Anyone have any thoughts on mini fridges? D would like one that allows her to actually use freezer and fridge. She said many of her friends freezers froze closed and others it would either freeze the fridge or fridge the freezer.
Reviews point to a GE double door but it’s on the pricier side. If it functions as intended I don’t mind but does anyone have recommendations?
Definitely go with the 2 door. We found a good price at Home Depot. We’ve also rented from Collegiate Concepts. It is a microwave/fridge combo. It is the same price as buying a fridge but is all set up and waiting for you when you get there and then they take it at the end of the year. It saves having to move and store it.
I was leaning towards renting but she doesn’t travel far so dealing with it would not be much of a hassle.
She’s also near the kitchen (at least this year) so easy access to the microwave.
We’ve rented the fridge/microwave combo (it has separate freezer door). Agree with @vwlizard that having it all set up worth the money, and if/when your child does study abroad - no need to store fridge or microwave.
Edited to Add: Watching a parent drop the mini-fridge the family had brought to move in, breaking it and leading to anger/tears made us very grateful to have rented.
I just bought D22 a fridge as her friend already has a microwave and she is pretty sure she is staying in the dorms all four years rather than getting an apartment. She is close to home so getting it back and forth isn’t too bad. I looked at the HD in S23 college town thinking maybe we would just pick one up there after flying in. It was $70 more.
I had D23s shipped from our local HD to our home for $9 rather than dealing with the hassle of picking it up. I wonder what the price would be if I did our address and then ship to store in college town.
We rented while the S’ were in the dorm. First year for each. After that they moved into an apartment. Older S found a mini fridge on the curb before his senior year and moved it into his room. I tried to get H to leave it there when we moved him out, but H insisted we take it back home. It now sits unused and unplugged in our shed. We already have a full refrig/freezer in our shed plus a normal refrigerator in our kitchen AND a full stand up freezer in our pantry. For a household of 2 people.
Long story short - I wish I knew someone leaving for college who would take it off our hands. S says it works great.
Haha. You convinced me! (We do live 5 minutes away though).
Same.
If your kid is packed into a double or triple, consider the “Suprima Extra Height Mini Shelf Supreme” from DormCo. It is over 6 feet tall and assembles without tools. It is two feet wide and utilizes otherwise empty wall space with room for the fridge on the bottom plus 4 adjustable shelves above to hold a microwave and everything else.
We have that. I agree it is a great addition. It made a great pantry for them (a quad)!
Very solid and well worth the money.
I think really depends on the school. At two of my kids colleges (Rutgers, BU), microfridges were provided for free, couldn’t bring your own. We rented them at two other colleges (need to use the company provided), and I think my son’s roommate bought a fridge (colleges dictate the size), and my son brought a microwave (college dictated wattage). Some colleges allow you to bring a fridge, but only allow a microwave if it’s part of the microfridge rented combo. I guess my point it you might not have many choices.
There is a size limit, but nothing out of the ordinary. Otherwise we can get whatever we won’t so I was just asking if anyone had good experiences with any particular model.
Glad you have decided to rent! Really, this is the way to go. At my kids’ colleges, the fridge was in the room and on when we arrived. So much easier than schlepping it.
Another vote for renting. We made the mistake of buying. Total PIA to schlep back and forth, it did get dropped and badly dented on move in, and it spent most of the time living in our garage unused because D didn’t need it after sophomore year. We have a family member using it now and then it will be free cycled.
Rent to make life easier.
If you do decide to buy your own, double check with the res life guidelines. They often have limits on the wattage to avoid too much strain on their system.
Better then renting many many families give away perfectly good ones on buy nothing group and Facebook marketplace. We gave ours away to friends kids.
Well, not better as the argument for renting seems to be a logistical one.
But then you still have to haul it in and out. Even when my kids didn’t have cars they always made friends who would drive them home (even 12 hours away), so it was easier renting.
We are 3 miles away so not an issue in that sense.
Absolutely but it’s cheap and yes have to hall out but it’s free… Lol.