When I lived in San Francisco in my 20s, I lived a more European lifestyle even though I had a regular sized refrigerator. I never kept a lot of food or ingredients in the house and I bought things just before I was going to cook them. It helped having a vegetable/fruit market across the street, but then everything was very close and convenient. And of course there were corner delis everywhere.

Lars

We shop that way. Yes, we do have some things in the freezer. but a lot of our shopping is just stopping at the market on our way home each day. It's rare that we plan/shop too far in advance, more than a day or two. It is what it is. ;-)

The only good thing about a small fridge is that it makes you much more likely to finish up any leftovers before purchasing more food. You also learn to put things in the smallest possible container.

My fridge is 10 years old and it sure better last at least another ten years for what it cost.

What kind of fridge did you buy?

I ordered a True T-23-2.

23 cubic feet of refrigerator, 23'' wide shelves, a 1/3 HP compressor, made in the USA, and I hope it lasts a good long time.

My late, unlamented Frigidaire side-by-side had 14 cu ft of refrigerator, narrow shelves, and a 1/6 HP compressor.

Of course, I'll have to use the basement freezer until I figure out which freezer unit to get. Before buying the freezer, I need to get this first unit in the house and see if SWMBO has a cow. She was initially quite skeptical (''what do you mean, no butter compartment? and just how noisy are we talking?'') but she also likes the idea of a American-made machine.

It is too tall for the existing refrigerator alcove, so I had to remove the overhead cabinet. When the freezer is added, the pair will be too wide for the alcove. Basically I have to do some remodeling. Unless a calf is birthed in my kitchen, in which case I'll be trying to sell a lightly used True.

Sorry, can't be too sympathetic. I lived for 7 years with a simple boat refrigerator that was smaller than a bar fridge, then lived another 4 years with a bar refrigerator only. I then upgrade to the smallest apartment refrigerator on the market. We have a full size now. It's usually half empty. Refrigeration is overrated (though I admit I borrow my neighbors' refrigerators when I have a huge yearly party).

I know. I'm ashamed. I can't help myself. I - sniff - miss having ample refrigeration. Though I don't miss the cursed dead thing that still sits on the back stoop, reeking of R134, waiting for the recyclers.

I've always had a full size fridge , but shopping daily for meals is just a preferred way of life for me. Something I have been doing all my life.

Even on work days I shop either on the way to work or on the way home.

Ann

Local bar has one of those nice stainless fridges. Girls complain because the door suctions shut. Other then that it seems to be a nice machine.

In college I had a room with no fridge... used the window ledge in winter months to keep eggs and butter cool.

My current fridge keeps the beer very cold and crisp.

: )
lyra

John, the new one's a beauty! I am also experiencing refrigeration claustrophobia because I have ants and can't leave anything out. I am using it as an excuse to live on takeout. Around here, I can usually order food for almost as cheap as I can cook it. I hope the new one gets hit with an unprecedented wave of delivery-company expediency. In the meantime, perhaps a room-temperature party is in order: good bread, red wine, aged cheese and sausage?

Ants! We have them too. Drives me nuts. Ant ''traps'' do nothing. Spraying noxious stuff on the counters does nothing. Assiduously wiping up every crumb does nothing. We're going to call an exterminator.

Takeout for the family, here, is not all that cheap. Maybe $40. Not something I want to do nightly. And arm-wrestling old ladies for the last parking place at the grocery store, every evening, is growing old.

I'm pretty much in a cooking drought. Maybe the refrigeration situation is just an excuse - it probably is. But the food around here has become very basic. Broiled spareribs, seared salmon, boiled couscous, steamed bok choy - anything that takes less than 15 minutes. I'm going to get the crockpot out and start using that.

The big fridge is in! I'm feeling wasteful and profligate again!

The bad:
- Had to remove the overhead cabinet to fit the 84'' tall unit. No biggie, just gets me going on the kitchen remodel anyway.
- I need to buy some more shelves and some plastic tubs to organize the inside
- Noisy! Which I knew it would be. When I build the fridge surround, I'll include noise dampening. If worst comes to it, I'll have the compressor remoted to the basement below.
- 300 lb to move into the house. I had to build some wood ramps and enlist some neighbors.
- Energy consumption will be 2X an Energy Star residential fridge.

The good:
- Lots of room! 23 cubic feet of cold.
- Lots of power! 1/3 HP compressor. When I started up the fridge, it pulled internal temp from 75F to 40F in 10 minutes. Admittedly it was empty.
- I like the look.

Gorgeous.

Nothing like a wonderful new appliance.

Annj

That is one sexy refrigerator. Wowza.

Expensive refrigerator,( cheap meat grinder.) :-)

Sexy indeed! Is it that noisy? Looks like there is room around the alcove on the walls to line with acoustic panels.

Use 3/4" to 1" thick panels will drastically cut down the noise.

dcarch

She's sexy, but she's frigid. Frustrating combo.

The setup you see is temporary. I'm going to tear out all the drywalled alcoves on that wall and replace with painted wood built-in cabinetry. Where the refrigerator is now, will be a fridge surround with the refrigerator next to an undercounter freezer, with a little bit of counter above the freezer and then maybe a microwave shelf above. I will include as much sound dampening as is practical, on the back, sides, top, and floor of that space. Hopefully that will quiet things down, but if not I'll remote the compressor.

