I'm in the market for a new refrigerator.
I'm blown away by the features that are marketed for new refrigerators, most all seem to be ridiculous and only drive up the price and the possible additional repairs down the line.
Reminds me of how the price of a car has skyrocketed because of a lot of add on's that drive the price up and the cost of repair.

The one feature I don't ever see is a way to open the refrigerator door without using your hands. I almost always find myself struggling with a heavy or awkward item and not having a free hand to open the door.
Back in the early 60's I remember we had a refrigerator with a foot pedal on the bottom. You could simply pop the door open with the pedal. A very simple mechanical lever pedal.
That was a useful feature.

Other than ice and water and auto defrost, what features do you find on new refrigerators that you actually like.

Interior LED lighting, and lots of it. Including the lighting in the freezer.

I have never had a refrigerator with an ice maker. All I ever hear about them are all the issues people have with them and repair complaints. We make ice with trays and keep the ice in a container in the freezer. We are not, however, prolific users of ice.

Oh...and DON'T purchase a Samsung or LG refrigerator.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Interior LED lighting, and lots of it. Including the lighting in the freezer.

I'm also a big fan of interior LED lighting in the fridge and freezer. The ice maker is convenient as well as the ability to provide a stream of cold water. On my LG refrigerator the left door is a half door you can open to access drinks, cheese, butter and other small items placed on the shelves.

Definitely no ice maker. They do break often and use up much freezer space that could otherwise be useful. No cold water dispenser on the fridge door as well. Ice trays work fine.

Feature, sorta: See how easy it is to clean underneath and behind it, especially if you have pets.

My Bosch refrigerator is WiFi enabled. WTF am I supposed to do with that?

^^^^

Have it remind you when it's time to buy more beer!

Ours has two ice makers. What can I say? We rolled the dice, but have plenty of ice.

I haven’t figured out a good use for the WiFi.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189, March 11, 2025 08:59 PM

I was able to custom order a fridge with the ice maker, but nothing through the door.

Takes up minimal space, I still always have ice, and nothing on the doors to have to wipe down or clean around.

The same model also has no handles on the front, just 28.5 cubic feet of chill.

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:

My Bosch refrigerator is WiFi enabled. WTF am I supposed to do with that?

Does it receive SIGforum?

I wish mine didn’t have the water dispenser/ice through the door. The required water filters are stupid expensive and it won’t make ice when it decides you’ve hit reset on the filter too many times.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:

My Bosch refrigerator is WiFi enabled. WTF am I supposed to do with that?

Does it receive SIGforum?

Not nearly enough bacon inside for that to be.

We were looking at new refrigerators this weekend too. I need an ice maker. I use a lot of it though I don’t want water or ice through the door. Check to make sure the door trays are built sturdy enough, a lot of them scare me they are so cheap.

We have 2 fairly new refrigerators. One in the kitchen and one in the garage. Each one has 2 ice makers. I guess that’s useful in Tucson. Hot here - ya know.

I don't know about all brands, but a friend of mine bought a brand new one two years ago and the coldest the refridge side will get is 37 degrees. I like mine right above freezing. It must be some kind of energy saving bullshit they are building in. You might look into that that before you buy.

Had to replace our Frigidaire fridge that was only about 10 years old in fall of 23. We went with a Whirlpool. I wish they would just make a quality product that would last 20 years. Bells and whistles are great but who cares if you have to replace appliances every 5 - 10 years. I stayed with my brother in Florida for 2 weeks in January and they bought a fridge that makes large cocktail balls, about 4 a day

The fridge we bought, we use a lot of ice so we opted for one with upper and lower ice:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/w...2010.p?skuId=6292010

Buy two cheap ones. When one inevitably fails, you will have a backup.

Unless you have a good repairman handy

If the wife will sign off on the looks/you can hide it/unless Appliance Brad says otherwise, I’d look at the cheap commercial ones.