Second Fridge or Freezer at Home?

8 years ago

Do you have a second fridge or freezer in your home? How did you decide to make that move? Are they both in the house or is one in the garage?

Share your experience! (Photos encouraged)

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abbyjean

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

We have a second fridge and freezer in our lower level. Even though we are empty nesters right now, we still use both of them. Water bottles and juice and other beverages are in the fridge, along with some holiday desserts right now. The freezer has the deer that was butchered earlier this year, and other meat that we buy when it goes on sale.

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Comments (147)

jmpjmp
8 years ago
We are designing a new kitchen. The fancier new built-in refrigerators don't adequately hold all we need plus it was difficult to locate one refrigerator for all purposes, so we are getting a 36" over/under for the work "triangle" area, and another 27" all frig tower to be nearer the dining areas. The latter will also take care of all beverage needs (except ice which will be in the over/under). We also have an older 27" inch tower all freezer just outside the mudroom in the garage to use for more extensive frozen storage. A little crazy but it works. Actually we are also keeping our old over/under unit in the garage to turn on when preparing for parties (outside or inside).
skmom
8 years ago
We are a family of seven, 3 teens and 2 preteens. I shop once a week and every other week is my bulk shopping trip. We have a side by side in the kitchen, a freezer over fridge in the garage, and a chest freezer in the basement for when we buy sides of beef... It is currently unplugged because we ran out of meat and haven't made the big purchase again yet, but hope to do so soon.
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Teresa S-j
8 years ago
We made a "demi-apartment" in the basement for one of our children. It is a studio area with kitchen counters, sink and a full fridge. She left home, but we kept the fridge. We are hoping to redo our main kitchen upstairs at some point and this will be particularly handy. In the meantime, we have a place to keep spare milk, juice, bread, etc.
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JudyG Designs
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
There are just the two of us now, and, like midmodfan, I shop often, so I don’t need extra space. I do have two beverage fridges, though; one in the wet bar and one in my husband’s card/pool room. I love both as one keeps my guests away from my kitchen and the other keeps his pals in a separate part of the house.