I am wondering if the thermostat needs adjusting. It seems to hold closer to 40F than 32F, even with the ''coldness'' control turned up. I'm going to see how things go after there's food inside.

One thing about buying commercial stuff is, the warranty is void if it is used in a residence, and it is hard to find a repair service who will come to your home (their insurance is usually only for working in commercial places). So I bought the sexy frigid beastess knowing that I'll have to learn at least minor refrigerator repair/maintenance.

You may want to rethink your idea of tearing down the sht rock alcove.

Gypsum wall board has a very high STC rating in isolating noise, much higher than wood cabinets.

Noise control is a very specialized and tricky business. Depending on whether it is air borne noise or structural borne noise, and the frequency spectrum of the noise, remedies need to be custom designed.

Is that stainless steel magnetic?

dcarch

The front is magnetic stainless. The sides are not magnetic.

Most of the noise comes from the bottom, where the compressor is. I cannot seal off the front of the compressor, but I can at least try to absorb some of the soundwaves reflecting from the floor and walls. There is also a rising and falling ''chatter'' sound when the compressor is running, so I am going to see if something is loose and vibrating down there. I can, if needed, stick sound-deadening mat to the inside of any un-insulated panels. Do you have any ideas for things I can try?

A commercial refrigerator is designed to keep the Health Department happy, and to keep things cool even the doors are opened and closed every few seconds. Noise comfort is not a design criterion.

The main issue here is the compressor venting thru the front grill. The entire compartment around the compressor acts as an echo chamber. A few things to look for as a start:

1. Make sure the metal band which secures the compressor for shipping is removed.
2. Check and see if there is anything loose and banging against anything, such as wiring and refrigeration lines.

Regarding a rising and falling ''chatter'' sound:

It means to me there is a sympathetic vibration generated by something. There are only two moving parts in the compressor compartment, i.e. the fan motor and the compressor. The fan blade can be off-balance. If you feel that the fan is making the chatter, you can experiment with putting duct tape on one or two blades to re-balance the blades. The compressor is permanently sealed. There is nothing you can get to inside. Since sympathetic vibration is a function of tension and mass, you can try adjusting one of the mounting screws to the rubber mounting pads. Finally, adding some weight to any other suspected vibrating parts will eliminate the vibration.

Remoting the compressor is extremely expensive. I think it may cost you more then the refrigerator. I am not sure this unit is designed to operate with a remote compressor.

Since there is seldom a need for you to move the unit, you can replace the castors with one-inch thick rubber pads to eliminate any vibration to the floor, which can set up what is known as "flanking noise" to the structure.

Finally, a kitchen is the most important room for the family, if the noise condition is an unbearable unpleasant situation for the next ten years or more, a drastic way to deal with it without returning the unit is as follows.

Since you don�t have a warranty anyway:

Blank off the front panel and let all ventilation go to the back of the refrigerator by cutting openings wherever feasible. This will completely reduce the airborne noise coming from the front.

This is a very drastic way, I repeat, drastic, that can be done with a $30.00 angle grinder with a metal cutting blade in less than an hour. Make sure you don't cut into the refrigerant lines and electric cables.

dcarch

Wow! Can we see the inside?

I hope you get the temperature issue resolved.

Lee

Thanks, dcarch. I will tackle the noise when the fridge is ready to go into it's permanent location. Right now, I'm actually getting used to it.

People get acclimated to stuff. When I was a kid, we moved to El Segundo, a town directly beneath the glidepath for LAX airport. I couldn't believe how low and loud the planes were, as they descended over my high school. A few months later, I was on the tennis court and looked up to serve. The belly of a 747 was directly overhead, gear down, flaps deployed, feeling for the runway. I could not hear the plane at all. My mind had learned to block out jet noise.

Not that Big Shiny Fridge sounds like a 747, but . . . when we first turned it on, I had my doubts.

Here is a blurry picture of the inside. We are still figuring out how to organize BSF so that little things don't get lost and the ''back'' part is used. Right now everything is pulled up to the front of the shelves. I'm going to add another two shelves and a couple more food pans of different sizes. The pans you see are 18'' deep x 12'' wide X 2'' or 6'' deep; there is currently one each for meat, veg, and cheese. SWMBO wants a shelf that is only about 2'' high, so that there will always be a place for sheet trays of cookies or hors d'oeuvres in the midst of prep. If I can figure out how to make some ''rollout shelves'', that would really be ideal.

The inside is wonderful and I'm so glad to be able to infer that SWMBO likes BSF too! I like that you've given it a name, and again by inference, a personality. BSF definitely sounds strong and with presence and a little humor too.

And yes, the brain can definitely adapt to the environment, but I've wondered if the noise level is high enough that you have to talk at a higher volume.

Lee

No, it doesn't affect conversation. During the day, when people are running in and out, playing music, slamming doors, stepping on cats, the refrigerator noise isn't obtrusive, and is getting less so every day. If I come down to the kitchen at night, when things would ordinarily be quiet and still, then BSF's humming or purring or thrumming still seems pretty loud. If I could reduce it just a bit, that would be nice, doesn't need to be a lot.