The Couple’s Guide to Agreeing on a New Refrigerator
Introduction
When you’re a couple you agree on many things and argue about the rest. The refrigerator is a big purchase and a major home appliance that couples argue over. It usually happens when your old refrigerator doesn’t work, and you think about buying a new one. You can search for “refrigerator repair near me” to get your refrigerator fixed by professionals. Otherwise, you can check out this guide that allows you and your partner to agree on a new refrigerator:
The Guide
- Budget – When you’re in the market for a new refrigerator you need to come up with a manageable budget. Refrigerators come in all shapes and sizes. You can spend under $1000 for a basic refrigerator or blow out $10,000 on a huge French-door refrigerator with all the bells and whistles. That’s why it’s necessary to come up with a budget and stick to that. It doesn’t need to be a restrictive figure. You can have a budget range with a gap of around $500.
- Layout of your kitchen – Unless you’re buying a new refrigerator for the basement or some other room, the layout of your kitchen decides the refrigerator that you can buy. For instance, if you have a small kitchen, you won’t be able to buy a huge side-by-side door refrigerator. Arm yourself with a measuring tape and record all the dimensions of the kitchen. If your kitchen doesn’t have a pre-designated cutout for the fridge, you have a lot of options.
Otherwise, you need to buy a refrigerator that fits the size of that gap. You need to buy a refrigerator that’s at least 2 inches smaller in all dimensions compared to the gap in the wall. You also need to make sure that the back of the refrigerator isn’t flush with the wall.
There needs to be some space at the back so that your refrigerator can stay efficient and cool items without stressing the components. You also need to measure the doors of all the rooms that lead to the kitchen. Otherwise, you’ll have to do expensive changes to your home to fit the fridge through the doors and reach the kitchen.
- Energy efficiency – Both you and your partner can agree that you want an energy-efficient refrigerator. Unless you have your own set of powerful solar panels, electricity costs money. Even if you have solar panels, an energy-efficient refrigerator would allow you to sell more electricity to the grid, make you money and keep fossil fuel from being burnt.
When you shop for your new refrigerator, check the Energy Star label. It’s a yellow label with stars on it. Most electronic products in the US have a similar label and it informs you about the energy efficiency of that product.
More start means more efficiency and more money in your pockets. If you want a rough estimate about the savings, read the bale carefully and it will have estimated units of electricity that unit is going to consume every year. Multiply that number with the average cost of one unit of electricity in your region and you can figure out if it’s a sweet deal.
- There’s no perfect refrigerator – Refrigerators are expensive household appliances that last around a decade. High-end and well-built refrigerators can last around two decades if maintained properly. That means most people aren’t very familiar with refrigerators. That’s why you need to completely throw away the image of a perfect refrigerator you’ve made in your mind.
With more advancements in technology, refrigerators have new features added to them all the time. There are also thousands of styles, configurations, finishes, and features to choose from. Irrespective of the hours of research you put into this topic, you may never have the perfect refrigerator. That’s why it’s important to be flexible. Both you and your partner may list down the essential features you want in your refrigerator and the styles you prefer. Get the common ground and start your hunt from there.
- Lifestyle and geography – Your lifestyle and geography also play a major role in the type of refrigerator you may buy. For instance, if you live in a thriving and dense metropolitan area, you’ll have small grocery shops on most streets that are walkable and dense enough to discourage car use. This allows you to buy fresh ingredients every day on your way home and cook up a meal for you and your family. Since you buy and cook fresh, you won’t need to spend on a large refrigerator.
On the other hand, those who live in the suburbs have to buy a large refrigerator even if it’s just for two people. Suburbs are car-dependent and that makes people buy groceries in bulk to save gas money. The fridge needs to have enough space to be stocked for a week and the crisper drawers need to have precise and custom climate control features to keep the veggies fresh and tasty.
- Essential features – While new features are always being added to refrigerators, a large LCD touchscreen and smart assistant are more gimmicky and less practical. You don’t mind them in your fridge, but you need to focus on the essential features. These include customizable shelves both inside the fridge and on the fridge door. Crisper drawers with modular sections and customizable controls also need to be present.
You’ll also need an air-filtration system inside the refrigerator to keep items fresh and keep the rest of the food from smelling bad even if one ingredient rots or expires. Ice and water dispensers have also become essential in modern times. They save you a lot of time.
Conclusion
Now that you know about all the essential features of a fridge and those that work for both you and your partner, you’ll have an easier time buying a new refrigerator. Otherwise, you can get some more mileage out of your old fridge by searching for “refrigerator repair near me” and getting it fixed by a pro.
