The Pros and Cons of a Large Refrigerator

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

04 Dec 2008 11:54 AM

When we moved to our new home, one of the options we had was whether or not to keep the refrigerator that was already here. We had to leave our old one at our old home for the new owners. The refrigerator that went with our new home was old and small, so the decision wasn't too hard to make on letting it go.

This meant that we needed to shop for a new refrigerator. Because we were starting from scratch, we could pretty much pick out whatever refrigerator we wanted, within a reasonable budget of course. One of my main requests was the new refrigerator be larger than the old one we had. I do a lot of cooking, and with three growing kids who will one day be teenagers, I wanted to make sure that we could fit at least three gallons of milk at a time.

Now that we have lived with our large refrigerator for more than a year, I can share with you the pros and the cons.

Pros

We can definitely fit that milk in, as well as a whole defrosting turkey, dinner leftovers from two nights, a gallon of juice, produce, bulk cheese and all of the normal things you might find. I can also fit in four dozen eggs at a time.

When our upright freezer needed a repair, the spacious bottom freezer of the refrigerator was able to pack in a good portion of the extra food.

I can fit in an entire stock pot of chicken or turkey bones overnight so I don't have to make stock the same day I cook a bird.

There was plenty of room for party food for my daughter's birthday.

Extra bins, such as a chef's pantry help me keep things somewhat organized.

Cons

Items can sometimes get forgotten in the massive fridge, leading to food waste. The shelves pull out, but to be honest, I seldom take advantage of this.

Larger refrigerators use up a larger amount of energy to run.

The fridge may look empty in all of that space, prompting me to go shopping when I could actually make do.

The kids take the large size and large handles to mean that the refrigerator is actually a climbing gym.

Although we don't notice it now, when we first got the refrigerator, it seemed noisy.

What size is your fridge?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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jonesx6 (1606) 05 Dec 2008 06:02 AM

When we moved we also had to leave our BIG fridge. We were able to to buy the fridge that was here already. It is apartment size!! lol I miss my big fridge!! Thankfully I have been able to put things outside (we have a screened in porch). When this fridge goes I hope to buy a bigger fridge. Laura

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 05 Dec 2008 07:50 AM

I can't imagine how you survive :) Be careful with putting meats outside. Temperatures outside can fluctuate and cause bacteria to grow in parts of the meat even if the rest seems cool.

Samual (11722) 05 Dec 2008 01:12 PM

We've not had a fridge for a few years, when we did have one the only thing we put in it was beer, so we got rid of it, a waste of space really. We don't have a freezer either, the only con to that is you can't store ice cream for a few days, you have to eat it the day you make it.

Valorie Delp (49340) 05 Dec 2008 02:02 PM

Oh geez. . .if we put our meats outside we'd have ourselves a little animal wildlife party going.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 06 Dec 2008 07:04 AM

Same here Val! Let's see...Deer, raccoons, chipmunks, vultures, hawks, squirrels, foxes, hmm, who am I missing? LOL