Their old fridge broke - it keeps getting way too hot, and then seems to be cooling down, but then heats up again. It's not worth the frustration.

But the frustration of purchasing a new fridge is almost more than trying to fix the damn fridge. Anyway - the reviews are nuts. They were trying to fix the one they have, but it's like throwing money in a hole, and hoping it fixes something. My wife is kind of their sounding-board, so I offered to ask for some real-world advice.

LG seems to have the "best" of the worst reviews.

Samsung has the worst reviews, and their customer service sucks.

Whirlpool seems to be okay, but the drawers, shelves, and organization on most of them seem odd and have iffy reviews on the chill-ness of the drawers and such.

What do ya'll like for fridges? we could use some real-world advice. thanks!

I am very happy with our Ammana. It is a freezer on bottom and is a full swing door on both the fridge and freezer. This appliance rates near the top in terms of satisfaction with any thing else I own. I am that happy with it. It is well over a decade old now too.

It is also a very simple fridge. No bells and whistles. Just does what a fridge and freezer should do. Not a bunch of crap to go wrong.

Sub Zero is the best.

BUT, why don't you start by telling us your budget and what style refrigerator you want? (Side by side, top freezer, French door).

Personally I have 5 rental units and a house and ONLY buy Whirlpool/Maytag.....they seem to last the best of the regularly priced brands by far.

I have an Ammana French door at my house from 2002 and it does work flawless.....Ammana is owned by Whirlpool/Maytag btw.

Current fridge is kenmore elite oem'ed by whirlpool. Except for a known issue with a relay that was fixed with a better relay, it's been excellent and trouble free for 15 years.

I would start with whirlpool as a leading contender when I have to buy again.

Only thing bad about the fridge is the shape of the ice cubes. I hate the crescent shaped ice.

In the last three months we replaced a 13 year old Whirlpool top freezer with a side by side, again a 21 cu ft model. Icemaker went out in the old one, that and the door seal was going bad. Dumping 2-3 hundred dollars in it seemed to be not the best idea, we went to Home Depot and for less than 900 got the new one.

We wanted side by side for water and ice in the door. It came down to Whirlpool or Frigidaire. I did not like Frigidaire for a few reasons. The meat tray was an extra cost item. The ice and water dispenser did not have a lockout on it. Whirlpool did, with having a toddler grandson during the day here it's a case of "monkey see, monkey do" and I have caught him trying to actuate the dispenser. Don't want a flood of water or ice on the kitchen floor.

Did not like the door handles on the Frigidaire either. And last, the Whirlpool has LED lights in both the refrigerator the freezer and the door dispenser. the Frigidaire has incandescent bulbs inside and no lighting in the dispenser. I like the night light feature of the Whirlpool, something the Frigidaire did not.

How old is the refrigerator? I ask because the new one will most likely not last as long and to set your expectations accordingly.

My parents had a Montgomery Ward refrigerator that was still going strong long after 30 years without any associated repairs or issues. Except for the one time when they couldn't find my dad's dentures because he hid stored it in the refrigerator.

I’ll tag along with this question as well.

Would like freezer on top, single doors for each section, and no ice maker, water cooler, shoe shine accessory, or whatever else may be considered essential by some to survive the rigors of modern life except to keep the contents cold.

Our current one is a GE that’s been in the house since before we moved in 23 years ago, but sometimes it becomes very noisy, and I fear it may quit without warning one day soon.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Our current one is a GE that’s been in the house since before we moved in 23 years ago, but sometimes it becomes very noisy, and I fear it may quit without warning one day soon.

Our GE Profile is also 23 years old and working well, except recently we developed a hollow ice cube issue. I'd buy another even knowing that everything could have changed with GE.

Seems like there's a race to the bottom with everything refrigeration related these days. I include HVAC units. Whether its planned obsolescence or just crap components, the result is the same. Products that last half as long as they used to. If everyone builds crap, there's little incentive to deliver quality, especially when what consumers want are features. Even with all the emphasis on being green, no one seems to understand there is no product as green as the one that stays out of the landfill.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I’ll tag along with this question as well.

Would like freezer on top, single doors for each section, and no ice maker, water cooler, shoe shine accessory, or whatever else may be considered essential by some to survive the rigors of modern life except to keep the contents cold.

Our current one is a GE that’s been in the house since before we moved in 23 years ago, but sometimes it becomes very noisy, and I fear it may quit without warning one day soon.

