Refrigerators

Shopping for a new refrigerator? Then you should know what features to look for and the best options for your needs. There are four different styles of refrigerators for sale today. They include, top-mount freezer, bottom-mount freezer, side-by-side and built-in. Top-mount refrigerators are the least expensive of all refrigerators, with bottom-mount refrigerators being the next least expensive. Side by side refrigerator models, which have two doors that open are nice but the shelves are much narrower than top or bottom refrigerator models. The most expensive is the built-in model. Built-in refrigerators are designed to exactly match your kitchen's cabinets and decor, giving the kitchen a seamless look.

In today’s stylish homes all appliances from refrigerators to toasters are becoming super-sized but it is very important to get exactly the right size refrigerator for your needs.. Refrigerators have gone commercial, with wide double-doors and stainless-steel finishes. Once only found in top of the line brands, the bigger-is-better obsession now has trickled down into less-expensive refrigerator brands as well. People are buying food in bulk and therefore need gargantuan refrigerators with more space to store the items they buy. Plus, big refrigerators also tend to have “wow” factor that can enhance a homes value and drive resale. As a general rule of thumb,  for two adults, you need eight to ten cubic feet of fresh food storage. For every extra person in your family, you should add another cubic foot on to this total. 

There are four different refrigerator sizes to select from, small (7 to 9.9 cubic feet), medium (10 to 13.9 cubic feet), large (14 to 19.9 cubic feet) and extra large (20 to 29 cubic feet). Measure you're refrigerator space before you go shopping. Some extra-large refrigerators, come in several pieces and must be assembled once inside, some models can’t fit through the front door and must be brought through sliding doors. Just figuring out how to get an especially heavy or large  refrigerator into a tight space can take extra time so must know how much space that you have to work with.

Before you go shopping, it is a good idea to figure out which features you must have and which features you can live without. A filtered water dispenser located on the door of the refrigerator is very useful, saving you interior space. Ice makers are essential, making on average several pounds of ice per day. An ice maker does reduce the amount of freezer space by about one cubic foot , but one located on the door will save some freezer space.

Look for an efficient refrigerator model that will save you money on your electrical bill. The most energy-efficient refrigerators range in size from 16-20 cubic feet. Independent temperature controls for different compartments also help save on the electric bill and look for a fridge with cooling coils that do not require fans.