the same usage, as far as I know that person might open it every 2 days.
If we ignore all those problems we might as well weld a box shut and be happy with perfect efficiency at zero usability.