For Americans, one refrigerator is not enough SECTIONS Last Updated: Feb 24, 2021, 10:11 AM IST Share Synopsis Around 35 million U.S. households have two refrigerators, and the Vincents are among the 6 million households that report owning more than two refrigerators, whether full- or dorm-size units, according to the Energy Information Administration, a federal agency that tracks appliance ownership. That number has climbed from 14% of all homes in 1978, when the agency first started surveying Americans, to 30% in 2015. About 27% of today’s urban homes and almost 40% of rural ones have at least two refrigerators. New York Times A GE refrigerator that was purchased in the 1980s in the basement of Doris and Anthony Vincent's home in Greensboro, N.C., Feb. 16, 2021. For many Americans, a second fridge — and sometimes a third — is another member of the family.