Fridges for dorm rooms

<p>Does anyone know if we can/should have two fridges for the dorm room. Are we allowed and is there room?</p>

<p>i would say that you should you only one fridge</p>

<p>No single appliance can exceed 1000 watts of usage. Also, no single dorm can exceed 1800 hundred watts in power. With two fridges im sure you will nearly all but monopolize all of your watt usage with fridge space.</p>

<p>and remember space is at a premium!</p>

<p>fridges cannot exceed the measurements of 2' x 3' x 1' , 6 cubic feet</p>

<p>Oops, I had in my mind the 6 cubic feet, but was thinking of capacity since this is the way refrigerators are normally advertised, not outside measurements. How strict are they about the measurements? I was looking at one that is 32''x 20"x 22" Another is 32"x 20.5"x20.5" Will that be forbidden? Son is in Morrison. I have not found one that is 3x2x1 as exterior measurements, but I have just been to 1 place. Do you think I can get away with a slightly bigger one?</p>

<p>You do know about the microfridge rental service for UNC right? Very convenient because fridge is in your room waiting for you when you arrive in the fall and you leave it behind when you go home for the summer. Everything they rent is acceptable in UNC dorms and not only do they do the delivery and pickup...they'll bill roommates separately for their half of the rent.</p>

<p>Just in case you want to rent....I know some people prefer to buy. For us, renting works...too hard to haul a fridge from Texas or even 'to and fro' storage.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegefridge.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.collegefridge.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How much is the rent per month?</p>

<p>Sunnyrain, the price, according to the website is a rental of $245 for the large and $225 for the smaller.</p>

<p>Hi Idmom, once again you have good advice. However in our case, my son's roomate, who we have not yet met, has already acquired a microwave.The money seems steep since we just need the 'frige. The rental one has to be much larger on the outside than 6 cubic feet if it provides 3.46 cu ft of intereior space for the refrigerator part and 1.38 for the freezer. We live in Atlanta, just a 6 hour drive , so it would be much less costly to buy it. I can get one used for for about $50 for a refrigerator or new for $100 to $150. Just don't know if I can get away with one slightly larger than 3x2x1. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Thanks again for any comments.</p>

<p>Sunnyrain
The amount listed above is for 2 semesters, not per month.</p>

<p>You can buy a mini fridge at Best Buy, Costco, Target, WalMart or Sears for about $169 before schools starts.... they will all have them..and a 700 watt microwave (max power UNC allows) for under $49 at the same places. Far cheaper than trying to buy the combo units and no more hassle. You just put the microwave on top of the fridge anyway and you will have it for more than one year.</p>

<p>One word of advice, do a little comparison shopping first and get the one with the biggest fridge space you can find, shelf on door for bottles etc and skip those with ice making capability. They take up valuable fridge space, have to be defrosted, don't make good ice anyway with the high humidity in the dorms that do not have AC, and if two are sharing the fridge, they need all the space they can get for milk, juice, bottled water, fresh fruit, yogurt etc. You'll notice I did NOT mention beer though you'll find that kept in them too.</p>

<p>Thanks eadad. I have seen ones in that price range at Wal-mart, Sams and
Home Depot. They would be great, but none I can find actually have external measurements of only 3 ft. by 2 ft. by 1 ft. or 6 cubic feet as listed in the move in materials.If I could find one, it would yield about 1 1/2 cubic feet on the interior. Is this the size you got? Most of the dorm sized fridges have external measurements of around 33''X 20''X20". They are great, but will UNC allow them? Can anyone give me an idea of the size they brought last year or are bringing this year? </p>

<p>Thanks I'm getting frustrated with the packing process. Ugh.</p>

<p>I'm glad you mentioned the size issue.</p>

<p>Don't pay attention to the size requirement, seriously. The majority of minifridges you will see are the standard size (and slightly larger) ones found everywhere. We went with the slightly bigger size because both boys drank alot of bottled water and kept fruit, milk and yogurt in the fridge. Try putting a half gallon (let alone gallon) of milk, bags of grapes, apples, some containers of yogurt, a few soft drink cans and bottled water in those little fridges; it doesn't work especially if both kids are sharing the fridge. If each has their own of the size they specify it's another story but why double up when they can easily share and you can split the costs of outfitting the room.</p>

<p>We got ours at Best Buy. I called the store on 15-501 in Durham and paid for and reserved it then picked it up there on move-in day. You can also do bestbuy.com but they only give you seven days to pick up after placing the order which was a problem for our travel schedule.</p>

<p>Seriously though, I don't think anybody pays attention to the stated size issue. It's about practicality. You'll see a few of the true mini mini fridges but many more of the ones that look like an under counter model; they hold more and are far easier to find and not much more expensive than the tiny ones.</p>

<p>One word of advice; rent or bring a two wheel dolly. They sell them at Costco, Home Depot and Lowes for between $45 and $65 and even have the ones that convert to four wheel truck type dollies. It makes hauling fridges, large speakers, stacks of boxes or storage containers, TVs etc far easier and much faster since you only can park in the designated close-in parking places for a short time while unloading.</p>

<p>Eadad,
Thank you so much for your reply....very practical advice and what I was hoping to hear. I am impressed by the generous spirit of people on these boards. Yes, we have made arrangements to borrow a dolly from the office.</p>

<p>Mom15
We have to pay $245 as rent for the whole year?Thats expensive!
Its way cheaper to buy one, isn't it?</p>

<p>Mom15</p>

<p>You are welcome. I know that jack, ldmom, and I try hard to pass on the wisdom that comes from having "been there/done that." If we can help make the transition easier then we've succeeded.</p>

<p>Two years ago ldmom was PMing me with questions and now she is a font of information herself. The fact that my experience at UNC is with a son who is an OOS Morehead, jack has a daughter who is an instate Robertson and ldmom's daughter (also OOS) turned down significant monetary offers from what might be considered "more elite" schools to attend UNC with merit money allows us to offer opinions and advice from three very different perspectives.</p>

<p>There were people on CC before us helping us with our decisions and answering these same questions for us so I know we all feel somewhat committed to trying to give back and offer assistance to others now. I sincerely hope that we are perceived by most that way; certainly not know-it-alls, but all who have witnessed firsthand the wonderful education and undergrad experience that UNC and Chapel Hill have provided to our kids.</p>

<p>I know personally it will be as hard for us to see him leave as it is for him as he enters his senior year with much melancholy. We're all hoping he ends up in med school there.</p>

<p>I only hope I can be as helpful as eadad and jack!! I don't know what we would have done without them helping us last year...and we still continue to reap the benefits!</p>

<p>re: that fridge. I definitely understand the urge to buy...it is much more cost effective. One $250 max expenditure vs. four $120 per year rentals. 50% cheaper to buy.</p>

<p>For us, the delivery and pickup are crucial though. There are times when my husband may not be able accompany us for move in and move out and I don't want to risk having to maneuver a heavy dolly up stairs by myself. (In May, during move out, the elevator in Craige North 'took a break' and we had to move everything down 3.5 flights of stairs. I can't even imagine going the other direction!)</p>

<p>If you do buy, definitely get separate components...much easier to transport. And do get a dolly. We keep one in storage in Carrboro with the rest of my d's belongings. Just in case you have elevator issues, it's important it can be a tall upright dolly in addition to a flat dolly.</p>