Well, we spent the better part of the day shopping for a new fridge and finally found the one we wanted.
We started at Lowe's and looked at the french door top/freezer bottom type.
Then looked at the side by sides briefly before looking at the freezer on top, fridge on bottom, standard type.
We compared sizes, noting that the side by side generally gave us more cubic feet, but I questioned whether or not we truly were gaining anything since they all pretty much had the ice maker in them w/the water/ice dispenser and that seemed to take up a ton of space (like the one we have currently).
We looked at the french door on top/freezer on bottom some more and decided against them - a few reasons why:
1. price
2. the children are young (9, 8, 6, 4, 1) and in the interest of self-sufficiency at times they need to be able to access things in the fridge - if the fridge is up top/high they can't reach most everything in there.
3. I didn't like how much I had to lean over to get things in the freezer area.
So....after looking, we left and went to Best Buy to compare models, etc. Very disappointed w/the selection there, didn't stay long. Also, a delivery fee on top of the price of the fridge.
Then, we went to Home Depot. Started feeling like we were getting closer to a decision, but I confess, I started waffling a little and leaning back toward the side by side again - the in door water dispenser/ice dispenser IS nice. BUT, we do have a water cooler thingamajig that you put the 5 or 3 gallon jugs of water on top of and then can get hot, room temp or cold water from....the water line on the back of our side by side was destroyed when we moved 3 years ago and we got the water cooler then - so we could still use it and just wouldn't have the crushed ice option. Just about decided on a freezer top/fridge bottom, but weren't sure so we decided one more stop.
Went to the SEARS appliance center (mind you, these are all either in the same shopping center or on the opposite side of the road in another center, so we weren't traveling far - thank goodness, BUT were taking 5 children in/out of each of these places and probably had about 5 potty trips all together - I so need to find a nanny/sitter/etc. that I can count on being there when I need her!).
So, in SEARS, we were pretty much leaning toward a freezer top/fridge bottom - had the salesman see when they could get it for us - found out it would be an additional $35 for the ice maker and then $65 more for delivery which impacted the price considerably - guy said they could get it to us in a week, we really were hoping for Tuesday - we close on our house Monday and are very much ready to be in it already! We decided to take one more look back at Lowe's at one that was very similar to the one we had looked at in SEARS.
Got back to Lowe's - looked at said fridge, salesman came up to see if we had questions - asked about delivery - FREE. He told us that the one we were looking at was actually being clearanced out - he'd been looking into it for a guy earlier that day - and it would be 10% off. That sounded good. We had looked online before arriving at the store that morning and seen a coupon for 10% off for moving and asked if it'd be possible to use that since I hadn't printed it out - he said, let me see. He came back, said "How about we just make it 20% off?"
Guess what's to be delivered at our new house on Tuesday?
So, we ended up going with the freezer on top/ fridge on bottom.
Here's why -
1. price
2. ease of access for children
3. wider shelves - I usually buy about 4 gallons of milk at a time and was hard pressed to fit them and juice and whatever other drink we might like to have on hand on those narrow shelves in the side by side.
4. Don't really *need* the on door ice/water dispenser - it will have an ice maker inside and we have the water cooler. No crushed ice for me, but that's ok.
Did anyone actually read this? :) Maybe in another 10 years, if this one conks out, we'll consider the freezer at the bottom model since the children will be taller then ;)
What style fridge do you have and what do you like/dislike about it?
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Cranberry Cheese Ball
13 hours ago
6 comments:
Yes read it. We went with best buy after all the looking. The delivery was free and they hauled off the smelly leaky monster we had been using. Also for free. Ours was also a clearance model. Side by side (we don't buy much milk)fridge and freezer on top and side by side drawers on the bottom that can be either fridge or freezer. And is has the dispenser on the door. When prego I LOVE the crushed ice. Ours is stainless. I'm so glad to NOT be in the fridge market right now...
Refrigerators are a big decision, so good for you for shopping around. And 20% off?? That's almost unheard of. Hopefully they'll have that kind of sale when we need a new fridge. Even though you've been to our house, I'll tell you anyway that we have the side-by-side fridge. Why?? Because it came with the house. I like it because I can open the door to the freezer and see everything that is in it. My parent's always had the fridge on bottom/freezer on top version and I always felt that everything was so jam-packed into the freezer that we couldn't find anything. Plus, having the deep-freeze in the garage helps. :-) Can't wait to see pictures of the new house once y'all move in!
Ehhh. We have the 2 door fridge on top, freezer drawer on bottom. You are absolutely right about the kid thing. Plus, the drawer is actually tough to open when the freezer is full. There are probably models with easy open drawers, but ours is kind of a pain!
Hey Courtney - y'alls Best Buy must be better than the one we went to - it was kind of sad. I would've expected a few more to choose from. I'm glad y'all found a good one - I think the crushed ice is the one thing I will really miss about the side by side. Oh well.
Hey Anne - Yes, we got a great deal - it's so funny since we started at Lowe's and ended up back there and had decided on that particular fridge BEFORE finding out from the salesman that it was being clearanced - it wasn't marked! It definitely feels like it was the right choice for us. I know what you mean about the freezer - that is why we went w/the side by side 10 years ago, but I can tell you from personal experience, stuff gets lost in the side by side freezer too - I didn't think it would, but it did...ahem...I think part of it is me trying to keep enough food on hand to feed our small army so I don't have to go the store as often and that translates into a LOT of stuff in the fridge/freezer. Ah well. We'll see how the top/bottom one goes - it's ours now! I have thought about using some clear plastic containers to separate the areas of the freezer possibly as a help for it not getting so stuffed and unorganized, or getting a shelf made to help w/partitioning areas off...hint hint CKB ;) We'll see! I can't wait to get it on Tuesday! All nice and clean and new - wheeee!
The fuller your freezer is, the better it is so I have read. You may not be able to find what you are looking for, but for the freezer it is better. As I recall, it's either a matter of electricity or keeping the food colder.
Who would think that buying a new refrig would be so much work! We live in a home that is about 120 years old. The time just came to buy a new refrig and since our children are older, we decided on the french door style from Lowe's. We did the trips to Sears and Home Depot too. Finally made our decision and were pretty excited about it too since the refrig was on sale and they gave us an additional 15% off the price, plus the free delivery and carting away the old one. So you say, what problem could there be?? The night before delivery I realized there wasn't a door in our house that the new refrig could come through! Very long, stressful story made short -- hubby and my brother had to tear out the entire sliding glass door - frame and all. Oh and in the rain, no less! The new refrig is pretty but now I need a new sliding glass door and my eyes instantly divert to that mess. Oh well, what's another weekend project?!
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