Which has made me stop and think of how many sinks I have in the house. YIKES! Kitchen sink, laundry room sink, wet bar sink, hubby’s game room sink, sink in the garage and 5 bathroom sinks. That’s ten sinks! How did that happen? I must not have been looking : > )
lindanorby
8 years ago
I have a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen, a small upright freezer in the basement, and an extra refrigerator in the basement, which I only run when I am having a party. You can't fit a frozen turkey in a side-by-side.
Laraine Clarke
8 years ago
I have a small chest freezer that is in the garage at the moment. I use it for extra bread and milk, bulk meat buys and surplus garden produce. I'm planning a new kitchen beginning in the next few weeks and I hope to build a pantry that will accommodate it.
vdathens
8 years ago
We have a side by side in the kitchen and in the laundry room we have a refrigerator and a freeze. I can't imagine how I'd manage without all three!
Diane Fairbanks
8 years ago
Back 30+ years ago, my family and I lived in the country, and I got tired of making frequent trips to the store for milk--we could go through 8 gallons in a week! So I had an extra fridge/freezer in the garage as well as an upright freezer, and a big side-by-side in the kitchen. Fast forward to now, and I have downsized to a fridge/freezer in the kitchen, and just a few steps away in the attached garage, I have a 14 CF chest freezer. It is not frostfree or an upright, but by golly, it is cheaper to run by far! Both fridge and freezer are stocked now; like so many others here, I buy meats, flours, nuts, on sale. I do rotate things, which is harder in a chest freezer than the uprights I had for so many years. This time of year, I also have my giant walk-in cooler AKA garage--very handy when cooking/baking huge amounts over the holidays! It keeps my soda pop cold--just above freezing--and I just have to remember to take things off the hood of my vehicle before backing out of the garage! Though, to be fair, I only forgot that the one time!
tencms
8 years ago
I don't have the excuse of a large family or living in the country, but we still have 2 fridges and one upright freezer and they're all 3 well filled. The second fridge in the laundry room looks horrible but it's still going strong. Over the summer, I found the original papers: it was purchased in 1986 by the previous homeowners and it's outlasted two "new" fridges in the 13 years we've lived here. When I purchased the last fridge, the salesman told me I could reasonably expect 6 years of service from my new fridge (middle-of-the road name brand) so I don't think I'll ever get rid of the old one chugging away in the laundry room! I might even give it a facelift as a reward for being so darn reliable. :)
23011gibertdrive
8 years ago
When my husband and I finished the basement of our new home we included a commercial-look stainless steel fridge and freezer into the wetbar area of our family room. It looks fabulous with the expresso colour cabinetry, granite surfaces and limestone tile walls. It was a great investment and allows us to store drinks, extra food, bulk items, etc.
cranberri99
8 years ago
No wonder why we Americans (assuming most commentators here are) consume more electricity than our counterparts around the world. Clearly the first question is, do I really need it?
KD
8 years ago
@tencms - My parents have an upright freezer in their basement that is quite possibly older than I am and still working fine. Probably horrible on the electricity bill relative to newer models, but you have to appreciate that kind of lifespan.
zphe
8 years ago
We have a chest freezer in the garage, attached to the house via the kitchen. The garage is really my extended pantry, too. If I had it to do over, I would get one free-standing refrigerator, and one free-standing freezer for my kitchen. And still keep the freezer in the garage.
Susan Stern
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I barely have room for a small fridge/freezer in my tiny cottage. I've thought of getting another one for the basement but then came Hurricane Sandy and I lost everything I had in the kitchen freezer/fridge so thought better of it. Eleven days without power puts a different spin on things. I agree with cranberri99 about the electricity. New energy-efficient models help but why add more if you don't have to.
amieda303
8 years ago
We have a free standing fridge freezer but needed more space to freeze cooked meals and frozen vegetables. So we bought an undercounter freezer in which we store raw meat and fish. Both are in the kitchen and perfect for our family of 3 people. Incase any one is thinking of buying an extra freezer I would recomend buying one which has got fewer freezer draws as the deep trays would hold more items.
bopbopballoon
8 years ago
wow....we have 3 fridges and 2 freezers.....and still scratch around for space when entertaining......the worst thing is that they always seem to be absolutely full!!
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Details Home Services
8 years ago
I'm an empty nester, and currently living alone. I have a full-size freezer and use it less now, but it's still important. I love to cook, and eat fabulously by buying great ingredients on sale (meats and seafood primarily). I also cook larger portions a lot, then freeze some. On a standard grocery budget, I always have a tremendous variety of good restaurant quality food to fit any mood.
Moe Golia
8 years ago
We have a second Fridge and it is in the basement. Our basement is finished and we have made the laundry room into a laundry room/kitchen. We also have a stove down there and during the holiday time, it is a lifesaver. We always make a ton of food and now everything can cooked at the same time and there is plenty of room between the two refrigerators to store leftovers.
tencms
8 years ago
@cranberri99: of course we could all make do without them if we had to but those of us who have them don't need to... at least yet. When my last child flies away from the nest, we'll downsize our energy consumption in more ways than one. For sure my hot water usage will decrease!! ;-)
foreverfarm11
8 years ago
I have an additional refrigerator and a couple freezers - we use the additional space for our catering as well as carrots/apples for the horses.
monika2024
8 years ago
Nope .. We bought a large enough (31 cubic feet) fridge/freezer so that we don't have to have both. I only buy organic foods, so fruits and veggies disappear within a week, and the meat is hardly ever on sale so we don't ever stock up- just enough for the week- week and a half.
genus2011
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Freezer in the kitchen!! We have a stainless steel/black Maytag with a very small freezer on bottom. Had an old fashioned Amana stand up freezer in basement which finally broke. I hated going down there everytime I needed something, so I was happy. I went out and bought 10 cubic foot black no frills deep freezer that fit nicely between the fridge and my cabinets. So EVERYTHING IS HANDY!!
Kari Zern
8 years ago
We added both a second fridge and freezer off our kitchen in a galley laundry/office space. LOVE THEM! Fridge is used mostly for beverages and overflow. Comes in handy for holidays and any time I'm making food up in advance for entertaining. Freezer stays full too with convenience foods, make ahead frozen meals, extra bread, etc. Both are Stainless Fridgidaire and on the medium size....We have them on opposite walls of the room, but are shown side by side.
cranberri99
8 years ago
Kudos Monika2024. And I'm for the good folk who save the fruits of their gardening efforts in deep freeze -- root cellars are only practical for a few. Is keeping a $350/year energy hog full of frozen pizzas a lifestyle I want? I will admit it is tempting, teenagers and such. But can we pass along a manner of living that is a little lighter on the earth? This coming from a long time oil and gas person who sees what we do to provide the energy to power our cozy habitats.
monika2024
8 years ago
cranberri99- that is what I don't understand, people bulk up on crap "food" .. if you look at the ingredients it's not food- its a science experiment!! No wonder it's soooo cheap and always on sale versus the good food hardly ever being on sale and so pricey.. Like anything in life you get what you pay for, but in this case it's sad cause people think they're getting good deals thus needing the extra energy hogs.
shirleenprescott
8 years ago
I posted earlier-have three refrigerators and two dedicated freezers. After reading the comments I am reevaluating the 5th unit and plan on taking everything out and unplugging. We have become hoarders/my husband is still eating peas frozen by his mother 9 years ago- claims they are still better than store bought. Rather than keeping beverages cold 24/7 will now serve them over ice. Thanks to everyone who addressed the issue of energy conservation- I never thought of my lifestyle as wasteful-until today. I personally love that the beverages-alcoholic and non-alcoholic were kept outside. Having to walk outside to get a drink makes one think twice.
hilltop1155
8 years ago
We have a regular frost-free refrigerator-freezer in our kitchen, and that freezer holds frequently-used items like hash browns and hot dogs. The bulk of our wild fish/game and long-term frozen items are in an old-fashioned non-frost-free upright freezer in the garage, just outside the mudroom for quick access. The garage location makes it easy to defrost the refrigerator, which we do at some point before the next hunting season, when it is emptiest.

