Refrigerators for any Kitchen Design
Get the refrigerator that fits your budget and lifestyle by following these simple tips and knowing what to look out for.
When it comes to refrigerators there are several things to keep in mind. As
with any appliance, you want to choose something according to how it benefits you, not according to how many features it has. Never let a salesman sway you in a certain direction based on the features of a product. So what, if a refrigerator has a T.V. in it? BIG DEAL! If I already have a television in the kitchen, or don't really watch T.V. that screen on my refrigerator door just becomes an extra expense and another thing for a child to break.
Instead, you want to make a checklist of all the issues you have with your current refrigerator. You definitely want your new fridge to be anything but a headache, so start with what ticks you about your current one, THEN move on to extra features.
Here, I’m going to list some common issues consumers have with refrigerators...
Capacity
Refrigerator capacity varies on a large scale, you can go from 1.1 cubic feet up to 30+. The question is, what will fit? If capacity is not a concern of yours, I’m telling you to make it one! Better to have room and not use it than have too little room and need another fridge. And we definitely don’t want that headache. So keep this in mind, get the largest capacity that will fit in your space.
So we’re clear lets understand what the capacity is. It is the usable space inside of the refrigerator and freezer combined. Now with this said, let’s take a look at the different varieties of refrigerators.
We have…
Side-By-Side French Door Top-Mount Bottom-Mount
   
Side-By-Sides. These refrigerators are favored because of their appearance, NOT because of their ability to house food. A 25 cubic ft. side-by-side has about as much food housing capability as a 17 cubic ft. top-mount. So if it’s food housing space you’re looking for, depending on how much space you need, these might not be for you.
French Door. Now these refrigerators have a lot more food housing capability than side-by-sides, it even has as much as a top mount it could be safe to say. It even has a new-aged look to it with the ability to hold wide items unlike side-by-sides; but here lies the dilemma. The freezer is located on the bottom. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Generally, the heaviest food you’re going to have will be placed in the freezer. “And?” And… you can check with any doctor, but we’re born with a certain amount of times we can incorrectly use our back. Of course this varies depending upon how fit you are, but I personally do not want to waste any of those precious incorrect back motions on lifting a frozen 20lb. turkey from the freezer. Take it from me, I’m legally handicap now from a slipped disk. Bad backs aren't any fun. The sliding freezer drawer does help, but the bottom line is you're going to have to bend over to pick things up from the freezer, and that can get tedious particularly at an older age or for anyone with back problems.
Now keep in mind I’m giving sound advice about the things you probably would have never thought about; but if you like the French Door, by all means get it! It’s your money!
Top-Mount. Here we have your traditional Top-Mount Freezer Refrigerator. Although many shun upon this machine for it’s “old-fashioned” look, it is actually the most efficient for food storage and energy efficiency. What many don’t know is that this refrigerator comes in extremely large capacities, most you’ll see in homes or have seen were on the average 17 - 20 cubic footers. So if a 25 cubic footer or something larger will fit, this would be an excellent choice!
Bottom-Mount. Picture a Top-Mount refrigerator in reverse, and you’ll have yourself a bottom-mount. These will give you great capacity as well. Now, remember the dilemma I told you about concerning French Doors? Same thing applies here; but if you’re looking for something a little unique, this would also be a good route to go. Also with the bottom-mount you can get the bottom door to swing or pull out depending on the model, so you'll have a little variety.
Now that wraps it up for capacity, the next important thing to consider when shopping for a refrigerator is its' appearance. How do you want your kitchen to look? Well many things can have an influence on the color and style you choose in your refrigerator. For instance, if you have a lot of children, stainless steel may not be the best option, not unless you enjoy cleaning! And to clean stainless steel you need stainless steel cleaner, unless anyone out there has a home-remedy… by all means if you do, let us know!
Appearance
Moving on, refrigerators generally come in 4 colors, black, white, stainless, and bisque or biscuit (that light almond color). Some manufacturers offer a titanium or a clean-steel, just some examples of the variations in color. When shopping for your fridge, make sure you investigate colors, and make sure that they offer that color in ALL appliances. LG appliances for example, offers a refrigerator in a titanium that looks great; but do not currently offer their ranges or dishwashers in this same color. So be careful not to through your kitchen off balance because a color emotionally struck you. Regardless whether you’re buying just one appliance or all of them to fully furnish or refurnish your kitchen, don’t make just one appliance your entire project! Always consider the full kitchen, down to the floors, cabinets and countertops!
