New Refigerator

The refrigerator in the cabin died in the middle of last week, so I spent a couple days dealing with that. It started making a noise as though the compressor was trying to start running, but never did. It made that noise ever 30 seconds. I actually unplugged the refrigerator for almost two days before I got a new one, but didn't lose any food, as the average temperature inside the cabin was in the mid 50s.

I did some price checking and found out delivery to Silver Plume would cost nearly $200, and renting a flatbed from the nearest Home Depot would cost at least $60, plus a tank of gas in the ruck, and a few hours of driving. I ended up finding a reasonably priced refrigerator at a Sears appliance store in Silverthorne (30 miles west of Silver Plume) and bought the floor model. I decided to put the refrigerator in my Jeep (it barely fit, and wouldn't have, had it been in a box) to take it home. With the rear seat folded down, the fridge still hung out the back of the Jeep and the rear hatch wouldn't close. I keep a bunch of ratchet straps in my Jeep and used those to fasten the fridge down and keep it from sliding out. The edge of the fridge lined up with my rear windshield when I lowered the hatch, so I connected a strap from the rear hatch to my roof rack to keep the window from slamming into the fridge and breaking. Needless to say, it was a ghetto setup. But it worked. I never went faster than 30 mph and stopped every 15 minutes to check all the straps and make sure I wasn't about to dump a refrigerator onto the highway. It took about an hour to get home. The worst part about the drive was all the big rigs flying past me going up the mountain.

When I got home, the fridge installation process was a typical Fletcher experience. I borrowed a dolly from Sears, which made moving the fridge on the rocky driveway and through the house easier (I definitely couldn't have done it by myself without a dolly). However, I had to remove the doors from the fridge, the pneumatic piston from the screen door, and an interior bedroom door in order to move the fridge into the kitchen.

I found out just how hard it is to get rid of an old refrigerator, too. I found a dump that would take it for about $10, but I had to get the fridge certified freon free first. After calling around to several appliance stores in Silverthorne, the cheapest place I found that would remove the freon cost at least $75. I widened my search and through a series of phone calls found a place in downtown Denver that would take the fridge, remove the freon, and dispose of it for $20. I spent most of the day last Thursday driving; to return the dolly to get my $50 deposit back (30 miles west) and to drop off the old fridge (50 miles east). Note that most places (HD, Lowes, etc) will take and dispose of the old fridge if they deliver the new one. So, if you find a deal with free delivery, take it.

After all that hassle, we have a nice, new fridge that is large enough to hold all our food when the whole family comes to visit. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.