<p>I need to buy a 4.5 cubic ft or less energy star dorm fridge for DS. Any suggestions on
which brand/model to buy or avoid?</p>
<p>I was just looking for one for D2 and decided to wait until move-in day (in 9 days). I decided to wait because she will need to evaluate with her roomie the amount of space that they have available for the fridge. A 4.5 cubic ft refrigerator could take up a lot of room in a small dorm room.
In any case, reviews for Haier Brand 4.5 cubic ft fridge look really good (available at Home Depot).</p>
<p>Sears has a Kenmore, 3.1 energy star dorm fridge with a separate freezer door that my daughter used for 4 years and sold to a friend. It was plenty large enough for 2 girls to share food.</p>
<p>I had a fridge that size from lowes that was taller and skinny, and had a separate freezer. It worked out great and had a smaller footprint that the smaller more squat fridges</p>
<p>When D moved in freshman year, her RM had already gotten a fridge, but they realized later they should have rented from the vendor who serviced the school, because the vendor sold a combination fridge-microwave that was approved by the school. So if all your child needs is a fridge, get a fridge, but you might also want to check out what’s available via rental.</p>
<p>S just bought a compact Fridgidaire at Best Buy. It was one of the cabinet height type with a capacity in the 3.5-4.4 range. Single exterior door. I can’t recall the exact price, but it was around $140. I wanted to find one with a separate freezer door on the exterior, but the only ones they had also devoted a lot of door space to one of those can dispensers, and he wouldn’t use it so it would be wasted space. He reports that the freezer works really well, despite only having an interior door. The foot print of this type is essentially the same as one of the cubes, so unless you need to fit it underneath something the additional height would make little or no difference in most rooms.</p>
<p>Although a rental is not cost efficient, it is one last thing you have to store next summer and buy this summer.</p>
<p>They said at orientation that they got out of the rental business for fridges long ago and they were sold at stores close by. So renting is not an option.:)</p>
<p>Haier…we have had one since 2003 that is still working just fine.</p>
<p>We also bought a Haier at Costco and used it for our main fridge for about 7 years- it still works, but I thought it would be nice not have to bend over to get at the milk.</p>
<p>I know renting would make things alot easier but I just can’t choke down the idea of paying $225/year for something we have to return. We’re going to buy a fridge from Walmart or Best Buy and do the free store pick up. Kiddo will figure out something for summer storage I’m sure.</p>
<p>4.5? Is the student majoring in Culinary Engineering 
?</p>
<p>My older one has a 2.5-2.6 Sanyo from Costco which did her well for 1 year in the dorm (other roomie had one too) and now is in her apartment (all 4 girls have their own fridges as well as the apartment fridge). 3.1 would be nice to have and some schools are even have restrictions on size…</p>
<p>Walmart has a sale going on this week. The traditional tiny 1.7 cu ft from Black and Decker or Hamilton Beach is only $64. Now I hate to shop at Walmart, but that is a good deal.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder. I better add this to the shopping list ASAP. You’d think on the third kid I’d remember all of this!</p>
<p>@turbo - 4.5 is the max size they allow.
I doubt he will need one that big. DS is not a big guy and doesn’t eat much however there are a couple days that when I look at his schedule I’m trying figure out when he will have time to eat.</p>
<p>If they allow a 4.5, could a George Foreman grill be far behind?</p>
<p>(Several colleges specifically listed the GF grill by name in the what not to bring to the dorm list… :))</p>
<p>I ended up buying one for D2 at Walmart - a Black and Decker 3.3 cubic feet for $129. A word of warning: I noted before I left the store that the boxes in which the refrigerators came were in really bad shape. I picked the best box that I could find and when I took it out of the box in D2’s dorm it had a very large dent on the bottom. Given that it worked and the fact that I had destroyed the box, I did not take it back. I would, therefore, recommend that parents/students check the condition of the fridge before leaving the store.</p>
<p>I hear Best Buy has a microwave and refrigerator bundled for $109.98 and free delivery to the dorm.</p>
<p>My son bought one off of Craigslist for about $50. We didn’t care about the brand because he wasn’t going to need it more than a year or two. He sold it at the end of the year for $25 to a student who lived locally who made money buying and reselling old fridges.</p>