In addition to colors, we also have different styles of refrigerators, you can get one counter depth; that’s when the fridge sticks out no further than the base cabinets do. You also have a built-in option; this is where the refrigerator is actually built into your cabinets. With this built-in option you can choose from the above mentioned colors as well as paneling to match the cabinets to totally hide your refrigerator, giving your kitchen a unique look.
One final tidbit when it comes to the appearance of your fridge, if the side of your refrigerator is going to be exposed, keep in mind that if you purchase stainless steel, the sides will be black! This is very important and something many people don’t realize. You can purchase side panels here, Click Here to Shop for Refrigerator Panels , but as you can see, these panels are a bit costly. It would be better to simply purchase a stainless-wrapped refrigerator. Stainless-wrapped means that the entire refrigerator will be covered in stainless-steel. In most cases the wrap will cost you about a thousand dollars more, but it will be a factory installed job and warranted.
Fit
Another big thing when it comes to buying refrigerators is getting one that will fill the space in your kitchen. Many people make the mistake of going to see what they want first and then measuring. BAD IDEA! Chances are you'll see something you just LOVE, all to buy it and find out it won't fit! Measuring first will save you some heartache and time. Here’s what to measure for:
Height - Measure from the floor to the bottom of whatever is over the refrigerator space, i.e. (cabinet, ceiling, etc.). Be sure to measure along the corner of the wall; follow the arrows in the example, this will ensure for an accurate measurement.
Depth - Measure from the wall to how ever far out you wish your refrigerator to stick out. Follow the arrows in the diagram for an accurate measure. The depth is totally up to you. If you don’t mind the fridge sticking out further than your cabinets you can get any depth, just make sure you have clearance to open the refrigerator doors to their full potential.
Built-in - For a built-in fridge I would strongly suggest not attempting this yourself. This is too expensive of a job to prolong it, or damage something. Here’s a site that will locate local contractors in your area who specialize in every facet of Home Improvement. http://www.homeimprovementportal.com/ Simply go to their site and fill out the short application, and you should have a quote in about 5 minutes. This will cut out a lot of leg work for you.
Freshness
Here’s another topic you may have never thought about… FRESHNESS! Many people have the wrong idea about the function of a refrigerator. Most people think that the purpose of a refrigerator is to keep your food cold, but the purpose of a refrigerator is to keep your food fresh not cold. And in order to keep your food fresh, you need more than just a cold box. For example, certain foods such as fruits, need to be in a more dry environment to stay fresh; while on the other hand, vegetables need to be in a more humid climate to stay fresh. So a big cold box that kept the same climate throughout the entire thing wouldn't do your produce much good.
For these reasons refrigerators now have climate controlled drawers to maintain the freshness of whatever food is placed inside of it. You can adjust the climate of each drawer depending upon what types of foods you have inside of them. This means longer lasting produce which means more money in your pocket from not having to make trips to the grocery store which leads to less fuel and time consumed. You would have never thought an up-to-date refrigerator would save you on so much!
Another thing that contributes to the freshness of foods are the sensors located throughout a refrigerator. A good fridge should have ATLEAST 5 sensors located throughout itself. These sensors monitor the temperature in various places within the fridge. Traditionally, you would have 1 sensor, this was not a good thing because it could not maintain the freshness of your foods. Let’s say for example you had one sensor in your current fridge, and the temperature raises in your refrigerator section; this would activate the compressor to send cold air to the refrigerator AND the freezer, resulting in more energy used, and the over-freezing of foods in the freezer section which causes freezer burn.
The machine won’t send cold air into the freezer until the temperature rises in the refrigerator. Ever wonder why it looks as though your ice cream has melted and re-froze? Well, here's the culprit, the lack of sensors in your fridge! Refrigerators with at least 5 sensors are less likely to have ANY frost on them at all while in the freezer. Which results in several things, less energy consumed, less money spent on groceries, less money spent on fuel to drive to the grocery store, fresher food, and better tasting food. I would say that’s one heck of a benefit!
Features
Now this is a world I’m not even going to get deep into. Here’s the best advice I can give you… take an interest in the things you need first; and if some gadget appeals to you, read CAREFULLY what that feature does. Let me give you an example…
Whirlpool’s refrigerator has something they call “Measure Fill” and GE’s refrigerator has something they call “Precise Fill”. Now, these two features do pretty much the same thing, you punch in on the dispenser how much water you need ; 1 cup for example, and you press a button and the fridge fills it up. Well now, here is where reading carefully becomes essential...
“Measure Fill” fills up by using a timer… for instance it’s computer says, “With city water it should take about 9 seconds to dispense a cup of water.” (This time is just an example) Ok, that 9 seconds may be true, but what if you’re running well water which runs slower than city water? Well that “Measure Fill” is no good to you.
