Speaker: Hello and welcome to this edition of the Kitchen Show. Today we are going to talk about one of the most important purchase that you will make in your home and it is the kitchen refrigerator. It's very important for you as a consumer to make an educated decision regarding the refrigerator because it's something that you will use on a daily basis and it's something that you will live with for many years to come. So you want to make sure that the purchase that you make is one that you are happy with. There are many different brands and many different models available from which you can select. Some are sold directly to the big-box stores and others are sold online for delivery.
There are many factors to consider. As I mentioned before, brand is one of them. There are lower-end brands and there are higher-end brands are not necessarily indicative of the thought that you will receive. There are also different configurations of refrigerators. Some are traditional; freezer on the top, others with the freezer on bottom and the ever popular, side-by-side model. One of the newer models that I think is very, very worthy of your consideration is similar to the one that I have next to me, the French door model. And the reason why I think you should give it a top consideration is because it gives you the most important, the most used feature of any refrigerator up top and that is the cooler section of the refrigerator but not the frozen section.
Let's take a look inside. Wow! Look at all of this thing. 25 square feet combined top and bottom for your use. Now, what is very important for you to consider is if you are looking at the French door model versus the side-by-side model, consider this; if you have a side-by-side model, you are going to have to live with a divider which falls in center of the refrigerator. Not a problem for the French door, you can have full use of the refrigerator capacity but at the same time, you have that convenience and the good look of two doors. You may say, but I want water and I want ice. Well, this particular model has an ice maker and it's down below in here. However, there are many models now that have ice that dispenses from the front of the door. A very good feature. In addition to those that have ice below, and ice in the door, Whirlpool makes a model and this is not one of them but it has water dispenser right inside against the wall. It also has a filter full of water and the ice that needs to be changed but it's located towards the top of the refrigerator.
Very important to note several distinctions between the two styles. The style inside and the style in the door. One of the important things to keep in mind is that historically, refrigerators pretty much of any make, are less reliable when they have a water maker and the ice maker in the door. So my recommendation is to choose the one that has the ice maker down below and the water inside because they tend to have a better repair history. Something else from the standpoint of function to consider. If you look in a refrigerator that has the ice maker in the door, whether it would be a side-by-side or a French door, the majority of this face here will be used by the ice machine and that is a substantial portion of the usable space. And in a French door model, it's very important because this is part of your refrigerator and it's very important to have much space as you can in this area.
Another consideration are gallon doors, gallon trays within the door. Most of the model that you see now have that feature. Now, one thing to think about, which is a small consideration but it maybe important to you, is the size of the things and what I have found in a Whirlpool Gold model, I have found that these gallon jugs don't entirely fit two gallon very easily. They do fit, however, it's a little bit of the snug fit. So if you buy this particular brand in this particular model, be aware of that little bit of frustration. However, if you only have a gallon of milk or a gallon of orange juice that you use at any one time, you can put one in either side, problem solved and use the space for other things. French door models also have a very nice feature that you will not find in bottom refrigerators or in side-by-side and that in many newer model is a deli tray space and that opens like this, and usually it has its own temperature control and allows you to fit a large deli tray or perhaps even a pizza box in this area here without disturbing some of the other areas within your refrigerator.
This particular model is stainless steel, it also comes in white and black finish as well as one of the newer finish is called Satina which does not show fingerprint as readily as the stainless steel. Something to consider if you have small children. The size of your refrigerator is important as well because many of the refrigerators that are made today especially French door models that are 25 square feet, require 36 inches of space. So make sure that you measure your cabinet area appropriately such that you were not disappointed when your unit arrives.
Speaking of size, another important factor is do you want a built-in look or do you mind if the refrigerator protrudes slightly from the cabinet fixture. Most cabinets, in modern times today, are 24 inches from the wall in terms of from the walls or the front of the cabinet. Many of the refrigerators that are called Cabinet Depth or Counter Depth refrigerators only extend as far as the cabinet. However, they comes at a cost and the cost is generally in terms of space on the interior how much usable space that you have, it's usually left. Ironically, the Cabinet Depth refrigerators, which have less space, cost more than a refrigerator that is larger let's take door from your cabinet. This particular model sticks out a little bit and I do not necessarily find that unattractive, so a fact of that if you are trying to determine whether to get a Cabinet depth, which is only 24 inches, or one that is more of standard size.
So to summarize, think about different brands that you can purchase today. I recommend reading consumer reports, I am looking at what they have to say about different models as well as their reliability, I recommend going out to the web and doing a search and seeing what opinions other people have of the different refrigerators that are out there. Finally, make sure that the configuration meets your needs make sure that the look is what you want.
Thank you so much for your time and good luck with your refrigerator.
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