Refrigeration Mistakes You Don’t Know You Are Making

If you’re purchasing new appliances, you’re probably reading online reviews, asking your friends for their advice, and learning all the manufacturer specs. But you’ve probably seen a lot of buyer’s remorse and comments from people wishing they had bought something different. Wouldn’t it be great to learn all the nightmares to avoid upfront so they don’t happen to you?

In this post, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’ll show you the common and uncommon pitfalls and refrigeration mistakes in every category, from starting a project to delivering without the several different types of damage that can happen in your home.

SEE ALSO: LG Counter-Depth Max: Should You Buy it?

Counter-depth, built-in and integrated refrigerators are some of the most popular appliances for designing better kitchens. In this post, you’ll learn the difference between all three and some of the most common mistakes others experience while shopping for these refrigerators.

Counter-Depth Mistakes

Counter-depth is better looking than a standard refrigerator because you don’t see those stylish, black textured sides protruding in your kitchen. Only the doors protrude, and that is an important distinction. Later, in this post, when we talk about built-in and integrated refrigerators.

However, when you buy a counter-depth, you’re cutting the cubic footage from 26 to 30 cubic feet of a standard depth to 19 to 24 cubic for a shallower style. Meal prep store food and have a large family, so it might not be enough. Also, think of the food shortages when everyone was stocking up during the pandemic, the most popular items, actually, the only appliances we were selling, were freezers and garage fridges for extra storage.

READ ALSO: The Best Temperature For Your Fridge and Freezer

An easy way to have both capacities with the look of a counter-depth is to place the refrigerator at the end and build an enclosure to cover the sides for a counter-depth look if you can. Freestanding counter-depth is just a less deep regular refrigerator. Almost every manufacturer markets this type, starting at $1500 to $5,000 is by far the least expensive.

Don’t Buy The Wrong Style

Freestanding refrigerators offer a ton of different options, with French doors, drawers, and four doors, along with computer screens and windows. So cheaper doesn’t mean less interesting. The other two types average $10,000-$ 15,000 so you probably won’t make the mistake of confusing the other two. But integrated versus built-in is another problem because most people don’t know what they’re looking for until it’s too late.

So let me break it down for you. A built-in has a compressor on the top. It’s also a counter-depth, meaning the door protrudes like the free-standing models. Built-ins are available in 30 and 36 inches, but also the larger sizes of 42 and 48 inches. An integrated refrigerator fits within the cabinet, so won’t be able to distinguish the refrigerator from the adjacent cabinets, along with the standard 30 and 36-inch widths that are also available in smaller sizes of 18 and 24 inches.

So you combine two different widths for the larger size, but which style do you buy?

Which Style Should You Buy?

It really depends on which one is right for you. You’ll be able to store more in a larger 42 and 48-inch built-in, especially the new SKS and Sub-Zero 48-inch French door models. You also have more selections and colors with 1000 from BlueStar and twelve colors and six hinge combinations of a True.

You can see into a built-in refrigerator with glass doors from a True and a Sub-Zero. The integration is more flexible. You can place the refrigerator and freezer anywhere, and you have more combinations in the popular 36-inch models with French door and double drawer combinations. Both integrated and built-in can be paneled, but the integrated will look better with panels because it is indistinguishable from your cabinets.