“Precise Fill” fills up by measuring the flow of water coming through the dispenser, so no matter what type of water your house runs on, it will be exact every time. So with those explanations, Please Read carefully!
Now between the four types of fridges out there, Side-by-Side, French Door, Top Mount, and Bottom Mount; you’ll find that Side-by-Sides have FAR more features than any other type of fridge. So if it’s features you’re looking for, shop Side-by-Side!
Energy Efficiency
Here’s another serious factor when shopping. When purchasing new appliances it would be very much so a plus to get all energy efficient appliances… Heck, it would be a big plus to get energy efficient everything!
[SIDEBAR - This isn’t exactly appliance related, but I must share this information with the world. In the state that I live in, energy costs have sky-rocketed, and people are looking for ways to cut back on energy costs, well here’s a BIG ONE.
Change your light bulbs! Go from your regular incandescent bulbs to the CFL (Compact Fluorescent) bulbs. These bulbs will save you $30-40 over EACH bulb's lifespan! Ex. Incandescent 60 watt bulb uses 60 watts of energy. A 60watt CFL uses 12 watts! Not only do they use less energy, but they last about 8-10 years. They also cut down dramatically on pollution. According to “ENERGY STAR”, “If every home in America replaced one 100watt bulb in their home with a 100watt CFL, it would be as equivalent to taking 1 million vehicles off the road.” This will save you a noticeable amount on your electric bill. To purchase these bulbs check this site out, Energy Efficient Compact Fluorescent Bulbs]
Ok, where were we? Ah yes, an energy efficient refrigerators... besides cutting cost of your utilities and cutting back on pollution emitted into the air, you also get a tax break on all energy efficient products. Energy efficient refrigerators use 15% less energy as required by the federal standards, and use 40% less energy than models sold in just 2001.
The reason these refrigerators use less energy than others is because of their high efficiency compressors, improved insulation, and precise temperature and defrost mechanisms.
So again, if you’re going to purchase ANYTHING, make sure it’s “ENERGY STAR” rated; your pockets will thank you for it later!
Amongst the four different types of refrigerators, the Top-Mount and Bottom-Mount fridges are about equal in comparison when it comes to energy consumption and use the least amount out of the four. So for energy efficiency, Top or Bottom-Mount is the way to go!
Compact Refrigerators or “Mini Fridges”
I know we talked a lot about refrigerators, but surprisingly when it comes to compact refrigeration, there is not much at all to tell. Think of them as Q-Tips… do you want pink, yellow, blue, or white? Well they’re a LITTLE more advanced than that.
Compact refrigerators are generally those in size of 10 cubic feet and smaller. Out of all these compact sizes the ones that generally come EnergyStar rated are the 10 cubic footers.
Compact refrigerators come in all different colors, so the choice is up to you of what look you would like. Just remember, if it’s stainless steel you’re looking for, or a paneled look. Make sure it’s real stainless steel and real wood. Because they’re so small, most of the time they are just stainless or wood painted.
Compact refrigerators can be used for several applications. On a desk, in a dorm room, or have a built-in under the counter in the kitchen or bar. The built-ins sometimes have glass doors, with accenting lights on the inside of the fridge to give it a subtle, but attention-grabbing appearance.
Lastly, when shopping for compact refrigerators, besides the stainless and wood appearance to double check on. Check to see whether it’s manual or auto defrost, if it comes with a freezer. The auto-defrost will save you time when unplugging the machine for extended periods of time. Other than that, compact refrigerators, wine cellars, and beverage centers can all simply be easily picked out based on what you think looks nice. Some are a little more advanced, such as having digital displays, but for the most part, they all do the same job.
Where to shop for Refrigerators and Compact Refrigerators:
You made it! I know it was a lot but now it's time to shop! You now have learned enough to make an educated decision on which refrigerator would best suit you. Below are a list of great sites to visit and shop around:
 Sears carries over five, leading name brands of refrigerators. All ranging from high-end to low-end. Sears also offers delivery which can be free during certain promotions. They will deliver, professionally install any refrigerator you purchase, and they can haul away your old refrigerator for $25. Sear's Refrigerators
  Best Buy also offers several varieties in refrigerators. They will also deliver, professionally install, and haul away your old refrigerator. However, if your purchase is over $499 with Best Buy, your delivery and haul away service is free! If your purchase is under $499, the two services combined are only $49. So compare products between the two before finishing your purchase. One may come out with a better deal than the other! Best Buy's Refrigerators
If you need help with installation, this link will find local contractors to install the appliance if the place of purchase does not.
Click Here to Find Local Contractors
That’s it! You’ve made it through Refrigerators 101. Happy shopping, and enjoy your new fridge!
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