Introduction
Having a significant other helps you in many aspects of life and also brings fulfillment. However, more often than not appliance shopping doesn’t bring harmony to your relationship. If your refrigerator is broken, you can both agree on searching for “refrigerator repair near me” and hiring a reputed professional to fix it. However, things are very different when you’re on the market for a new fridge. Let’s check out how that can be changed, and you can agree about a new refrigerator with your partner:
The Details
- Budget – When you’re buying a new refrigerator, deciding on a budget is the most important part since it influences most other factors in some way or another. It’s crucial to set a price range both you and your partner are comfortable with.
A basic two-door refrigerator comes for as low as $300 while an advanced French door refrigerator with all the latest features and premium finish can cost you five figures. It’s very easy to overspend on a refrigerator and regret it later on. The same holds if you underspend and miss out on necessary features. That’s why both of you need to come up with a feasible budget to buy the right refrigerator for your kitchen.
- Energy Use – Both of you may want different features or storage configurations in your refrigerator. However, you can agree on one thing with convincing resolve, energy usage. A refrigerator that uses a lot of energy isn’t good for your disposable income or the environment.
Check the Energy Star rating and guide label on the fridge before you buy it. A higher rating translates to more savings and the guide also has estimates of annual energy usage. Multiply the estimated kilowatts with the average energy cost in your region to find out how much you would spend on running the refrigerator. A refrigerator with low energy usage also helps the environment.
- Be flexible – Refrigerators are one of the most expensive household appliances and have a long lifetime. The average life expectancy of a refrigerator is around 10 years while well-made refrigerators from high-end brands can last up to two decades. That means you test drive more cars than you look into new refrigerators.
So, when you are ready for a new fridge, you will come across numerous unfamiliar and advanced features, finishes, configurations, and styles. That’s why it’s impractical for either of you to build the image of a perfect refrigerator. The market is going to have better options than that and would surprise you both in a pleasant way. You need to be flexible and make sure that your new fridge fits your lifestyle. Otherwise, you can spend a lot of money to just buy the most expensive model on the market.
- Size of the fridge – The size of your refrigerator doesn’t depend on you or your spouse, it depends on the architecture and layout of your kitchen. Get a measuring tape and record the dimensions of the fridge opening in your kitchen. You also need to measure the space available for the door swings and the opening or entrance of your kitchen. These dimensions decide how large of a fridge can go inside your kitchen and fit inside the designated space.
While measuring the height, width, and depth, you also need to consider clearance for drip pans, levelers, and for proper air circulation around the coils. A fridge without proper air circulation won’t be as energy efficient as it’s designed to be. If you shop online, use the filter function to find refrigerators that fit the recorded dimensions.
- Shopping and eating habits – Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, your grocery shopping habits can vary. If you live in car-dependent suburbia like most Americans, you’re probably a weekly shopper. On the other hand, if you live across a busy street in the middle of the city, you’re more likely to shop regularly in small quantities for fresh ingredients. Weekly shoppers would require large refrigerators, while people who live close to the market and grocery shops may prefer a smaller fridge.
Weekly shoppers would also prefer to have a lot of crisper drawers with custom humidity settings to keep veggies fresh as long as possible. If you like to throw parties, you’re likely to stock up on alcoholic beverages and wine bottles. If one of you is an entertainer, you’ll want customizable shelves on the door for tall or short beverage bottles and a maximum shelf footprint in the main compartment for serving trays and large platters.
It also depends on your diet. If you are a vegan, you’d want to maximize on crisper drawers while meat-eaters would prefer to maximize freezer compartments. If you and your partner have polar opposite diets, you may need a large French door refrigerator to keep things balanced.
- Features – Features are abundant and the more you want, the higher price you pay for your refrigerator. They can also range from essential adjustable door shelves to extravagant built-in OLED displays on the fridge door.
It’s best to stay away from the enticing bells and whistles and focus on practicality. Examine your cooking and shopping habits thoroughly to decide on the list of features you want in your refrigerator. Sit down with your partner, make a list, keep the common features and strike out those that aren’t a priority for both of you and make little financial sense.
Check out the following list of some of the most sought-after features customers want in their refrigerators:
- Door-in-door storage
- Water and Ice dispenser
- Extra-large door bins
- Dual cooling system
- Adjustable glass shelves
- Air filtration system
- Custom temperature drawers
Conclusion
As you can see, while there are disagreements, you can come to a mutual understanding with your partner while buying a refrigerator. Assess the size, your shopping habits, style of the fridge, and its features to buy one that fits both your needs. If you want to fix your old refrigerator, search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire a pro.
