Need the hive mind's opinion on refridgerators.

Well, my fridge just crapped out.

Looks like I get to buy my house a christmas present tomorrow.

Anyone got any opinions on brands, good, bad or indifferent?

Thanks in advance.

Shawn

First question is always "what kind?" and "how big is the opening you're putting it into?" Lots of new fridges are too tall or wide for older spaces. Heck, many don't fit through the doors of older homes.

The most efficient in use of space and running costs are actually the old top-freezer models. They're also the least expensive. Then come bottom freezer, single-door. Then come the side by sides and french door bottom freezer.

I just got a new fridge on Black Friday, a Kenmore top freezer. Most fridges are fine, I think Whirlpool and Amana are the best bang for the buck personally. Maytags aren't so great, and I used to hear bad things of the GE brand as well. Frigidaire are a little noisier than the other brands but they seem reliable.

Don't get the cheapest as it will come with wire shelves. Get something with split door pockets, that's a nice organizing feature.

And icemakers are the most repair-prone part of a fridge.

Sounds like what I'm shopping for will the best choice then.

The current fridge is a bottom freezer and I hate it, we're going back to the old top-mount style, they make more sense.

No icemaker or water dispenser for us, we like simple things that don't break.

Shawn

Trans_Maro wrote: The current fridge is a bottom freezer and I hate it, we're going back to the old top-mount style, they make more sense. Shawn

I think you are wrong there, but to each his own.

The good thing about modern appliances is this: If you don't like it, no problem. They don't last very long anyway, so 5 or 8 years down the road, you get another new one.

Trans_Maro wrote: No icemaker or water dispenser for us, we like simple things that don't break.

Those are the only two things that have ever given me problems on any fridge Ive owned

We have an old fridge only with a separate stand up freezer.... Just wish I could find another fridge only that isn't 7 million dollars.

Bottom freezers SUCK. For the same given space as a top mount, I can cram WAY more E36 M3 in the top mount. You lose way too much ability to put things in the bottom mount from the compressor and motor down there.

bastomatic wrote: And icemakers are the most repair-prone part of a fridge.

Even so, the one in my Kitchenaid lasted about 8 years, and it was a pretty easy $100 fix with parts from Lowe's. It had also blown a relay in that time frame. Still going strong after 11 years.

Buy one you like. My complaint with the side-by-side I have is that both the fridge and the freezer are too damn narrow. And go big or go home. Ours is like 21 cubic feet, and if it wasn't for the other full-size fridge out in the garage, we'd have no place for leftovers after Thanksgiving. This for a growing family of four.

top freezer just makes sense from a thermodynamics point of view.. heat rises, cold falls.

mad_machine wrote: top freezer just makes sense from a thermodynamics point of view.. heat rises, cold falls.

^This..

And, everyone talks about the fact that you're in the fridge more than in the freezer so a bottom mount freezer supposedly makes sense.

That's fine, know what's at the bottom of the fridge? DRAWERS!!!

You can see into a drawer from the top down. I have to bend down or get on my knees to get to the back of the bottom freezer.

All I do with a top-mount freezer is open the freezer door to look in or pull out a crisper drawer and look down.

We ended up buying a last-year's-model Maytag (it had more useful features for the same price) top-mount fridge. It's getting cold in the kitchen right now.

The other brands in our price range didn't have adjustable shelves which seems a bit stupid to me.

I'm just hoping to get 5 years out of the damn thing. The '50s Firestone in my shop works great, it's just too ugly to put in the kitchen or I'd have solved the problem even faster.

Shawn

My ice maker just started acting up today. Actually, I think it is the water valve that is the issue. The water comes on to refill the tray and it is supposed to E36 M3 off after 8 seconds. It runs for a good 30 seconds and makes a big mess as everything under it gets wet, then frozen.

The valve is getting the signal to close at the right time, so I guess it is the valve itself. Of course, the house has one of those fancy fridges that is built in. The water valve is underneath the thing. I could see it, but not really get to it. Time to call the the landlord.

When we bought my house back in '92 we bought an Amana fridge. Traditional configuration, no gadgets. 20+ years later and it still works fine. It's a bit noisy, but otherwise I doubt I'll replace it anytime soon.

My g/f got a French door, bottom freezer drawer. It's huge and has an ice maker, but she thought the ice tasted funny, so she didn't use it. When it finally goes back into the kitchen, it'll get a filter. I forget the brand, but it wasn't cheap. I seem to remember about $1600 a few years ago. It replaced a standard door, bottom freezer which now lives in her basement (beer & drink fridge).

We got a Kenmore 3-door and we love it. Our only gripe is that the ice in the ice-maker tends to "bridge." Every once in a while you have to open the door and tap the ice bin to get it to fall into the dispensing teeth. The owner's manual says that this can happen while in "energy saving" mode, so we could probably fix it by disabling that mode, but we're tree-huggers.

The crisper drawers are adjustable for fruits, veggies, and meat and they seem to do an excellent job of keeping green fuzz from growing on stuff for a long time.

Kenmore was top-rated which is why we chose it (and the local sears is closing so it was on sale cheap). I can't speak intelligently otherwise since the last billion fridges we've had were either supplied with a rental apartment or picked up for $50 on CL. All I can say is that we love our Kenmore.

I think ours is a GE side by side. It's got ice and water in the door, and all the fancy crap manufacturer think a refrigerator needs. Came off craigslist for $400 and is 5 years old because I'm not paying $2K for a fridge. It was cheap and it makes stuff cold, what more do you need?

In reply to Gasoline:

You have no idea how badly I want an IH fridge..

Just not an old-fashioned bottom-freezer model like that, give me a modern top-mount

In reply to Toyman01:

Wife has a thing about used food-related appliances.

Keep in mind the units sold at the big-box stores aren't the same as what you'll find at an independent appliance dealer. You'll possibly pay more going to a smaller place, but you'll get a better quality unit and have a resource when something breaks.

We purchased our appliances from a local mom-n-pop shop(literally) last summer, and have been happy so far.

I know it doesn't relate to your situation, but they said to avoid door-mounted water & ice dispensers, as that's where most problems occur. Our fridge has a water spout on the inside and it's filtered, so we quit buying bottled water. The downside is replacement filters are $40, but fortunately we've only needed to replace it once so far.

We just bought a fancy fridge from this place for our new house:

http://www.designerhomesurplus.com/

Long story, but we left a white GE at our old house that was going strong after 15 years. The new one we bought was a relatively exotic stainless steel one (not my choice, but the kitchen is her "garage", so meh) and saved a couple thousand dollars by buying it at the above place. Supposedly it was "scratch and dent" but we had my brother in Dallas inspect it before shipping and it was really just "open box" and there were no scratches or dents.

I'd buy another GE in a heartbeat.

I'll get back to you with more details once I get the snow moved, but, in a nutshell, I bought one last week. Did all the research, bought a highly recommended one, it was delivered on Thursday and I hate it. It's going back.