Why are refrigerators so large?

Question

What happened? Weren't they much smaller back in the 60s? Do single people really need to hold that much food? Won't all that food just go bad? Is there a current trend due to the enviro movement for refrigerators to get smaller, or has the recent housing boom caused manufacturers to make even bigger refrigerators? Are grocery stores and refrigerator makers owned by the same investors, who share a bond for larger profits?

Answer 1

Really. I know, because a New York Magazine info-article for Sub-Zero's new Pro 48 behemoth says so, and directs you to a shop where this marvel can be yours for only $14,936. So what if it costs more than some cars? Nobody ever promised that kitchen design solutions would be achieved without sacrifice.



It's not a conspiracy. You can buy a refrigerator in just about any size you want. If you shop online at Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com) you can find compact refrigerators starting from 1.7 cu. ft. Buy one, if you don't feel the need to stock up against the next visitation of inclement weather or hungry teenagers.



Of course the compact refrigerator doesn't really do anything except keep things cold, and it makes no statements about your lifestyle, packrat tendencies, fondness for leftovers or late-night snacking habits. It will not serve you water, ice or other beverages through front-of-the-unit dispensers. It does not have a sophisticated "temperature management system" available in some models, and cannot provide the Ingredient Care Center which one of Best Buy's 27.8 cu. ft. models promises. You would be the best judge of whether you require kitchen appliances capable of babysitting your condiments and vegetables, naturally.



If you want a fashion statement, ice water on tap, food nanny and diet-snitch (some refrigerators are equipped with alarms to sound when the door is open), you're going to have to pay a penalty in space, money and an alarming increase in your monthly electricity bill. I don't know that it's worth taking out a second mortgage just to have all this convenience and living-system chic, but I'm willing to be persuaded. I checked out the website of the Sub-Zero Company, which is the Cadillac of the keeping-stuff-cool manufacturers. You can do the same thing....they're at www.subzero.com. But let me just tell you a few of the things I learned:

This is no mere refrigerator maker. Sub-Zero designs and builds the world's premier preservation appliances. Take that, Frigidaire! Sub-Zero was founded in 1943 by Westye F. Bakke, a Madison WI businessman who had "a keen ability to anticipate post-WWII refrigeration needs. (It's historic. It's patriotic. It's a weird name.) Sub-Zero's early cachet depended on its revolutionary built-in refrigerators, which "changed the future in kitchen design by fitting within surrounding counter and cabinet space." (Before this revolution, we had that problem with refrigerators who just would try elbowing the surrounding counters out of the way.) Sub-Zero continues to dominate the Preservation Appliance field because they offer "innovative, aesthetically appealing and technologically advanced solutions to meet virtually any home refrigeration need." Gosh, all this plus the keep the six-pack cold. Sub-Zero invites you to "browse our entire line of preservation products," but I headed straight for the top, and found the page about their marvelous new Pro 48 Refrigeration. Sure enough, it is a marvel. The product description for the Pro 48 Integrated Refrigerator is almost poetic:

"Born of 100% steel (and a good bit of bravado), the Pro 48 is a true masterpiece of preservation. Its sculpted metal, dual refrigeration and advanced controls marry performance and design in a bold new way."



So the choice is up to you. You can buy a dinky, boring little compact refrigerator which does almost nothing except refrigerate, or you can join hands with forward-thinking lifestyle revolutionaries and march boldly into the future.



Or you can buy nothing at all, and just eat out.

Answer 2

Having dealt with a bunch of old refrigerators, I've found that we've had refrigerators of about this size (36") since at least the early 70s if not back into the 60s. Most kitchens have a place already set aside for the refrigerator when the room is roughed in, and it's set up for that standard refrigerator.



Older refrigerators were in fact smaller, but that had more to do with the expense of building one and the inefficiency of the machinery than because people actually wanted less food in the house.



There are other factors contributing to big fridges. One is better preservation. You can keep a lot of foods in the refrigerator for a long time. Why not load up on things on a single run to the store? When your milk expired in a week you'd have to go more often, but now that we can keep milk for almost a month with UHT pasteurization, we don't have to go to the store every day.



That's too bad, since it means we're less likely to buy fresh meat and fresh vegetables. But frozen meats and other products really came into their own in the early 60s, and a big freezer meant a big refrigerator. (Refrigerators just use the extra cold that drips down from the freezer, at least in top-freezing units.)



Another is variety. People have grown used to having a lot of different things on hand. Much less than half the space in my own refrigerator is food. The rest is condiments, sauces, or other long-lived objects that I'll eat on special occasions or when i have time to prepare them.



If anything the grocery stores have been pushing people in the direction of smaller refrigerators, by selling more pre-made items (which, incidentally, are much higher profit than selling a head of lettuce.) But the size is unlikely to go down just because your kitchen is roughed in for a 36" refrigerator and there's no point in rushing out to buy a smaller one.



Recent luxury houses have made a trend towards bigger refrigerators. That's more status symbol than anything else: buy a big house in the exurbs with 6 bedrooms and you might as well have a refrigerator that holds enough food to feed all those people. Or, more likely, to entertain people at the kind of party that fills a 5,000 square foot house.

Answer 3

If you do not like the current size of your current fridge then just go out and get one more suited to your lifestyle. You are oblivious to what is happening in your world. We have fridges that go from 2 cu/ft to over 30 cu/ft and in between. If you do not like what you have because it is to big for you . Then get something smaller. The manufacturer produces what is the most common demand size for that particular market that they see in the future. Not everyone is a single person who has no life and only needs to keep bottled water and the odd salad in a cooler. Yes fridges were smaller, as were houses. Get a mate and have 2-3 kids and live in your ideal 900-1200 sq ft 3 bdrm home with a small unit. It all depends on what you need . Do not imply that your needs are the same as the rest of us. Some people live in different areas and need refrigerators to keep food fresh and may need bigger units, some people eat foods that do not even need this. Do a little research before you condemn the rest of us based on your lifestyle. We all have different needs.And the manufacturer does not deal with 1 individual.

Answer 4

The biggest reason in my opinion is that people buy and eat so much food today, that they need all the space. Amoung many, this one seems to stand out to me the most. Because so many people started buying so much food, all they started making was big refrigerators then single people could only buy those. I'm not sure how big refrigerators were in the 60's(I wasn't alive then), but it may have to do with the fact that they combined the refrigerator and freezer into one appliance, therefore adding onto the size.

Some of your ideas could very easily be true and add to the factors of the size, and there are many others that could be brainstormed, but I think the refrigerator just grew with the countries appetite.

Answer 5

With two kids, a boyfriend and 4 cats - we could use two sometimes. I work full time I dont have the time or the desire to shop everyday. I like the size of the refrigerator.

Answer 6

small refrigerators are available. Many students in college dorms have very small refrigerators.



Look at an appliance store and you will find the size you need.

Answer 7

People like them that way. Fit more food and beverage in them, and fit them more spaciously so you can see it all when you open the door without having to slide things out of the way.



Smaller fridges are readily available for folks who like them better.



I do not believe there is a conspiracy.

Answer 8

There are several common ingredients that kept be kept in the fridge for months, and then there's everything you want to buy for dinner that you got on your last trip to the grocery store. Well, you know... Americans tend to be piggy.