How to choose a new fridge?

These days, it seems buying a new fridge is pretty much a crap shoot, Samsung widely believed here to have the worse odds.

What's the diagnosis with your fridge?

We have a GE and it has been great.
My only complaint is they are ridiculously loud. I don't see why they can’t make it with a quieter compressor.

We've had nothing but trouble from our LG French Door model. Lots of issues with premature compressor failures in Canada & US.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3686891/refr ... r-matters/

Vereya wrote: ↑ My fridge is dying and I need to buy a new one. Because of my space requirements and personal preferences, I decided to go with Side-by-side, counter depth. There are a lot of different makes and models in the stores, but when I do my homework and read all the reviews, there is always too many negative ones. How do I find my way around and make sure I didn't buy just another piece of junk? Can anyone advice, or share experience please.

The big thing here is the width. If you only have 30 inches, a side by side counter depth is a small fridge,
The more "extras" you get on the fridge, the more opportunity for something to break.
When reading reviews, pay close attention to the "negative" ones. Often the negatives are personal issues as opposed to functional and reliability issues.

I have enough width space for 36” one and there are many available, but all of them have about 10% bad reviews. Most of the time is about being noisy, the water and ice dispenser stops working soon after buying, uneven temperature, water dripping, compressor failures and other. There are lots of happy customers, but people usually right reviews soon after buying and I’m worrying how to rely on them for a long term use.

In general, don't get a water and ice dispenser unless it's really important to you - they're a common point of failure, and will occasionally fail catastrophically (leaking). Side by side may be your preference, but the most functional fridges for most people are freezer on bottom - this is because people tend to access their fridge about five times as much as their freezers, so having the fridge take up all the eye level space improves functionality. French door is very popular and likely required for a 36 inch fridge, though I prefer single-door fridges for the 30 and 33 inch space since they're more easily opened one-handed and have fewer seals and less mechanical complexity.

As far as brands go, the 'mainstream' brands are all so-so these days, with life expectancy now ten years or less when previously a fridge could be a near-lifetime device. Samsung's gotten a bad rap in particular. In general, the simpler the fridge the better, and being able to clean out the compressor coils and drain tube is a plus.

The water/ice dispenser is not my choice necessarily. The only side by side without it that I found, had even worst reviews than the rest. I wonder if I buy one and then just doesn’t turn on the dispenser. I don’t like the bottom frizzer, because they are usually just big drawers, where you pile everything on top of the rest and have to dig for each item every time. Side by side are way better for organizing my items and I have a lot of different small items I need to reach in a regular basis.

The factor to consider when choosing models within a brand or several brands when it it Whirlpool that owns and manufactures several brands) is that the fridge/freezers are all the same for a given basic type of model/configuration (and also likely within brand(s)): Mostly the same cabinet, and cooling gear. What may differ is the insides (finishing, drawers, shelves, etc. ) and doors (French, ice/water in or not). If you want an icemaker or have to get one, get one mounted inside the freezer rather than a door dispenser model. Former is easier/cheaper to fix, and even remove, and you don't sacrifice door shelf space. More reliable too.

None of them are that good and the warranty is very short (typically 1 year). If something happens after a year then you're on your own.

It's also worth keeping in mind that many different fridges are actually built at the same factory and are the same model - for instance Whirpool, Maytag, and Kitchenaid are basically the same company. When I was shopping around for a fridge they pointed this out at an appliance store.

Vereya wrote: ↑ My fridge is dying and I need to buy a new one. Because of my space requirements and personal preferences, I decided to go with Side-by-side, counter depth. There are a lot of different makes and models in the stores, but when I do my homework and read all the reviews, there is always too many negative ones. How do I find my way around and make sure I didn't buy just another piece of junk? Can anyone advice, or share experience please.

Any luck finding the new fridge?
Hope you don't mind me asking what fridge you're getting?
I'm currently in the same saga looking for a new fridge (French door + counter depth)

MetalGear wrote: ↑ None of them are that good and the warranty is very short (typically 1 year). If something happens after a year then you're on your own.

It's also worth keeping in mind that many different fridges are actually built at the same factory and are the same model - for instance Whirpool, Maytag, and Kitchenaid are basically the same company. When I was shopping around for a fridge they pointed this out at an appliance store.

FWIW, I've read that many brands in the Maytag umbrella used to have 2 year warranties. Reduced to 1 year shortly after Maytag was acquired by Whirlpool. That says a lot.

When I was doing my research for new appliances, I didn't see consistently positive reviews on any of them. Often the ones posting were those who got a lemon and want to rant. My philosophy has always been to buy the best I could afford and not buy any extended warranties. We've had to do the odd repair, but for the most part, the original appliances lived a long life (all but the dishwasher were over 20 years and the fridge is still with us but in the basement as a spare).

Now, about the fridge...how big is your family? My old fridge was a counter depth side by side and I found it very frustrating not having enough room to hold everything. Our new fridge is regular depth and even though it juts out more than the old fridge, it's worth it and I've gotten used to the look. It is a KitchenAid (KRMF706EBS) and we've had it for over 2 years. Haven't had any issues so far, but I've been told not to expect the same life on any appliance I buy these days.

The two best ways to choose a fridge:

1. If the significant other has a strong opinion on the style and features of the fridge, step back and let it be. The extra repair costs are worth it to preserve harmony - and don't you dare say "I told you so!"

2. Check on the availability of parts and service in your area. All appliances are crap now, so the important thing is whether you can get it repaired quickly and cheaply. Nothing worse than service guys saying "Uh, we don't service that brand...", or "That part appears to be on back order from Germany/Malaysia/Korea, and might be here in about 3-4 months if we special-order it for you now..."

