Time for a new fridge

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Lots of negative Subzero reviews out there.

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

So appliance manufactures don't make money from out of warranty repairs? Appliance parts don't get marked up? Designed obsolescence doesn't exist? Because most don't break within the meager 6-12 mo warranty period. When the ice maker agitator motor broke on my 2-ish year old Kenmore, the cost for overall assembly from Sears was about $250. I took apart the assembly, found a part number on just the motor, found the generic motor on the internet, and fixed it myself for about $60. So that part wasn't being marked up from Sears? The total assembly, by the way, was the motor and agitator arm. I installed the arm on the motor and saved about $200.

I'm not expecting an appliance that never fails. But I am expecting one that lasts a reasonable amount of time, commensurate with the timeframe that appliances were able to last 30 years ago.

As for your "innovative" ideas, do you really believe that you can detect every way in which your dishwasher will leak? Or add these various monitoring systems without impacting reliability? The only thing worse than a leaking dishwasher is one that is supposed to detect the leak, but doesn't. Or a freezer that will detect a failure detecting a failure when there isn't one. Your industry cannot design a reliable ice maker for God's sake. You are adding systems on top of your unreliable systems, why not fix the unreliable system that are at the root of the problem?

OK, now I get it. You purchased mass market junk. Yeah, I can understand that stuff being made with planned obsolescence. The products I'm referring to are in the premium category (Miele, Sub-Zero, GE Monogram). It's like comparing a Yugo to an Audi, Benz, or BMW.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Nickshu

The Kenmore Elite we have has "LG" all over the back of it. The replacement water filters are LG too, or you can buy the same ones from Kenmore (repackaged w/ the Kenmore name) for $20 more.

Thanks for correcting. I might have misunderstood a salesrep while we were shopping ovens. Anyways, found this for start but the link tells much more.


Who manufactures Kenmore appliances?
Kenmore appliances are manufactured by many companies. You can determine the company with the model number prefix. For example:

103 Roper
106 Whirlpool
233 Broan
790 Frigidaire

Appliance411 The Purchase: Who makes Sears Kenmore?

[Nickshu]

I think our Kenmore dishwasher is made by Whirlpool so it's not LG across the board.

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[javadog]

Originally Posted by Grimm

ha ha, that's exactly my point (I made earlier) about on-line reviews. You're referring to a Sub-Zero 695. I think that was discontinued over 8 years ago, and could have been made as long at 15 or more years ago. So here you have someone *****in about it all these years later, and readers like you are probably thinking this is about a current product.

So, boy genius...

How about parking the bull**** for a minute and giving Motion a recommendation for a specific product he should buy. Not a brand, not a range of models, which refrigerator? Then, tell him why. Don't limit your argument to features; give him some concrete data on why your choice will last a good long time and not turn out to be an expensive, shiny turd.

JR

[javadog]

Originally Posted by motion

I'm curious about the french door models that some of you seem to like. Isn't it a pain bending down and digging thru the huge compartments nearly at floor level for stuff? Seems like a full length left door freezer would be much more convenient.

Its just the 2 of us, so we really don't need anything very large. This one is on the short list:

Originally Posted by motion

My main issue with the bottom freezer is that the top fridge is now 2 doors. I don't think I like that... how do you know which door to open, left or right?

I agree, you don't need two upper doors on a normal sized unit. Pointless, makes it less useful.

As for bending over to reach stuff, either you bend over to reach something in the freezer (once in a blue moon) or you bend over to reach something in the vegetable/fruit compartment every freaking day. Hopefully. If you eat fruit and vegetables, which you should. Really. Ask your wife.

Now is a good time to assess how you use a fridge. Given your extensive traveling, you may have noticed that Americans have a huge fridge, full of god-knows-what and other people in the world have a small one, if they have one at all. The difference is, we store crap we don't need and we shop infrequently, thinking we can make something last in the fridge for a week, or freeze it and make it last forever. The rest of the world goes and buys what they will cook for the next meal, then they cook it. They don't refrigerate it for days, or freeze it at all.

Think like a European, or an Asian, and eat better.

JR

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Just buy an 11 year old Monogram and be done with it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by javadog

So, boy genius...

How about parking the bull**** for a minute and giving Motion a recommendation for a specific product he should buy. Not a brand, not a range of models, which refrigerator? Then, tell him why. Don't limit your argument to features; give him some concrete data on why your choice will last a good long time and not turn out to be an expensive, shiny turd.

JR

Agreed. My last fridge was $3k though we bought it on sale. As I mentioned I have already had to fix the ice maker and it is rusting out around the ice/water dispenser, and it is maybe 3 years old. I would happily pay double that for a quality product that would last 10 years without servicing. So how about instead of telling us what we should want, actually be helpful and tell us what products we should consider to meet our criteria?

Btw, while I have an engineering degree I work in sales. Possibly the most critical part of being effective in a sales role is to listen to your customer.

[billybek]

The bottom freezer idea is a little flawed.
The compressor and condenser is at the bottom next to the freezer. That makes the place that we want the coldest next to the place that is the hottest.....
The other thing on some of the more complicated door arrangements on some current refrigerators is the length of the seal. Each linear foot of seal is responsible for some leakage of air in or out. These may become more of an issue as the fridge ages.
I do kind of like some of the French double upper door arrangements as they reduce the door swing distance outward and are better in a limited space.
The reviews can be very helpful in determining what appliance to buy. Sometimes buying the extended warranty can be a good gamble....

[javadog]

Originally Posted by billybek

The bottom freezer idea is a little flawed.
The compressor and condenser is at the bottom next to the freezer. That makes the place that we want the coldest next to the place that is the hottest.....
The other thing on some of the more complicated door arrangements on some current refrigerators is the length of the seal. Each linear foot of seal is responsible for some leakage of air in or out. These may become more of an issue as the fridge ages.
I do kind of like some of the French double upper door arrangements as they reduce the door swing distance outward and are better in a limited space.

On the other hand, having the freezer section in a drawer limits the amount of cold air lost when you open it. The more often you get into the freezer, the better this arrangement looks.

You want less seal linear footage, then limit yourself to one door.

Small doors aren't better in a limited space. Nobody has a kitchen so narrow that you can't open a fridge door and walk by it at the same time. Small doors just make it a hassle to get things in and out, especially if the fridge is located next to a wall and the door swing is limited to 90 degrees.

JR

[greglepore]

5 yr old Samsung french door bottom freezer here. FWIW I hate the freezers built into refrigerators for anything but very short term storage, as the defrost thaws/refreezes anything in there. Use a small chest for that. As to which door to open, you always open both, but they're smaller so they take up less "swing room. I prefer the larger open areas of the over/under to the narrow shelves of a sideby.

They all have issues.Samsungs's freeze the defrost drain in the refrigerator, but there's a 30 second fix on the interwebs.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by javadog

On the other hand, having the freezer section in a drawer limits the amount of cold air lost when you open it. The more often you get into the freezer, the better this arrangement looks.
JR

Most if not all the bottom drawer freezers that I have seen have open sides when the drawer is open so the cold air spills out anyway.

YMMV.