Counter-Depth Refrigerators?

[wodehouse]

So, why are counter depth fridges so much more costly than a regular fridge? (comparing feature for feature)

It is very frustrating.

[Malarky]

Dumb question?

How deep are most fridges?

I live in a 120 yo house with a kitchen I designed 8 years ago. Not only does the fridge stick out, I was told "you measured wrong, no refrigerator comes in that size." Umm...yeah...it is that big.

[Deleted]

Jul 2, 2011 17:18:07 GMT -5 wodehouse said:

So, why are counter depth fridges so much more costly than a regular fridge? (comparing feature for feature)

It is very frustrating.

Supply/Demand and the fact that they can.

1. Supply/Demand: Small production runs are more expensive to do in manufacturing and engineering costs are not "distributed" across as many buyers, along with inventory costs, etc.

2. They can. They know people that MUST have this for older houses, etc. will pay the additional cost. The whole supply/demand taught in economics class is only somewhat true, there is another category that nobody wants to discuss and that is the "I can". Think of any product that supply is not limited (e-book), the author still charges the same $8/book, even though the costs to produce and deliver went way down (no risk with printing thousands of copies that could go unsold).

[Gardening Grandma]

I think tbird nailed the reason.
We have one - yes, we paid more for the counter depth. And we're pretty happy with it.

And I miss the old watermelons with seeds - they were so much sweeter. If we had the kind of weather they like, we'd grow our own....

[wodehouse]

I don't even really ~like~ the counter-depth frig, but that is pretty much what's required in the kitchen of this circa 1998 house. It's "the style". Just another example of the things that drove our society towards high spending and near bankruptcy. JMO.

[cubefarmer]

1967 house, galley kitchen - we had no choice. Dang thing cost more and doesn't hold much. We have a 2nd fridge in the garage.

[pinkbow832]

We had to buy a counter depth refrigerator a couple of years ago for our galley kitchen also. It was disheartening to spend about $800 more for essentially the same thing, but it's 29 inches deep vs the standard of 34-36 inches deep.

From what I understand, the technology to fit the smaller cooling unit in the refrigerator while maintaining the same amount of inside space is what drives the cost up. We bought an LG side-by-side and it's great, but the freezer seems small. Looking at he specs though, I think it was within 1 or 2 square feet of what the regular depth model.

[cubefarmer]

Are we going to talk about these gigantic washers and dryers they sell now and how those monsters don't fit in my 1967 house either?

[wodehouse]

My current frig (probably the house's original frig) is a standard counter depth GE (meaning "not a built-in type") tucked into a cabinet space in the kitchen. It's really an awkward orientation from the get-go...some kitchen designer not thinking of practicality (I don't blame the frig itself). Because of how it has to be located you can't open the freezer door more than about 90°, which means you can't easily pull out the shelves and ice drawer for cleaning. I really hate not being able to easily clean a frigerator. The arrangement seems to be pretty common even now for new houses. Beauty over practicality. I enjoy beauty but I also appreciate practicality.

I'm thinking that I really want one of those French Door frigs. Two frig doors on top and freezer drawer on bottom. But my engineering mind thinks that the complex sealing on the mating doors is prone to failure ("failure" is a term we engineers use to describe when things go awry for whatever reason...like the door seal mechanism doesn't seal properly, breaks, or otherwise costs me money on a continuing basis). If that's the case, why not just go with a single door bottom freezer?

However, I will have to do an incredibly extensive and precise array of measurements and layouts to make certain that a French Door frig will fit and allow the one frig door to open and also allow the freezer drawer(s) to open fully. I will probably make a mockup out of cardboard and then take it to the store for trial-fitting (more engineer-speak). OTOH, the precise measuring will probably be required just as well with a new side-by-side.

[wodehouse]

cubefarmer: Those huge honkin' washer/dryer sets are that tall typically because they're mounted on a matching steel base about 12"-18" tall (and provides drawers for storage). Without the base they aren't much taller than the old "standard" sizes. ...although I do think that some of them are a bit taller, like the LGs. Our new GE Harmony top loader is about 1" taller than "normal".

[cubefarmer]

We need counter depth washers and dryers - or we can't open the back door or the door to the back stairs.

[wodehouse]

Oh, wow, that's a bummer. Do they even make such things?

Well, actually, I'm thinking they do. It seems that I've seen kitchen/laundry room set-ups in high-end stores that had an undercounter washer (Bosch?), and we even looked at a house that had this. Again, they're probably more expensive than the "plain janes".

[Gardening Grandma]

When we got our front loading wadher/dryer, I opted not to get the pedestal. For one thing, I suspect it's another marketing ploy. For another, it would have raised them so high that the top would not be reachable for any practical purpose. (I stack folded items there as I take them out of the dryer). And, the total height isn't all that much more than the old set. Maybe because they are Bosch, they are a bit smaller than other front loaders. I didn't need a ginormous set

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jul 2, 2011 17:18:07 GMT -5 wodehouse said:

So, why are counter depth fridges so much more costly than a regular fridge? (comparing feature for feature)

It is very frustrating.

For the same reason that if you order 3 custom printed T shirts it costs $150. They don't make as many.

[pig]

They are higher and wider than most fridges. Therefore, they cost more to manufacture = higher price.