I'm not saying that the appliances are made with poor quality - it's just that the manufacturers have chosen to concentrate on features other than reliability and lifespan, entirely driven by consumer demand. When I take apart our Samsung fridge to repair it yet again, I am actually impressed by the construction quality. Shame that it doesn't actually work reliably, parts fail regularly, and replacements are hard to find.

Mars2012 wrote: ↑ When I was doing my research for new appliances, I didn't see consistently positive reviews on any of them. Often the ones posting were those who got a lemon and want to rant. My philosophy has always been to buy the best I could afford and not buy any extended warranties. We've had to do the odd repair, but for the most part, the original appliances lived a long life (all but the dishwasher were over 20 years and the fridge is still with us but in the basement as a spare).

I think that was true 20+ years ago (the age of your currently appliances), but I don't think it applies anymore (unless you're buying a less expensive model). Based on reviews I've read, there's a 10-15% chance that something is going to go wrong with an appliance. Repairs these days often cost several hundred dollars (most companies charge $100 just to come out). If you need 1 repair you've likely covered the cost of the extended warranty.

Toukolou wrote: ↑ I think that was true 20+ years ago (the age of your currently appliances), but I don't think it applies anymore (unless you're buying a less expensive model). Based on reviews I've read, there's a 10-15% chance that something is going to go wrong with an appliance. Repairs these days often cost several hundred dollars (most companies charge $100 just to come out). If you need 1 repair you've likely covered the cost of the extended warranty.

I'll always have a mental block about buying extended warranties. Helps that I have two engineers in my household that, between the two of them, can usually figure out how to repair most things.

Mars2012 wrote: ↑ When I was doing my research for new appliances, I didn't see consistently positive reviews on any of them. Often the ones posting were those who got a lemon and want to rant. My philosophy has always been to buy the best I could afford and not buy any extended warranties. We've had to do the odd repair, but for the most part, the original appliances lived a long life (all but the dishwasher were over 20 years and the fridge is still with us but in the basement as a spare).

Now, about the fridge...how big is your family? My old fridge was a counter depth side by side and I found it very frustrating not having enough room to hold everything. Our new fridge is regular depth and even though it juts out more than the old fridge, it's worth it and I've gotten used to the look. It is a KitchenAid (KRMF706EBS) and we've had it for over 2 years. Haven't had any issues so far, but I've been told not to expect the same life on any appliance I buy these days.

Thats the exaxt fridge we got. Old house the spoy was small, so could only have a certain size. New home we have a bigger spot, and the LG fridge left behind was as small as the old one. So the wife wanted as much cubic feet as possible.

I did like the ice maker in the freezer however on the old one. We had a GE for 11 years with water inside and the icemaker in the freezer, but it seems the bigger cubic feet you get that option goes away.

If you decide on an icemaker, get one in freezer if you can. In door ones take up valuable door real estate for small items, and some models the icemaker takes up a lot of fridge real estate to.

For the others that say dont get water or ice makers, make your own decision on that. Thats their opinion, not a fact. If you feel you would use that, than do it. Oh it might leak and cause an issue. Then they might as well not have a dishwasher either or a washing machine, because they all can have a water issue as well. Remove your sinks to because those might have a connection leak some day

Ive had water and an icemaker for 13 years now, have I had a leak, no. Will I, maybe, maybe not. But the convenience of being an adult and not having to handle stupid ice cube trays, is worth it to me

You are getting a side by side, I hate them myself, Ive only had bottom freezers the last 15 years. But if you like those kind, then thats what works

NO matter what reviews you look at, you will never win, because everything sucks

But what I find the best is to say what you bought but dont buy it. Because then most RFD member's will thentell you you were wrong and you should of gotten the model they got, and explain the reason, and show the excellent reviews. As well. put the price, because you wont get any good deals before you do, but after you put the price, everyone will come out and say what a terrible deal you got, and post better prices. But this wont happen until you say you actually bought the fridge

Recommend anything but Samsung. Was quoted $500 to fix a washer that shook itself to death.

Bought an LG Stove, Fridge, Washer and Dryer, Four years now and only a minor repair on the fridge.

All warranties are 12 months now. So, I did buy an extended warranty on the Fridge and stove from Costco. Not a huge extra cost and you get 2 years to start no charge.

Washer and dryer from HD, again paid for extended warranty. So far all ok.

TomLafinsky wrote: ↑ Get a digital subscription to Consumer Reports.

From Consumer Reports

As part of our annual 2018 Spring Survey, we asked CR members about more than 65,000 refrigerators (with icemakers) that they’d purchased between 2008 and 2018. The results inform CR’s predicted reliability and owner satisfaction ratings in our refrigerator ratings charts. They’re grouped by refrigerator type—top-freezer, bottom-freezer, French-door, side-by-side, and built-in. The brands in the survey include Frigidaire, GE, Kenmore, KitchenAid, LG, Maytag, Samsung, and Whirlpool.

One major take-away from the survey: Brand reliability varies by configuration. For example, Frigidaire top-freezers rated an Excellent for predicted reliability, but Frigidaire French-doors rated a Poor.

I agree with this poster. Consumer reports actually buy all the appliances they test.
More important now that everything is online shopping now i just purchased a fridge from the Brick. I hated that I couldn't see what I bought. The only major obstacle was the lack of depth of the fridge that would fit. It narrowed it down to a couple choices.
I have 30 days to decide if I want the extended warranty. It's about $250 taxes in. I went with Frigidaire. I've had good luck with them (knock on wood).

Came across this LG linear compressor issue: class action
They are now giving 10 year warranty on this compressor.