Should I get a water dispenser in my fridge or not?

[littleoctonauts]

Hello

I'm looking at a couple of models for a new fridge freezer and one has a water dispenser and two haven't.

Do you like your water dispenser? How easy is it to clean? I'm worried about bacteria build up, I generally avoid drinks bottles with loads of tubes and faffy bits as there is lots more room for bacteria growth.

But on the plus side will it make my kids drink more?

[SpinDry]

I took months deliberating whether to get one. Got one, used it for 2 months and 2 years on haven't used it since. Ours always tasted weird, and the novelty just wore off. I think next time i will get one with an ice dispenser instead as I think I'll use that more!

[OutandIntoday]

Get water and ice. We now no longer buy squash- dc happy with water now. It has made a huge difference to us.

[lettuceWrap]

If you mean water that's plumbed into the fridge from your water main and then through a filter unit in the fridge, then yes, get that. We drink a lot more (filtered, chilled) water rather than fizzy drinks now

If you mean a water dispenser that you have to fill manually, no, I couldn't be bothered with the faff..

[SpinDry]

To clarify ours isn't a plumber in one, I think next time I'd get one plumbed in with a filter, and ice.

[Caken]

We have a plumbed in one with water and ice and it’s been great - we all drink more water and now the kids can get their own drinks more easily.

[AndNoneForGretchenWieners]

We have one that's not plumbed in and we love it and use it all the time. We top it up with bottled water rather than tap water though, but we drink a lot of bottled water (live in a hard water area) and using the dispenser means less room is taken up in the fridge by bottles.

[Mycarsmellsoflavender]

To answer your last question, do they drink more if you offer them bottled water which has been stored in the fridge? If they like ice cold water, then it might be worth it. If not, then don't bother ( unless of course you prefer it for yourself).

Personally, I wouldn't. I bought a new American style fridge freezer a few months ago and deliberately avoided all the ones with water dispensers as 1) I would also be concerned about having water sitting still for a while and not being able to clean it 2) I don't like drinks ice cold anyway and if you drink it with a meal it's thought to be worse for your digestion as enzymes don't work at low temperatures and 3) couldn't be faffed with getting a plumber to plumb it in along with extra cost or else having to manually keep topping it up and 4) it takes up valuable fridge space. You can always fill a bottle with water and keep it in the fridge.

[pallisers]

We have one and yes the three teens drink a lot of water as a result.

[ferrier]

Ours is plumbed in, filtered, with an ice maker. I would never be without it. Dc drink more and I use it at least five times a day.

[ferrier]

I've never cleaned the line - it's not mentioned in the manual afaik so I didn't even think to.

[lettuceWrap]

Same here, never cleaned the line in the 10 years we've had it. Occasionally tho, I do take out the drawer where all the ice cubes collect up, and give that a clean. We love ice cold water (even our youngest DC).
It's a BIG American side by side fridge freezer, so we don't notice the space the ice drawer, dispensing mechanism, filter take up iykwim.

[littleoctonauts]

Thanks for all the replies. We can't get a plumbed in one as we're renting so no option to do that.

So it sounds like a manual fill water dispenser is a no no?

I don't like cold water but my kids who don't drink enough do..

[Indigo90]

We have a water dispenser which is not plumbed in and we love it so much I brought the fridge with us when we moved house! My teens choose to drink water over everything else and it gets drained every day. I just refill it every night. Not really a faff and I'd prefer they drink water than fizzy drinks.

I dismantle it and wash it once every couple of weeks, but I'm not sure it really needs it. I do empty it before we go on holiday.

BTW ours was meant to use a water filter. I thought it gave the water an odd taste so we have used the dispenser without it perfectly happily ever since.

[littleoctonauts]

Thank you all! I decided to go without the water dispenser. The question above about do I actually like cold water that much got me thinking..that I don't! And as I can't be sure my kids will use it beyond the novelty factor I'm opting for a regular fridge.

Thanks for all your help!

[BakedBeans47]

I like the idea of the plumbed in ones but when it came to the crunch we didn’t go for it. We just have a brita filter jug in the fridge.

[MainGrain]

One of my biggest regrets is not getting it when buying our fridge!! Refilling water jugs 2+ times a day is annoying and no cold water even more so
Do it!

[ruby1234]

Mines a not plumbed in one.... I put wine in it.

[Kursk]

We use a non plumed in one on a daily basis. We collect drinking water from a spring in the woods near the house and having the dispenser makes it easy to get a drink.

[FretYeNot]

If I could have a plumbed in one, I would. What I actually have is several 4 pint cartons (the ones that originally had juice in from the supermarket, they look like milk cartons) filled with tap water. I just grab one on an evening. I drink a ton of chilled water on an evening.