Mini Fridges?

[Jubilee8269]

I'm thinking of getting a mini fridge to hold my butters, oils and fragrance oils in. Since I live on the fifth floor right now and am in Texas my apartment can get really hot. I tried to keep it temp controlled with the air conditioner and fans running, but the closets still get hot enough for cans to burst if I keep them in there and I don't want the stuff to constantly melt or go rancid after one summer. Not when it's supposed to have a long shelf life. I was looking at Target since they deliver through UPS and can bring it straight to my door. I'm in a wheelchair for long distances and use a walker when I'm in my building to try and get some exercise for my legs. So getting one from the first floor to the fifth would be hard.

Has anyone else gotten a dedicated fridge to keep this stuff in? I can only get a dorm style one to use since it's an apartment, but it seems like a good idea. I've never bought a fridge though so the off topic part of this is....anyone know a reliable brand? What a good basic price is or if I'd be over charged for a crappy one?

 

[Quanta]

I'm thinking of getting a mini fridge to hold my butters, oils and fragrance oils in. Since I live on the fifth floor right now and am in Texas my apartment can get really hot. I tried to keep it temp controlled with the air conditioner and fans running, but the closets still get hot enough for cans to burst if I keep them in there and I don't want the stuff to constantly melt or go rancid after one summer. Not when it's supposed to have a long shelf life. I was looking at Target since they deliver through UPS and can bring it straight to my door. I'm in a wheelchair for long distances and use a walker when I'm in my building to try and get some exercise for my legs. So getting one from the first floor to the fifth would be hard.

Has anyone else gotten a dedicated fridge to keep this stuff in? I can only get a dorm style one to use since it's an apartment, but it seems like a good idea. I've never bought a fridge though so the off topic part of this is....anyone know a reliable brand? What a good basic price is or if I'd be over charged for a crappy one?

Do you or someone you know have a subscription to Consumer Reports? I'd start there. They have ratings for all kinds of appliances and will also be able to tell you which brands are generally reliable.

 

[Jubilee8269]

I don't, and I don't know that many people. My best friend is a housewife and my other one is disabled and taken care of by her parents. We don't do the decision making on many appliances and things like that. That's why I asked on here. I'll look into the cost of that though.

 

[Quanta]

I don't, and I don't know that many people. My best friend is a housewife and my other one is disabled and taken care of by her parents. We don't do the decision making on many appliances and things like that. That's why I asked on here. I'll look into the cost of that though.

They have a monthly subscription for $10, and you can cancel at any time. So you could get the $10 subscription, pick your fridge, and then cancel and you only paid $10.

 

[Jubilee8269]

That is great to know! I'll do a bit of shopping on the target website to look for ones in my price range and write down the brands then do that. Thanks!

 

[Quanta]

Also make sure you read customer reviews. The problem with customer reviews though is that most people leave a review a few days after they bought the thing so you have no idea what the long term reliability is. That's where Consumer Reports comes in. But what those customer reviews do tell you is things like, are the shelves sturdy? Does the door have decent storage capacity or is it really shallow? What about the unit's overall size? Is it easy to use all the space inside or is a lot of it wasted? So make sure you read both. If I remember correctly, when I had a subscription at Consumer Reports, they had a section on the page for each thing they reviewed for customers to leave reviews and talk about their own experience with the item being tested by Consumer Reports.

 

[glendam]

Not sure how many oils you have, mini fridges usually have limited space. My friend bought one for her office, and it mostly had room for drinks. So make sure you see the space inside. We have one that my husband bought when he was a bachelor and renting a bedroom, about 10 years ago, still works. It’s a Sanyo. We have it in our guest room. Here is a picture to give you an idea of the space inside

 

[Jersey Girl]

I don’t know if you have a Costco near you, but I just saw a nice mini fridge in my local Costco that was a nice size. Their products are (from my experience) top quality and they have a great return policy.

 

[Jubilee8269]

Not sure how many oils you have, mini fridges usually have limited space. My friend bought one for her office, and it mostly had room for drinks. So make sure you see the space inside. We have one that my husband bought when he was a bachelor and renting a bedroom, about 10 years ago, still works. It’s a Sanyo. We have it in our guest room. Here is a picture to give you an idea of the space inside

That is tiny inside. The problem is that my top shelf of my fridge is usually full of water bottles since I can't drink from open containers. I could always move the water bottles to the mini fridge them put my oils and butters in my regular fridge then. It would be a moving of space, and I'd be able to just refill the tiny one as it gets emptied. Instead of filling a full top shelf like I do now. I have a number of the reusable plastic ones that I wash after one use since I have to sanitize everything constantly cause of my immune system.

 

[Jubilee8269]

I don’t know if you have a Costco near you, but I just saw a nice mini fridge in my local Costco that was a nice size. Their products are (from my experience) top quality and they have a great return policy.