This may sound odd, however when was the last time you pulled the unit away from the wall and cleaned it? I ask because I recently had a repairman out to look at something with my refrigerator and noticed it needed dusting off, it has made it run much quieter. As an aside, I asked him, if the fridge ever went out and wasn't covered by my service plan, what brand would he recommend as a replacement (its a thirty year old Frigidaire )and he replied "I'd get that one fixed, you would have unit that would keep going for many more years, at less cost than a new one would and be more durable than many new ones on the market." The one brand that did mention to avoid at all costs is Samsung.

quote:

Originally posted by clubleaf206:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I’ll tag along with this question as well.

Would like freezer on top, single doors for each section, and no ice maker, water cooler, shoe shine accessory, or whatever else may be considered essential by some to survive the rigors of modern life except to keep the contents cold.

Our current one is a GE that’s been in the house since before we moved in 23 years ago, but sometimes it becomes very noisy, and I fear it may quit without warning one day soon.

This may sound odd, however when was the last time you pulled the unit away from the wall and cleaned it? I ask because I recently had a repairman out to look at something with my refrigerator and noticed it needed dusting off, it has made it run much quieter. As an aside, I asked him, if the fridge ever went out and wasn't covered by my service plan, what brand would he recommend as a replacement (its a thirty year old Frigidaire )and he replied "I'd get that one fixed, you would have unit that would keep going for many more years, at less cost than a new one would and be more durable than many new ones on the market." The one brand that did mention to avoid at all costs is Samsung.

The amount of electricity your 30 year old fridge is using, buying a brand new one would cost you much less over it's 12 year lifespan.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I am very happy with our Ammana. It is a freezer on bottom and is a full swing door on both the fridge and freezer. This appliance rates near the top in terms of satisfaction with any thing else I own. I am that happy with it. It is well over a decade old now too.

It is also a very simple fridge. No bells and whistles. Just does what a fridge and freezer should do. Not a bunch of crap to go wrong.

This what we've had for around 25 years now. My wife loves it and doesn't want a newer one. I wouldn't mind getting a new Amana to save on energy use, but SWMBO says NO!

Jim

Refrigerators today are very, very complex machines. At the same time, they cost about half of what they did 30 years ago adjusted for inflation.

You really can consider the Korean stuff disposable when it fails. In their home market, stuff is replaced for the latest hip, happening, now cool new one. Parts cna be challenging and outside of major markets, it can be hard to find a service company that will work on LG or Samsung.

GE is now owned by Chinese Haier.

The dual evaporator or Dual Cool models from Whirlpool are complex and can be filled with things that break.

The single evaporator bottom freezers from them are the best built overall refrigerator. There are models from Amana, Whirlpool, Maytag and KitchenAid.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by clubleaf206:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I’ll tag along with this question as well.

Would like freezer on top, single doors for each section, and no ice maker, water cooler, shoe shine accessory, or whatever else may be considered essential by some to survive the rigors of modern life except to keep the contents cold.

Our current one is a GE that’s been in the house since before we moved in 23 years ago, but sometimes it becomes very noisy, and I fear it may quit without warning one day soon.

This may sound odd, however when was the last time you pulled the unit away from the wall and cleaned it? I ask because I recently had a repairman out to look at something with my refrigerator and noticed it needed dusting off, it has made it run much quieter. As an aside, I asked him, if the fridge ever went out and wasn't covered by my service plan, what brand would he recommend as a replacement (its a thirty year old Frigidaire )and he replied "I'd get that one fixed, you would have unit that would keep going for many more years, at less cost than a new one would and be more durable than many new ones on the market." The one brand that did mention to avoid at all costs is Samsung.

The amount of electricity your 30 year old fridge is using, buying a brand new one would cost you much less over it's 12 year lifespan.

I checked the Energy Star fridge calculator, and in my case with a 23 year old fridge I save $366 every 5 years in efficiency if I buy a new fridge, so 12 years is an energy savings $878.00. That's only about a third of what it would cost to replace my 23 year old fridge with a similar model not to mention the time value of money over the 12 years it takes to recoup the cost of the new fridge.

However, if my fridge had been built in the 80's I can save over $2400 in 12 years. That's better, but still doesn't factor in the time value of money.

And this assumes the Energy Star calculator is accurate, and considering the source, I'm more than a tad bit skeptical.

Link

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