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" Whether you&amp;#039;re doing a full kitchen renovation or replacing an old clunker of a fridge, here are 5 tips for shopping smartly and getting the most out of a new refrigerator. 1. Find the right configuration: There are several basic styles, each with its own pros and cons. Models with the freezer above the fresh food compartment are typically the most energy efficient, but also tend to be the smallest. French-door models give you plenty of room for wide platters, but the doors can be tricky to close and the freezer drawers are large and deep, making it tough to find smaller items. With side-by-side models you get easy access to fresh and frozen foods but both compartments are narrow, making it difficult to store large or oddly shaped items. Side by sides are a good choice if you want your kids to be able to grab things from the fridge and the freezer. They&amp;#039;re also ideal if there&amp;#039;s anyone in the home who uses a wheel chair and can&amp;#039;t reach up high or down low. 2. Opt for Energy Star: Models bearing the blue Energy Star label use 20% less energy than comparable models of the same size. If you really want to ramp-up the savings, switch off the automatic icemaker, which accounts for a large amount of the energy used by your fridge. 3. Get rid of your old fridge: Whether or not your new fridge carries the Energy Star logo, it probably uses a lot less electricity than the refrigerator it&amp;#039;s replacing. Don&amp;#039;t cut your savings short by putting the old fridge in the basement or in a garage where it will continue to guzzle electricity. 4. Be careful of counter-depth: Fridges that sit perfectly flush with surrounding countertops and cabinets give your kitchen a streamlined look. But you should know that you sacrifice quite a bit of storage space, typically 7 to 8 inches of depth and as much as 8 to 10 cubic feet of interior room. 5. Use your new fridge wisely: Most compartments in your new fridge are there for a reason. Crisper drawers and meat lockers generally work very well to preserve vegetables and meats. The one compartment you should avoid using? The butter dish. Store dairy and highly perishable items in the main fridge compartment, as the top of the door is almost always the warmest place in the refrigerator cavity. Want to see our picks for the best refrigerators on the market? See our full reviews of refrigerators. Still need help buying a fridge? See Kitchen Appliance &amp;amp;amp; Technology Director Sharon Franke&amp;#039;s answers to common questions on refrigerators.  Ready to learn how we test everything from refrigerators to razors? Sign up to take a free tour of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.  Interested in saving with a new Energy Star refrigerator? Read Mindy Pennybacker&amp;#039;s article on The Daily Green about buying a new fridge and recycling her old clunker. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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