If you’ve
followed my blog or my old blog for
any length of time you know I’ve done some repairs and updates in the
past handful of years that have prolonged the life of my refrigerator. After nearly thirty years, however, the poor
old girl had been showing signs recently that she was nearing the end of her
life. Sadly, parts are no longer
available anymore for my particular refrigerator making any further repairs
nearly impossible so when it started to occasionally spit water onto the floor
I knew that the time had come. Steadily,
the plastic parts had become brittle and were starting to fail. I had fixed all that I could fix. It was time to replace it.
The thicker door on the new one sticks out just as much
as the old one so I'm really glad it doesn't have the handles too
I have been
shopping for a refrigerator for several months now. It never occurred to me when I began that
finding a white refrigerator to replace the one I had would end up being so
difficult. If I wanted a stainless steel
finish then I’d have tons of options, but white appliances right now are far
more limited, which is completely crazy to me.
I personally do not care for the stainless steel appliances, that is
just my personal preference, and I definitely didn’t want to feel like I needed
to update the stove and dishwasher too just to replace the refrigerator and
have all matching appliances in my kitchen (because I do need them to match,
that is just how I am). To me that
seemed even crazier. But, I hung in
there and finally made a decision on a simple white refrigerator.
I do like the sleek design of the new refrigerator
After much
searching and much reflection I realized I don’t need to replace this
refrigerator with one that is similar.
My needs have changed and all I truly need right now is a place to store
some cold and frozen foods. I don’t need
a water dispenser or an ice maker, in fact I never really used the water
dispenser on my current refrigerator and I don’t like the funky taste the ice
gets from the ice maker. In fact, I
removed the icemaker last year and added a shelf in its place so I could use
ice trays and keep the ice in a covered container because it tastes
better. I also have zero interest in a smart refrigerator or any of that other fancy
stuff.
It has less cubic feet and yet it seems
much more spacious
Once I had my
criteria for a new refrigerator established, and knew what few choices I had as
a result, I finally felt ready to make the decision and pull that trigger. Last week I selected and ordered a simple
white LG refrigerator with the freezer on top. It is also a bit smaller (or so I thought it
was) since I don’t need a bigger refrigerator anymore, especially as I don’t
need to store as much food inside one now.
Turns out that despite it being a smaller refrigerator it is actually
quite a bit roomier than the side by side I used to have.
No icemaker this time around, I'm the icemaker now!
I also decided I
wanted a refrigerator without handles this time because I have a small galley
kitchen and space is at a premium. On my
old refrigerator the handles protruded outward quite a bit. It may seem like it wouldn’t make that much
of a difference but the sleek design of the door on the new refrigerator really
does make a difference and it is super easy to keep clean too. Plus, now the newer refrigerators have much
thicker doors to make them more energy efficient. It sticks out just as far as the old
refrigerator did, but had I ordered one with handles it would have stuck out
even more. That would’ve made me crazy,
I think.
I found this stuck to the underside of the old fridge
It has been a very long time since I've had magnet letters
stuck on the front of the refrigerator 😄
Lastly, but
certainly not the least, the new refrigerator was half the price of what it would’ve cost to replace my old one with
a similar side by side model with all the bells and whistles. And it wasn’t on a six week backorder like
many of the other options. Because it is
more energy efficient it should also save me some money on my monthly power
bill. Plus, it is shiny and new and I’m
having a lot of fun organizing it and figuring out the best way to keep my
fresh food and meal preps inside. That part
is still a work in progress. Also,
Bonus! If I ever decide to buy a frozen
pizza it will fit inside the freezer, no problem.
I bought some organizers for the new refrigerator/freezer
Who would think
a downgrade in appliances would make me so happy. So what do you think? Did I make a good decision? So far, I think that I did.
Sounds like the perfect replacement for you. Be sure and check when you do your taxes on a energy saving tax break. We replaced our water heater and A/C unit last year and got a really nice tax credit for replacing old appliances. It basically covered the price of the water heater.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely do that. Thanks Lori! :o)
DeleteI completely agree about white appliances vs stainless steel. I have never liked stainless steel, and when we had a fridge in stainless steel, in a rental, it always looked smudged. I've never had a side by side model, but I'm glad you're finding you have great storage space in your new model with a freezer on top.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I was a little nervous about it, but it is going to be great! :o)
DeleteI've been mulling over buying a new fridge, rather than wait for this one to fail. Already, the water dispenser is kaput and I relied on it all the time, especially in our crazy heat. I'm the only one who make ice and its a pain in the butt. My current unit is an LG and is 14 years old. Like you, I don't want a computer on the front, or stainless steel. Just a basic model, but with ice and water. No handles would be nice and make mine black. Ha! Maybe I should start looking.
ReplyDeleteHave fun shopping! It wasn't my favorite thing to do, but sometimes you just have to.
DeleteOoo I love your new refrigerator with freezer on top! I think you made a fantastic decision to “rightsize” it, and I think it’s an upgrade in the looks department and also for energy efficiency. Great investment!
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa. So far it is meeting my expectations. :o)
DeleteOh a new fridge is fun! The possibilities for organizing! Lol!
ReplyDeleteMy mother needs a new fridge. I believe hers is at least 20 years old. It works but honestly it's looking pretty beat. And she could use a more energy efficient one. But she only wants a white side-by-side. My appliance guy says he hasn't been able to get that kind for 2 years.
I love my big, French-door stainless refrigerator with bottom drawer freezer and 2 extra pull-out drawers. My husband thinks it's too big. I don't. I use every inch.
I'm glad you found something you liked. Looking forward to seeing pictures of it all organized!
Thank you Margaret! :o)
Delete