Appliances for Your Dorm Room

Refrigerators

The refrigerator is the largest appliance you are likely to want in your dorm room. The most sensible type of refrigerator for dorm rooms is a bar fridge. These are small enough that they won’t take up huge amounts of space which is very important in a dorm room. They are used primarily for keeping small amounts of food and drink cold. Some have a freezer area, but many that do, do not have space for things like ice cream.

If you’re living in a true university dorm, you’re probably eating in a cafeteria and this fridge is likely to be used mainly for storing leftovers and possibly alcoholic beverages – if your school allows them. Refrigerators are not essential in a dorm room, but they are very useful.

Many college and university cafeterias are not open all the time and are completely useless for midnight snacks. Even if they are open, you may not want to go trekking through the dark out-of-doors in order to find your midnight snack. At this point, your refrigerator comes in handy.

If you choose not to have a refrigerator it is a good idea to keep some snacks on hand that do not need refrigeration such as granola bars, cookies, or fruit because you probably are going to get hungry at some point when you can’t get to the cafeteria or it isn’t open. You don’t want go hungry just because you don’t have time to get to the cafeteria.

Computers and Printers

Will be covered in another article.

Microwaves and Other Kitchen Appliances

There’s often a microwave and sometimes a toaster in the common room of dorm buildings. If there are, you really don’t need them in your dorm room. The less non-essential stuff you have in your dorm room, the more space you’ll have for the things you really want. Many universities and colleges do not allow cooking implements in the dorms.

This is because you are usually expected to eat in the cafeteria. Cooking in your dorm room also increases the likelihood of setting off the fire alarm for the entire building. Causing the fire alarm to ring will make all your neighbors annoyed with you if they find out it’s your fault, as well as Housing. In Canada at least, every time the fire brigade has to come out to the dorms, the university has to pay money and Housing don’t like that at all.

It’s possible that your university or college may have different rules regarding cooking in dorm rooms, but these rules should definitely be checked before you consider bringing anything with you.

Cluster, family or other less traditional types of housing run by the university are a different situation entirely and often have their own cooking facilities.

Washer and Dryer

There are usually washing and drying facilities either in your building, or in a nearby building. Ask Housing or your residential adviser where these facilities are if you cannot find them.

Phones

In most universities you can get a phone line installed. You can also use a cell phone. I find a cell phone much more versatile than a land line, although I actually managed without a phone of any kind for my entire time at University.

Provided that the university has not gotten rid of all its pay phones and you have a computer with internet, this is a perfectly doable option and much cheaper than having a phone. I found a phone was something that I used for occasional talks with the parents if I needed to contact them quickly or for birthdays and so on – routine conversations were usually done by e-mail. I also used the pay phones for phone job interviews. If you do this, you need to be able to find a quiet payphone. If you are doing Co-op, the Co-op office for your department will usually let you use their phone.

TV

There’s usually a TV in the common room, but it made be used by others when you want to use it. If you follow certain shows, or if you like to have a TV whenever you want it you may be happier with your own TV. However, if you find it easier to get work done if you don’t have a TV, you may want to avoid bringing or buying one. It all depends on what your priorities are…

Very Small Appliances: Hair dryer, IPOD, CD Player

If you use some of these at home, you might as well bring them with you since they are small.

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