Refrigerators

[Superman]

You might laugh out loud if you saw my refrigerator. It is time to replace it. I wish I knew which fridges are the most reliable and which features are the most functional. Side-by-side, freezer at the bottom/top. Ice makers. When ice makers fail, you get a new swimming pool in your kitchen. Perhaps I will get a subscription to Consumer Reports. In the meantime, some of you guys may have gone through this decision-making process. What did you learn? What are your recommendations?

[masraum]

It's been about 10 years now, but we bought all new kitchen appliances and went with KitchenAid (Architect series, I think) in stainless. We wanted nice clean lines, so we didn't get the ice/water dispenser in the door (there was an internal water dispenser). We went with French door and bottom freezer. (We don't do a lot of frozen foods). The bottom freezer makes tons of sense to me. I figure at least 90% of the time, what I need is in the refrigerator portion and the rest of the time what I need is in the freezer. Why should I have to squat or bend down to get stuff that I use most with that top door mostly sitting there unused. And the freezer pulling out like a drawer on the bottom made it a little easier too.

Ours looked just like this:


Ours was a great fridge and when we moved, the people that bought our house didn't want our fridge so now our daughter and SIL have it in their house. They haven't had any problems that I am aware of.

[peppy]

We also bought kitchenAid, but have only had it a few months so no idea how well it will hold up. I know it is too small. My wife said I will need to give up beer or find somewhere to put the old refrigerator.

[1990C4S]

1) It's a total crap shoot (some very high end fridges are still good, i.e. Sub-Zero)

2) Your next fridge won't last as long as your last fridge

3) Better to replace a $2000 fridge than an $8000 fridge

[cairns]

We went with Sub Zero. Our old one is over 21 years old now and is in the pantry. The new one is 8. No problems. Ever.

[996AE]

Our Sub Zero is 16 years are going strong.

I am not looking forward replacing it.

You can buy a very nice 944 Turbo for the price of the new Zero!

[jhynesrockmtn]

I had horrible luck with a new Samsung bought in 2015. Basically had to toss it at 4 years. The problems were too expensive to fix. The appliance guy told me to stay away from Samsung and LG and they sell both.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Superman

You might laugh out loud if you saw my refrigerator. It is time to replace it.

You mean to say, it's time to put it in the garage and make a kegerator out of it, right?

[Zeke]

I've been looking and I have Bosch on the short list.

[unclebilly]

LG sucks. That’s is all.

We are going to buy a new washer / dryer this weekend and it will be from Costco. None of this crap lasts like it used to regardless of the entry cost. At least Costco has a warrantee so when it does crap the bed, you get your money back.

[island911]

"When ice makers fail.."

You have that right. Ice makers and water in door consume far too much volume AND they are high maintenance items.

[look 171]

Sub-Zeros are still top on my list of ref. to buy when I grow up and get a real job. We install many of them over the years and have not heard anything bad about them going south. There were a period of time they had some issues due to a source of bad parts. Other then that, avg ref. last for 10-14 years. It doesn't matter if its Sam sung, or GE, they are all about 2000 bucks and get ready to replace something on them and get another 7-8 years out of em' I have an Amana and a small GE outside

[flipper35]

We have a Samsung french door style. Been good other than the ice maker freezing up a few times per year and the ice bucket split.

We got ours half price because it had a dent in the side. Kids have done worse to it.

[Bugsinrugs]

I have a 24 year old Sub Zero. My model has a flaw that no repair guy can fix. Ice builds up on the bottom of the refer section above the freezer. I just defrost it with a heat gun every three to four weeks. Other then disconnecting the ice maker it’s been a reliable unit.

[RWebb]

I check Consumer Reports by going thru the city library. It's 'free' (tax $$). Aren't you in C-addle? See if they have the same thing.

[dad911]

My appliance supplier has been recommending Bosch lately, for what its worth.

[stealthn]

Our kitchen aide Superba is going on 16 years as well

[cabmandone]

I feel your pain. A word of advice, don't waste the money on consumer reports. I bought an online subscription that was of no help to me. What I found in researching as many brands as I could is that they all have issues. Ice maker was a top complaint for about every brand (not a big surprise) LG had compressor issues (class action lawsuit... and I STILL bought one) The reason I went LG was I found many brands with compressor issues as I did more research. I would have bought the same fridge I was replacing in stainless (Maytag) if my wife didn't absolutely hate the bottom meat and cheese drawer.
The problem I had with consumer reports was that their testing results wouldn't agree with the customer reviews that were actually attached to the report. When I'd see a fridge that rated well I'd look at the reviews below, see something negative, start researching that negative and find it was a fairly common issue with the model.
My advice: Go with the fridge you like that has the features and design you are looking for. For me it was the ability to move the shelves for best possible storage and a space saver in the door ice maker. The big knock on the LG & GE that has the same design for their ice maker is that it doesn't produce a lot of ice. I still have my Maytag as a basement fridge and will be connecting water to it for more ice production so the small ice bin really wasn't a factor for me.

[dmcummins]

We have a samsung. The ice maker sucks, it will freeze up about once a month and is noisy. We had it replaced under warranty, but it’s not any better.

I would not buy another one.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by dmcummins

We have a samsung. The ice maker sucks, it will freeze up about once a month and is noisy. We had it replaced under warranty, but it’s not any better.

I would not buy another one.

Question: When you say the ice maker freezes up, what exactly do you mean? I only ask because every ice maker I have had has needed the ice bin emptied occasionally due to the ice turning into a large block that wouldn't come out of the dispenser. I'm just curious if this is what people are talking about when they say it freezes up.