Does Costco deliver? I don't have a car or anyone to drive me. I use medical transporation to get around, and the cities local cab system for disabled people. They limit how much you can bring back from shopping to two bags that you can carry. I usually have to hang them on the back of my wheelchair.

 

[Quanta]

Does Costco deliver? I don't have a car or anyone to drive me. I use medical transporation to get around, and the cities local cab system for disabled people. They limit how much you can bring back from shopping to two bags that you can carry. I usually have to hang them on the back of my wheelchair.

They do. I've ordered from the Costco website several times although I have not bought an appliance from them yet. I just checked the website and looked at a few fridges, and they do deliver those. Make sure your apartment management knows it needs to be delivered to your door and not the management office. I lived in an apartment once where all packages were delivered to the office and we had to carry things back to the apartment.

 

[Jubilee8269]

Management won't take any packages here. There's a big sign on their office door saying all packages have to go to the tenants. If you're having furniture or anything delivered you have to let them know ahead of time and have the people check in with them then bring it up the big elevator during working hours. I have to get permission to have the mini fridge anyway since it's a bigger appliance so I'll talk to them about it next week. Thanks everyone who replied! I love having found this place. I think it's been about 6 years since I actually just...talked to people outside of doctor appointments. Everyone on here has been absolutely wonderful.

 

[VikingChick]

I second getting one from Costco. We’ve got one in our house that we had to get on a moments’ notice when our big one crapped out on us right before we were expecting company for Thanksgiving! (Don’t buy an LG fridge......) We had to quickly get something, so to Costco we went. That was over three years ago, and it’s now a drink fridge, but it’s still in use and still works great. The brand is Hisense.

 

[earlene]

A few years ago, I bought a pretty nice one at Walmart for my son, who was living in an RV at the time. It had a large freezer comparment (large for a mini-fridge), which was great for him as frozen foods was an important food option for him. Size of the entire unit is important, of course, but the internal size and DEPTH is also important if you will putting fat or tall bottles of oil in there.

My point is that when looking for the right one, don't only consider the cubic size of the interior, but also the depth & height and also the size or absence of a freezer compartment, if you want a freezer or not. AND if you do want a freezer, is it frost-free?

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to de-frost a mini-fridge freezer in a motel room so that I could actually use it while traveling, so it can be a real concern, those non-frost-free freezer compartments inside mini-fridges.

But even more important, often, is that they aren't always configured with enough room to even put a 1-quart container of milk into without having to remove the veggie bin (when there is one) or some of the wire shelf inserts.

 

[Jubilee8269]

Ya'll all have me thinking it would be better to have the mini fridge for my drinks fridge. Since I need them near me more, and keep my other stuff in my actual fridge. It's just gonna be keeping my aid from thinking she can cook with the stuff. I know the oils and butters for these sorts of products aren't food grade, but she refuses to wear her glasses or listen when it comes to some things. So it's gonna be drilling that into her head.

 

[earlene]

Ya'll all have me thinking it would be better to have the mini fridge for my drinks fridge. Since I need them near me more, and keep my other stuff in my actual fridge. It's just gonna be keeping my aid from thinking she can cook with the stuff. I know the oils and butters for these sorts of products aren't food grade, but she refuses to wear her glasses or listen when it comes to some things. So it's gonna be drilling that into her head.

Perhaps put a big label on the SOAP ONLY items before refrigerating would help. I use masking tape and a Sharpie marker to label things, whether they go in the fridge or elsewhere.

 

[Angie Gail]

Try this site for reviews: CNET

 

[Tara_H]

Perhaps put a big label on the SOAP ONLY items before refrigerating would help. I use masking tape and a Sharpie marker to label things, whether they go in the fridge or elsewhere.

Maybe a band of red electrical tape or something similar? If she won't wear her glasses then something obviously 'danger' that can be seen from a distance seems called for. (Assuming she's not red/green colour blind)

 

[Jubilee8269]

I've actually been color coding my soaping utensils so that she doesn't use them if I wash and let them air dry. And my washing sponges. Blue for soaping and green for food. I'm the colorblind one. Certain colors change to blue or grey for me and other colors to red or brown. So she's slowly getting used to the coding and making sure she doesn't mess up. Since I'm starting with melt and pour and getting used to that first I have her get used to everything while I buy the supplies and the mini fridge to switch everything around. Thanks. I wasn't sure about doing that in the fridge.

 

[Daisy]

Ya'll all have me thinking it would be better to have the mini fridge for my drinks fridge. Since I need them near me more, and keep my other stuff in my actual fridge. It's just gonna be keeping my aid from thinking she can cook with the stuff. I know the oils and butters for these sorts of products aren't food grade, but she refuses to wear her glasses or listen when it comes to some things. So it's gonna be drilling that into her head.

Buy some Red Electrical Tape and use it to seal the caps.
This way all you have to tell her is "do not use red taped stuff."
The tape is easy to peel off and is reusable