What to Look For in a Refrigerator
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Refrigerator Buying Guide
Buying a refrigerator is an issue that is too complicated to many types of
refrigerators that are available today. The function of refrigerator has
actually gone beyond the basic of keeping food cooled and chilled. There are features that are equipped in most advanced refrigerators now.
Therefore, choosing the right one that suits your family will take some time
and require some basic knowledge on refrigerators. Here are a couple of things
that you need to look out when buying a refrigerator.
The first thing that you need to decide is the capacity when it comes to
buying a refrigerator. The rule of thumb here is to go with the general
guideline where a family of two needs at least 10 cubic feet of fresh foot
storage. You can add extra cubic feet for additional person in your family.
Therefore, an 18-cubic-foot refrigerator is the smallest unit that you should
get for a couple. A family of four needs at least a 22-cubic-foot refrigerator.
Of course, if you can afford bigger refrigerator, the better it is. But be
reminded that it takes more electricity to operate a bigger refrigerator which
leads to higher electricity bill.
Adding to the capacity, the size of the refrigerator is also
important. The size can sometimes be a limiting factor in determining the
refrigerator that you want to buy. In a case of a family that needs a
22-cubic-foot refrigerator but the space in your kitchen can only accommodate
an 18-cubic-foot unit. If that is the case, you should probably make some space
by removing certain items in the kitchen to fit the 22-cubit-foot refrigerator.
Or else you can consider a side by side refrigerator if space is a concern. A
side by side refrigerator consists of a freezer that is adjacent to the
refrigerator. The advantage of side by side refrigerator is that it needs less
door clearance which makes it ideal for a narrow kitchen.
Other factor to consider when buying a refrigerator is to select the type
that suits your living style. There are several types of popular refrigerators
in the market ranging from the commonly used top freezer, bottom freezer, side
by side to the exotic French door unit. The top freezer is the most commonly
seen refrigerator due to its affordability and simple design. Besides, the top
freezer is also the one that has the least problem. Therefore, reliability
issue seldom exists in top freezer refrigerator.
The bottom freezer model is equally comparable to top freezer but it's
slightly more expensive. The advantage of bottom freezer lies in the convenience
where more frequently used storages are placed at eye level. It's claimed that
people with back pain problem should use the bottom freezer refrigerator to
alleviate the back pain since you don't have to bend to access the food in the
refrigerator.However, people will sometimes accommodate a side by side refrigerator
in their kitchen. One of the reasons behind it is that, these refrigerators are
often equipped with plenty of extra sophisticated features that offer loads of
conveniences to its users. Other reason might be due to the exotic look of
these types of refrigerators instead of the normal top and bottom freezer
units.
Note, if you planned to get a refrigerator that is more than 22 cubic feet
in capacity, consider one which is Energy Star qualified. An Energy Star
qualified refrigerator means energy efficiency. An energy efficient
refrigerator is very conservative in terms of electricity usage and it might
help you to save some utility cost. One thing for sure is that you might be
able to get rebates of up to a few hundred dollars for trading in your old
refrigerator with a new Energy Star qualified model. A lot of utilities
companies and even the local government do offer this kind of rebates.
Therefore, do enquire the sales persons when you are in the stores.
All in all, buying a refrigerator is not that of a difficult task. All you
need is some practice and some basic knowledge in refrigerator. Please whenever
you really want to buy a refrigerator ,
make sure that you have done some research on the model that you are looking
for ,the things that you want to look out and the cost of purchasing and the
features so that when you are at the store, you will really go for your choice
from your re-search.
Hi Charlie,
That's sounds like a logical answer but this unit does not have an Ice Maker nor is there any water lins hooked up for drinking. I too have never seen or heard of a refrigerator spilling so much water from the defrost evaporator pan.
Thanks again for your expert input.I'll await to hear more
Aurie
This sounds more like a slowly leaking water supply line which is dumping water into the defrost evaporator pan -- never heard of that much water coming from a defrost cycle. Does it have an icemaker? -- I checked it on-line, but no info on icemaker. Charlie
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