DeHusband and I have been discussing getting a new refrigerator for about a year now. Ever since I decided that having a door shelf help on with duct tape was not good. Or Clean. And ice cream couldn’t be kept in the freezer door. So I started the Fridge Replacement Fund[sup]tm[/sup].
We live in Alabama (you mean the duct tape thing didn’t give us away??). The month of May in Alabama is hot and humid. It’s over 70°F before 8 a.m. And for the last several weeks butter has gone rancid with days of being opened. It’s just not staying cold enough in the refrigerator anymore. (I think it heard about the fund and is beginning to protest! It’s at least 15 years old. With duct tape and an attitude problem. That’s all you need to know.)
So before it totally gives up the ghost, and I lose a fridge full of miscellaneous food stuffs, we’re going to replace it. Soon. VERY soon.
But what to get. And where? I want a side-by-side - preferably with ice and water in the door. (Cause I think it’d be really neat!) Tell me good experiences and bad. Thanks for the help!!
My sympathies. I rolled the old Harvest Gold refrigerator that came with my house out the door when I remodeled the kitchen, and shopping for a new fridge was difficult. Mostly because a refrigerator is essentially a * big box that keeps things cold *. But they come with a ton of marginally different frills and options and designs in order to make it difficult to decide.
However you’ve already done the hard part – you want a side-by-side with water and ice. So you don’t have to dither over freezer-on-top, freezer-on-bottom, or freezer-in-another-time-zone entirely. You will have to dither over whether you’ll get the freezer with the sliding shelves (ah – I never use this feature), filtered water, digital temperature control (stoopid), and so on. Ice makers and water dispensers are inherently less reliable than fridges without, but I use mine all the time.
Basically, get the biggest box that you can fit in the space. It’s not substantially more expensive to run, and you give up some space with the side-by-side.
The salespeople will badmouth any model they don’t sell, and praise any model they do sell. But my impression is that if you stick to any of the major brands, you should do OK. I ended up with a Maytag and it’s been good so far. Bought it as an open-box at Best Buy and shaved a couple of hundred dollars off the price (apparently the people who originally ordered it couldn’t measure too well and couldn’t get it through the door
Sorry to hear about the impending death of your fridge. I just replaced my this weekend. It too had duct tape repairs :eek: as well as other issues.
As far as a new fridge, ask first what is your budget then ask what do I want; as in most important features, like ice/water in the door, or lots of storage space etc… make a list and hit the appliance stores and see what you like (take measurements of your fridge space in the kitchen if in a niche area and doorways into your kitchen- just a hint*)
My old fridge was a standard side by side- I hated it. Both the fridge and freezer were so narrow I was severly limited in what I could put in there (medium sized pizza box too wide for fridge) and the freezer was more of a joke. But for me, I need to be able to store a lot of frozen/chilled foods- we cook a lot. I got a Kenmore Elite Trio, But it had everthing I wanted and I waited over a year to get it. And it was kinda expensive.
*we had to take the doors and hinges off the thing to get it in our kitchen. The sears delivery people said it would be impossible to get it in the kitchen I think I will take a picture of it in our kitchen and give it to the sears people hehehe
We’ve had a side by side with water/ice/crushed ice dispenser for the past 5 years and love it. We go through LOTS of ice, not only in the summer, and that feature alone has been worth it.
You will, however, have to keep that water connection clean, and depending on how hard your water is, the more often you will have to clean it. We also have a filter that lasts about 6 months - makes the water and ice taste like good bottled water. The GE Filter we buy costs about $40, but like I said - they last 6 months so that isn’t all that bad.
The good news is that most new fridges are far cheaper to run than the old ones, so go ahead and splurge a bit - you will make up the extra cost in savings on your electric bill.
If you’re lucky enough to be near one, hunt down a Sears appliance outlet. With some judicious shopping, you can save a lot of money. Keep in mind what parts of the sides will be covered by adjacent cabinets, stove, etc. to see if any dents that may be on it will be hidden or not. (There is a reason this kind of place is called “scratch and dent!”) Most of what you see there is stuff that was either floor display, or delivered to another customer, but dinged up in loading.
When you’re looking at brands, it can help to know that Whirlpool makes about 60% of all of 'em - just a guess, but it’s probably not far off - they make Whirlpool, (duh) Sears Kenmore, Costco’s Kirkland, KitchenAid, Estate and Roper. After that, GE makes Hotpoint, and Maytag makes Amana. As they say in the auto world, it’s all “brand engineering” - The basic guts are the same in a Costco fridge as a Kitchen Aid. The KA will just have the fancier extras - adjustable glass instead of non-movable wire shelves, and so on.
LVgeogeek sure has a nice fridge…if we had waited a couple of years I suspect we would have considered it.
We had a side-by-side upstairs when we bought our house, and were happy to have it…until we started using it. What a pain! There is no room to move things out of the way. When you have a full shelf, you have to empty it to see what is in the back, much less get it out. Good luck with anything wide as well. The water on the fridge is handy, but make sure you have access to the water source. Our fridge is on the other side of the kitchen from the plumbing making it difficult (pronounced expensive) to hook up.
For our set-up, we bought a huge bottom-mount freezer fridge (21cf) and I love it. It has split shelves, but I line them up so it is easier to shove stuff around from side to side to gain access to the year-old package of sliced ham. (it’s not that bad, we go through it weekly to pitch stuff that wasn’t or won’t be used…at least it is easy to see). Also, the freezer on the bottom is handy since we don’t go into it that often, but we use the fridge all the time and most things are at eye level…no crouching.
We moved our old fridge down to the basement. It still worked, we just hated it that much. We move the 1940’s fridge out to the garage…it was too expensive to run. Anyone want to buy an antique Westinghouse…still works great!
Side-by-side models are a pain; I’d suggest instead a top-freezer unit with an ice/water dispenser. I know GE makes a few models of this sort. You get the benefit of an ice and water dispenser, but more usable space (as other posters have said, some items just don’t fit right in a side-by-side model).
You should also know that an ice/water dispensor is more prone to breakage than any other part of the refrigerator, and you’ll run a significant chance of needing to get the thing repaired.
I suggest checking out Consumer Reports for model reliability before you buy.
Thanks for all the suggestions! We really need a side-by-side because of mobility issues. I’ve been in a wheelchair in the past and will be in one again eventually. Top or bottom freezers just are too much of a hassle.
We’ve been looking at a KitchenAid KSRG25FKBT 25.3 Cu. Ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator - the plastics seemed more sturdy than the Whirlpool model. And just can’t get a Kenmore - cause Sears is the devil. (long story - don’t ask.) Is anyone familiar with a KitchenAid refrigerator?
I’m not familiar with that particular Kitchen-Aid model, DeVena - but Kitchen-Aid is Whirlpool’s “high-end” brand name, and Kitchen-Aid refrigerators in general get excellent ratings from Consumer Reports (as do Whirlpool brand refrigerators). So I say go for it! Just make sure that if you have cabinetry over the space where your fridge goes, the Kitchen-Aid will fit - for some reason, Kitchen-Aid refrigerators are an inch or so taller than other models.
<sigh> Never send your husband into a store “just to check their prices”. He now wants the Maytag wide-by-side. Is anyone familiar with this model? Is it too trendy to be reliable? Or does anyone have a Maytag refrigerator?
I think I will take a picture of it in our kitchen and give it to the sears people hehehe