Time for a new refrigerator

1,776 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by sleepybeagle
Cromagnum
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AG
I think 4th of July is a good time to buy and I'm in the market. Need opinions on side by side vs the French door style. Our old one is one of the freezer on top with no water dispenser dinosaur models. Any brands to avoid?
tgivaughn
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AG
I hope you get some good advice, for all I have are caveats, so few these days are bulletproof unless you go overboard for Wolf/Subzero. e.g. we bought a Samsung with great reviews, bells & whistles Spring 2013, side-side as wife prefers, counter-depth (fewer kids, no more shoehorning into tight space, more counter access) ON SALE -$700+ whoohoo ... only to spend $700+ in "repairs". Turns out the interior main brain was inferior quality, the manufacturer knew it, didn't want to deal with customer returns, so sold a load of these problem children to Best Buy/others to unload on suckers.

In all these 35+ years, the type refrigerator that treated us best was the type you are replacing BUT who can live without an ice maker coming through the door (door mount is best for saving freezer space) and NOT hitting one's head on the open freezer door or division above?

Side-side's width always a problem certainly no pizzas go in the easy way. Maytag tried to fix that with a wide-by-side model that failed/discontinued. (Think instead of straight up-down door same width, they would fatten then go skinny, borrowing from other side's width 1/2 way up ... but I digress ...)

So ... many love the wide freezer drawer at bottom of French doors above b/c of all that + cold air loves to sink & drawers don't spill out, lose cold air as much ala chest freezers. This type is what I'd be getting sans wife preferences and if not too old to lean over that far.

Consumer Reports should illuminate which brands need least maintenance money.
07fta07
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AG
Bought a new French door Samsung when we moved 6 months ago after having a side by side for many years. I won't buy anything but French door again.

We use the fridge 10x more than the freezer and the extra, easily accessible space in the fridge is very nice. The bottom freezer is surprisingly large. It does have a tray that helps keep things organized.
Hachieaggie10
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AG
I would say don't go with the Frigidair. I got one 2 years ago and the operation has been great. However the control board for the display that shows the temp of the freezer and the fridge has LEDs that go out. I had it replaced with 3 days to spare on the warranty so was just at 1 year ago. Just last week the one they replaced it with did the exact same thing. And of course no warranty on the replacement part so I'm sol now. So I have 3 different lines that don't work in making up the temperature on the display. A friend has the same fridge and theirs did it as well. Not a big deal but when little things have problems it always makes me nervous about the bigger things.
agrams
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AG
We just bought an LG through ajmadison.com. The ge and Samsung we looked at had a lot of infant failure reviews, which made us look at LG. We have been happy and the French door style is nice. We got model LFX30726S.
bco2003
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AG
We have an 8 year old Kitchenaid side by side with 0 issues.

No experience with a french door, so can't comment one way or another.
Aggietaco
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AG
No issues with our 8 year old GE side by side other than the compressor has always been a little on the noisy side.

We'll get a french door for our next model for refrigerator space and the fact that no one can make a good ice dispenser for a side by side.
agdx88
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AG
If it is your thing consider the ice maker. I got a french door with an indoor water and ice plus an ice maker in the bottom. Never run out of ice.
Mathguy64
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AG
24 year old Kenmore crapped out over the weekend. Our house is old and A regular 36" fridge doesn't fit. That left us with few choices short of a full blown kitchen remodel. Finally settled on an LG French door that we found that was 33". We found about 5 or 6 that size out of 2 Lowes, a Home Depot and Best Buy.
CalAG
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AG
With the general consensus that Refrigerators (and major appliances in general) don't last worth crap anymore, the wife and I have taken to purchasing scratch and dent models when possible. Our best source for these has been Lowes of all places. Most stores have a section for these units near the rest of the displays. Typically they are marked at least 40% down and best of all, if you ask for the appliance manager, they are negotiable on price!!!!

The downside is that you have limited selection and can't pick the exact model you want if you are on a tight timeline. However, with a little foresight into the status of appliances you can shop around for a few weeks and find a really good deal.

Using this method we have purchased a washer, and dryer with stands at 60% off and a fridge at about 55% off.
The washer and dryer were the floor model that had never been plugged in and are on their 7th year of service without a stumble.

The fridge is on its 5th year of service, but had to have the valves for the water replaced a few years ago. This was mostly my fault and was replaced with some help from Appliance parts pros.


Hachieaggie10
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Sorry I updated the post. Mine is a fridgidair. Not a GE. Funny story I did the same thing when filing for the warranty on the first repair. Repairman showed up and said, "uhhh this isn't a GE I can't fix it". Sorry for the bad information.
sleepybeagle
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AG
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