Why go all the way to the campus cafeteria or dorm lobby for a cold drink when you can easily just get it out of this mini fridge in the corner of your room? Trust us, your kids will thank you and so will their new roommate. However, units can be built in as long as the space/ventilation requirements indicated in the owner’s manual are met. The front of the appliance should be left open so that air can circulate around the appliance. In the age of TikTok, aesthetics are king, and while this may seem frivolous to some, a mini fridge can also be used to elevate a small space.
When working from a home or traditional office, having a mini fridge for drinks, lunches, and snacks is a nice perk to have. And the Frigidaire EFR494 almost feels like it was designed whirlpool mini refrigerator for use in an office. The matte, retro design won’t stand out too much from the rest of your office furniture, and the door hinge is reversible so it can open to the left or right.
You can put a small, affordable top-freezer fridge in a big cutout meant for a humongous, expensive French-door model. Bigger fridges do tend to make people much happier than smaller ones, according to our reader survey and analysis of customer reviews. Many people buy the widest fridge that fits their space and budget and often one that’s very deep , too.
You’ll also want to factor in where you might place it, once you consider the major furniture that’s provided—and that you’ll be bringing with you. Great for placing in cramped spaces or uneven surfaces , this sleek refrigerator livens up even in the most uninspired of dorms. The silver pull-handle and ornamental details give it a retro vibe, plus, it has a built-in side bottle opener, so you don’t need to rummage for utensils to crack one open. Consider replacing your old fridge and recycling your old second refrigerator.
In addition to red, the Frigidaire 1.6-Cubic-Foot Compact Fridge is available in several color options to match your decor or school colors, including purple, blue, green, and orange. Son moved to a new shared apartment and thought a mini in his room would be good. But I couldn’t find many affordable fridges in stock here in FL that could be delivered instead of picked up, that weren’t Samsung. So we resigned ourselves to renting from Buddy’s, a place a friend of mine recommended that she had used before. It was $60 by the week or $200 by the month, no contract, no ding to my credit and they had it out within the hour, which I found impressive. Sad thing is, we had Geek Squad on one new product and I found out that it actually would have covered the fridge.
He enjoys visiting factories and learning about regulatory loopholes, and has flooded our testing area only three times. When in doubt, check the yellow Energy Guide sticker on any model to get an idea of its energy consumption and estimated costs of operation. The stickers all have text and graphics to represent the range of operating costs within a category; look for a model with a cost on the lower end of the scale. The first, simplest step toward picking a more sustainable fridge is to make sure it uses climate-friendly R600a refrigerant, as many current models do. If the refrigerant leaks, it’ll have no effect on the ozone layer and a negligible effect on global warming. When you buy a premium refrigerator, you’re paying for the look or the features, not a more reliable product.
Top-freezer models are a lot more affordable and can fit really small spaces. Bottom-freezer fridges usually lack the high-end look of French-door models but have a lot of the same practical advantages. Four-door models (equal-size half-width, half-height, swing-open doors) and column designs (all-fridge no-freezer, and vice versa) have their place, too. Once you’ve nailed down a budget for your new mini fridge, you’ll next have to decide what you want to use it for.