Some people aren't aware that frost-free freezers continually defrost (slightly) and then refreeze the contents, which accelerates dehydration and locker-burn. This is why we don't keep items in the kitchen freezer that need to stay there for more than a month or so.
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David Clough Construction Company
8 years ago
We have a pantry with a second fridge and freezer....but we also have 6 kids.
Gigi Nephew
8 years ago
We have always had a separate freezer in the garage. When we recently got a new refrigerator, we placed the old one in the garage. With our 'lovely' Midwest cold temperatures, we place our water bottles and other liquids (as well as food) in the second refrigerator and now those water bottles won't freeze solid (and in the summer, there is always a cool drink handy from the garage when working outside.
sandkshouse
8 years ago
Refrigerator in the kitchen with a second refrigerator in the laundry room. With a family of 5 that doesn't eat out much, we need the room. There is also an under cabinet fridge in a wet bar in the basement which is mostly used by teenagers.
herbiewenn1
8 years ago
We live in a hot climate and in summer you can't keep anything fresh out, we use to have fridges and freezers in the garage but hated the inconvenience of not having them in the house. Also it took a lot of valuable space up in our garage. We bought, for our extension, two pigeon pairs and a wine fridge and love it. I had so much space over Christmas, three hams a turkey, deserts and all the other goodies were not a drama. Our freezers are also well used! Great for freezing curries and left overs. I love the space, it has changed the whole feel of our kitchen and made life so much easier. No need to cram things in anymore! If you have the room and you buy or grow a lot of fresh produce, I'm sure you would love it.
miniappleman
8 years ago
Have an additional medium chest freezer on lower level for the frozen "stuff to hold". That leaves the frig freezer open for frozen "needed stuff" that's used on a regular basis. Or to bring items up to the frig freezer just before we'll use them.
caroltee
8 years ago
Both! However, when we reno'd, my husband didn't want to be running 2 fridges all year long. So we bought a Miele 36" wide all fridge. It is fantastic how much it holds. (no this isn't a commercial for them). There are 2 fully wide vegetable/fruit drawers which I love. Any other fridge I've had I always ended storing most of my fruit or veggies on the regular shelves and it drove me nuts. They have 2 huge drawers for this and a deli drawer above it. The shelves can take large platters (which I also wanted for entertaining) and can seem to house everything for all the large meals at Christmas and New Years.
pkatzzz
8 years ago
Have a fridge/freezer combo in the garage for storing water bottles in the spring and summer, but most importantly, in the fall, for refrigerating the 800-1000 flower bulbs I normally order and receive in early fall from a tulip bulb wholesaler. As I live in the southern US with its shorter winters, the bulbs require 6-8 weeks of chilling before I can plant them. Otherwise they won't bloom. Also, no fruits or veggies can be stored in the same fridge as bulbs, as their proximity damages the food production process occurring inside the bulbs. But that's ok, the fridge is packed with bags of bulbs until I start planting in early December, typically several weeks before our first hard frost.

