H&D offers energy-efficient MicroFridges in rooms

By Ami Dave     9/16/10 7:00pm

Tired of worrying about Housing and Dining fining you for having a contraband microwave in your room? This year, H&D is pioneering a solution to this problem by offering MicroFridges, a freezer/microwave combination available for rental for $247 for the school year or for purchase for $489.Rice has not allowed microwaves in student rooms since 2007 because of risks associated with vermin infestation due to waste generated from microwaveable items as well as the risk of electrical surges. The microwave oven included in the MicroFridge unit is the first and only one approved for use in the Rice residential colleges.

According to Mark Chaszar, the Housing Operations Manager who was in charge of the MicroFridge project, the MicroFridge is the only unit for use in the residential colleges because its patented Safe Plug circuitry poses the lowest risk of electrical problems.

"Our maintenance guys spend about one-fifth of their time dealing with surges and power outages due to overuse of fridges and other electricity-powered objects in residential rooms," Chaszar said.

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Rice does not directly endorse this product, and the university does not receive any of the profits when a student rents or buys a MicroFridge.

"We turned down the monetary incentive Collegiate Concepts, Inc. was offering to the university and instead used the money to subsidize the cost of the unit," Chaszer said.

Collegiate Concepts Inc., which makes MicroFridges, issued a letter this summer to new students regarding the MicroFridge rental and purchasing program. Some colleges also sent notifications out on their listservs to upperclassmen. Chaszar predicted beforehand that about 20 students would rent or purchase the MicroFridge the first year, since it was not highly publicized yet. However, the number of students on campus who now have a MicroFridge is approximately 110.

Sid Richardson College freshman Tosan Otubu, an international student, rented one of the MicroFridge units for this school year.

"I got the announcement in the packet [distributed to new students], and it sounded convenient because I didn't want to have to find one when I got there and I would also have to worry about storage options since I can't really bring it back overseas," Otubu said. "I thought it was a good idea because they would already have it in your room when you got here."

Otubu said she believes that the MicroFridges are more convenient for international students because it gives them one less thing to worry about during the move-in process.

Sid Richardson College freshman Christina Doughty also purchased one of the MicroFridges for her room but said she felt slightly misled by the letter Rice sent out.

"[The MicroFridge] works fine, but I wish they had shown us some less expensive options as well, like how much mini-fridges and microwaves usually cost on their own so that we could evaluate for ourselves whether it was worth it," Doughty said.

Chaszar began working on the MicroFridge initiative in 2007. He began by researching the microwave policies at Rice University's peer institutions, such as Northwestern University and Tufts University. Chaszar said that after compiling the data, he was able to conclude that the majority of Rice's peer institutions allowed microwaves in student rooms.

Chaszar then began scoping out different companies in order to find the best unit to offer Rice students. He said that he noticed that the MircroFridges at Collegiate Concepts Inc. had good maintenance and track records. Additionally, they incorporated a microwave, freezer and refrigerator into one unit with one plug, which drew only ten amps. Chaszer then ordered a few units for the Student Maintenance Representatives to try out, as well as one for the Housing and Dining office.

"The students really liked the two-liter bottle storage on the door, the freezer, the powerful microwave and the additional outlets on the front of the microwave," Chaszar said. "I liked the SafePlug circuitry, plus the Energy Star technology that supplements Rice's green initiative."

In January 2008, Chaszar pitched the MicroFridge initiative to the residential college presidents, who favored the idea because it didn't cost the college any money and lowered costs by using less electricity. Chaszar said that this was only one more step in the long process of approving the MicroFridges for use in the residential colleges.

"This project took about three years to implement because we had to first run it by the college presidents to determine how well the student body would respond to the product, then had to wait for the administration's approval to actually make MicroFridges available to students," Chaszar said.

Chaszar said he thinks since the MicroFridges offer a freezer, refrigerator and microwave all in one energy-efficient unit, students will soon realize that the benefits of the MicroFridge outweigh the costs. Chaszar predicts that unit rentals and sales will increase in the future.

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