Mini fridge for dorm room ?

[kingdomkeeper]

What size ( as in cubic feet ) mini fridge do most students use for their dorm rooms ? . We have been looking at them in Costco one is 3.2 cu ft the other is 4.3 cu ft. I think the larger one hubby thinks the smaller. Opinions please. Thanks in advance.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Get the larger one if you can.

TP

 

[happygirl]

What size ( as in cubic feet ) mini fridge do most students use for their dorm rooms ? . We have been looking at them in Costco one is 3.2 cu ft the other is 4.3 cu ft. I think the larger one hubby thinks the smaller. Opinions please. Thanks in advance.

I think that depends on how much food they are going to be keeping.

 

[kingdomkeeper]

Well he will have a full meal plan but will be in an apartment style dorm residence. He will have access to a kitchen so hopefully will be making his own breakfast, snacks etc. He would like to keep drinks, water bottles , milk, butter, cold cuts, yogurt......as I type I am talking myself into the bigger one. Hubby still thinks smaller as the room probably isn't very big.

 

[disneymamato2]

If he is going to have a roommate then I would say the bigger one. My last couple years of college my roomate and I had two, I had a smaller one and she had a bigger one. We put the small one on top of the bigger one turned it up all the way and used it a freezer.

 

[Albort]

Honestly, id go with a smaller one, but do look on the inside to see what you can fit. Mine doesnt fit much, but i only use it to store drinks since if i put it in the big fridge, all the drinks will be gone within a day. If u cant fit it what you need on a daily basis, then go with the larger one.

another point i want to make on putting a mini fridge in a dorm room is that it would create a lot of heat, on hot days, easily push the room a good 5 degrees. I have one sitting right next to me and sometimes when u touch it, its very hot. I do have a personal AC since most of the electronics are in my room(TV, cable box, internet box x 2, 2 computers etc.)

Of course, if the Dorm room has a powerful AC system, then thats okay too.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What does the school suggest?
Do you have access to the floor plan,, complete with existing furniture?
How would the refrigerator get to the dorm? Who's carrying it?
Where will it stay over the summer? Who'll get it there and back?
Do you know that a refrigerator is needed?

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

What does the school suggest?
Do you have access to the floor plan,, complete with existing furniture?
How would the refrigerator get to the dorm? Who's carrying it?
Where will it stay over the summer? Who'll get it there and back?
Do you know that a refrigerator is needed?

Those are all very good questions. Some dorms already have a fridge or even a microwave firdge combo. Definatly find out what is already in the room, and what each roommate is expected to bring, maybe one brings a TV one brings the fridge etc. Don't buy anything till you know the answers to the above questions.

 

[RangerPooh]

Some dorms do not allow stduents to bring in appliances other than TVs, so having a minifridge might not work out. Have you toured the room yet or does your school have 360 vies of the room? If you have not toured the room then I would contatc the school to see what is/n't allowed and what they recommend.

 

[Art 1]

Ours have used both sizes over the years. Check the rules for your dorms.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

What size ( as in cubic feet ) mini fridge do most students use for their dorm rooms ? . We have been looking at them in Costco one is 3.2 cu ft the other is 4.3 cu ft. I think the larger one hubby thinks the smaller. Opinions please. Thanks in advance.

Are they the ones on-line by Danby? If so, the 3.1 is $50 off and has a freezer. I would get the one with the freezer.

How big is the room? Is your kid sharing a room? Will it be a shared frig?

My kids were lucky that the school provided a combo microwave/refrigerator in their freshman dorms. After freshman year they moved on to dorms with full kitchens. My kids always had a food plan so they used it basically for drinks.

Shared dorm rooms are tight so I wouldn't get something too big.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What size ( as in cubic feet ) mini fridge do most students use for their dorm rooms ? . We have been looking at them in Costco one is 3.2 cu ft the other is 4.3 cu ft. I think the larger one hubby thinks the smaller. Opinions please. Thanks in advance.

Varies from none (not allowed to bring your own fridge) to the bigger one. My advice is to wait and find out the rules of the dorm where she is staying before you purchase.

3 different colleges with 2 girls and first one was the 3.2, second was none (they provided the fridge & it was tiny).

My youngest just got back from a university dorm for a summer camp where they allow the big fridge. Now that was nice for sure. She labeled her room "WalMart Back Alley" and supplied cold drinks to friends.

 

[tvguy]

I echo the check with the school comments.
One school my son looked at only allowed a special microwave/fridge combo unit that you had to rent from the school. It was wired so only the fridge or microwave could operate, not both at once, because of wiring concernes in the dorm.

Both the ones you mention seem a little big to me. I had a 1 cubic foot one back in the day, and my kids has 1.5 cubic foot ones.

 

[clh2]

DD's dorms allow up to a 4.4 cu ft fridge. We are also going with the smaller one that thas the separate freezer.

DD will be much happier if she has a few Lean Cuisines in the freezer, and the freezers aren't big enough in the bigger fridges without the separate freezer.

 

[kingdomkeeper]

Hi op here thanks for all the responses. To answer your questions my son will be in a single room so the fridge is just for him, the university does recommend that the students bring a mini or bar fridge for their own use in their rooms. I have called and asked this question and they say anything up to 4.4 cu ft. There are no floor plans available for his room type just a quick 40 second video taken by a student which really is no help at all. We have been in a room similar to the one he will be having but that was early on in the year and of course at that time we didn't know what kind of room he would have or even if he was going to go to that university so no measurements were taken. Thanks again for the responses , I will try to phone them again tomorrow maybe I will get a more definite answer.

 

[zurgswife]

I also suggest to verify with your college they are different at every school.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I would think the most important opinion in this would be your son's, since he will be the one using it.

 

[luv2mickey]

Well he will have a full meal plan but will be in an apartment style dorm residence. He will have access to a kitchen so hopefully will be making his own breakfast, snacks etc. He would like to keep drinks, water bottles , milk, butter, cold cuts, yogurt......as I type I am talking myself into the bigger one. Hubby still thinks smaller as the room probably isn't very big.

Get the bigger if he is storing that kind of food, my daughter lived in an apartment style dorm with 3 other girls and they had a full size fridge and 2 of the girls still had small fridges and sometimes they didn't have enough room.

 

[cornflake]

Where is he going to buy that stuff? Does he know where the local market is? Has he budgeted for travel to it (depending on the school) and for groceries every week, since he's on a meal plan?

Like, keeping cold cuts and all sounds fine but is he going to use that stuff? How often is he going to be in the room and making lunch? That seems kind of odd.

That sounds like a huge fridge, the 4.whatever one, especially since his list would fit fine in the 1.5 type ones.

Also, are you going to want to drag something that big back and forth twice a year? That's a giant pain. Seems simpler to just get the small one for $50.

 

[Janepod]

It only needs to hold a case of beer.