Do I baby my bulbs? You bet I do, and it's worth it every spring.
morgan932002
8 years ago
We have a fridge in the garage mainly for drinks and the extra freezer space. We use the fridge part more than the freezer.
olnk7
8 years ago
Our main fridge is beautiful but the icemaker takes half of it's freezer space. We have 2 kids and shop in Costco a lot - so our freezer is in the basement. May be I prefer to have fridge instead of freezer - I cook at home a lot and all my food don't fit in my fridge (but boys eat 4 times a day, you know, and sometimes at night too :)) )
tadvr
8 years ago
Have always had a chest freezer, guess it's a carryover from my folks growing up on farms, Always have a fresh bushel of NM green chile that needs to be put up each year. Also we freeze lots of containers of ice during hurricane season, to have in case the power goes...
gojovick
8 years ago
We have always had an extra fridge in our basement as well as a freezer. I looked in to the cost of running the basement fridge full time and because it was a very old fridge, the cost was really high. We now only put it on for parties and Christmas etc. we have also turned off our freezer as we spend four months in Arizona and it isn't worth running the freezer. I have even gone one step further. When we go to Arizona for the winter I give all my food and condiments to my children and turn the fridge off. It doesn't see sensible to run a fridge for four months to keep the ketchup and salad dressing cold. As you can probably tell we are retired so don't really have to stock up on a lot of food. Do look into the cost of running fridges just to keep juice and soda cold - you might be surprised at the cost.
Alyssa S
8 years ago
With no garage and a damp/wet basement we don't have the space. Extra freezer space would be nice. I guess right now, I could just put stuff out in the snow. Not sure when we'll be above freezing here in New England.
Kelli Culpepper
8 years ago
number30, we are living on the edge. Hubby built an open shed that attaches to the carport - we have one there. Totally works. It's cold here too, 30 today but 50 on Saturday. Fridge is very handy - nice cheap one from Sears.
Jill Obermire
8 years ago
I find having 2 refrigerators is a huge help, especially around the holidays. We have one in the kitchen and another in the garage. The garage fridge mostly contains drinks and "storage" for food that keeps longer, as well as overflow from the kitchen. Hope this helps!
Chris Byrne
8 years ago
We're planning a smallish retirement home, and it will have a refrigerator of modest size and a small separate freezer. I finally gave in to the realization that even in retirement I am still going to buy meat in bulk, make way too much soup to eat in one sitting, and want a place to freeze the hoped-for summer surplus tomatoes and fruit. The freezer will be a petite upright with internal drawers and will live in an over-sized laundry room (which will also serve as a craft room/wire jewelry studio).
I expect the fridge will be a challenge around the holidays, but am trying to 'right size' so I am not refrigerating more cubic inches than I need the other 11 months of the year.
kikiandkyle
8 years ago
We used to have a small fridge built in to our European kitchen back in the day, but bought a large upright one once we had a child. We kept the small one and used it for liquor storage!
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SoCal Contractor
8 years ago
Many of our recent kitchens have a drawer type refrigerator under the counter, always one in the bar and if you like to get pasture meets you probably need a deep freezer in the garage. I say as much as you need, sometimes a few small ones work better than two huge ones.
Janet Cartwright
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
We are empty nesters and currently, we have a secondary refrigerator in the garage and a small upright freezer in the pantry. That is all changing as we are building a net zero energy home. I've had to be tough with myself over how much space & energy I think I need. Soon, there will only be a 10.2 cubic foot chest freezer and a standard size refrigerator. Like other commenters, we also store game meat. Would most people agree or disagree that having extra refrigeration is more a tendency of those who live rural and suburban? I'm curious to know if this question sort of differentiates the population we live in. It might be a good idea for us to keep the secondary fridge and store it unused in the barn for holiday use...
mlfrancisco
8 years ago
Would love to know the sizes (cubic ft) of all the main fridge/freezers to see if a second is warranted. We are remodeling & doing 30" counter depth fridge & 30" counter depth freezer. Will double my current freezer space http://vimeo.com/m/13582349
Connie Bundy
7 years ago
A number of folks have mentioned a refrigerator or freezer in the garage. Please remember to check the specs. Appliances are intended to be in temperature-controlled spaces. You are wasting electricity by putting them in a space that is not heated/cooled. And, it isn't good for the life of the appliance.
Elise
7 years ago
It also depends on whether your garage is insulated or not and how extreme your climate fluctuations are. Most newer appliances are well insulated and can protect from moderate temperature fluctuations outside of the appliance. Once your outdoor temperature drops to freezing levels, do not expect a small refrigerator to function efficiently. Also a freezer needs to be shielded from outside heat fluctuations over 80 degrees or it will also not function efficiently either.
Christopher Kawaja
6 years ago
Awesome reasons! Here's a summary of the top 11 reasons why people have second fridges. Definitely a growing trend! https://bigchill.com/news/the-11-surprising-reasons-for-a-second-fridge-and-1-warning-big-chill/
Donna Hurst
6 years ago
Yes, One extra refrigerator and two freezers (uprights) located in the garage. We're moving next month so they'll relocate to a breezeway right outside the kitchen.

Second Fridge or Freezer at Home?

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