Searching for a new refrigerator for the house

Well I bought my Speed Queen washer based on recommendations from here. Its been wonderful so now I am asking about refrigerator suggestions. Nothing to fancy; about 24-25 cu. ft., ice maker, dispense water, black or stainless steel, the boss wants to try the french door with bottom freezer style. Our current GE is 19 years old and having some issues so I am trying to research and replace before it fails.

Please share your experience for brands and/or options. Thanks in advance!

 

DO NOT buy an LG with a linear compressor or any fridge with a linear compressor for that matter. Known to have compressor failures way before it's "10 year guarantee" expires. Nobody will service them either. There are a number of lawsuits against LG for this. I also swore off GE Profile after it failed for the 3rd time within a 1 year period. Currently have a Samsung side by side (going on 4 years). I'm not a fan of the bottom freezer drawers. Anyway, most residential consumer fridges are not reliable anymore because companies make them as cheaply as possible which should be no surprise to anyone.

 

They all SUCK. I ended up getting a high end Bosch 15 years ago and it has been rock solid, nothing broke on it so far.

 

We have a samsung with the French doors and bottom freezer. The configuration works well for us since a lot of stuff is kept in the separate deep freeze. It's been good except foer the ice maker.

The ice maker is located in the top along the fridge space, this can cause the ice maker to freeze up and not work. This is a known issue and I believe was remedied.

We called samsung and they fixed the fridge outside of the warranty due to it being a known issue and a lot of failures. Were going on about a year and the repair has worked well with no issues since.

We do like the exterior water and ice dispenser in the door it works great for the boys. The water filters are not cheap but can be found online and deals can be had.

Since we have a working ice maker again it has been a good fridge going on 8 years.

The stainless does pick up finger prints but if you have kids that can figure out how handles work it's really no issue.

Good luck it's probably a buy once cry once deal. Stay away from LG their stuff sucks on any appliance.

Budget is your only limit there is some nice stuff out there but it's a pay to play situation

 

We recently, within a year. bought another GE.
It's a little noisy but it works fine.
We like the French doors, did not get an in-door water/ice dispenser, but there is a water dispenser inside..

 

Have always had good luck with both GE and Frigidaire refrigerators.

 

We did all Whirlpool / Frigidare (same company) appliances when we renovated our kitchen 8-ish years ago and haven't had any problems.

We have the French door, bottom freezer configuration with water/ice dispenser on the front.

I really like this configuration since the stuff you access most (frig) is more at eye level.

Home Depot probably has a Memorial Day sale going now for appliances so you could save a few hundy.

 

Home Depot does have a Frigidaire model we are going to look at. Reviews are decent. Our other three appliances in the kitchen are all Whirlpool and have been OK. They are all builders grade so reliable but not amazing. Thanks

 

I would just say do not buy anything Samsung or LG. Samsung can rarely get serviced around here, and LG sucks and their parts have been hard for us to get. I won't buy anything from them every again after the experiences we've had.

We have a lot of GE stuff, and while its been okay, Its not anything special. Wife has HATED the french door set up(no bottom freezer, one side is a freezer one is fridge) and wants to replace it even though its only 4-5 years old. So I would think hard about that, maybe go to HD and just look at the different set ups offered with your wife so you don't get something that puts you in the dog house!

Upper end GE if you can afford it, or a higher quality brand like Bosch someone mentioned. Be careful of big sales at stores, a lot of times there is a REASON they are 40% off. I've paid that price twice and learned my lessons.

We have been eyeing the speed queens hard!!!! That's our next appliance, even though it probably isn't needed, very happy to hear you have had good luck with it.

 

Thanks for the input, we will hit the stores for the holiday sales this week. I have the entry level Speed Queen (without the electronics) and its awesome. It was close to $1000 and work every penny. I am quite sure the nicer model Speed Queens are amazing as well.

 

"entry level with no electronics" That reads to me like "the one that won't break and will be easy to fix if it does"

 

This is the one we have, I'd buy it again.

Water filters ain't cheap, about $60 but they last quite a while.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpo...-Stainless-Steel-WRF757SDHZ/305447143#overlay

 

The 'french door' fridge is 2 doors and a bottom freezer..
Do you have a side-by-side?
Because they suck, you can barely fit a frozen pizza in it.

We had a big single top door and bottom freezer and the wife didn't care for it.
She likes the french door set up.

 

I have the same fridge as you. My ice maker works fine. Occasionally I get a layer of ice under the cool select pantry requiring me to empty the fridge to clear it manually.

 

Damn it. My response is everything after 1st paragraph, can’t figure out how to fix this.

 

Mine did exactly this. There’s a repair kit consisting of a longer metal element in fridge compartment and new drain tubes. Easy fix, inexpensive, but sort of inconvenient if it’s your only fridge. YouTube it, it’s simple.

 

I have a twenty year old Whirlpool side by side we relegated to beer fridge in the garage. Couple years ago it quit so I you tubed troubleshooting. Condenser fan quit which also caused the thermal fuse on compressor to melt. Fixed it for $20 in parts and an hour of my time. I’m glad that worked as I wasn’t prepared to pay COVID prices for a new fridge.

 

It’s not just LG, it’s any refrigerator with the linear compressor in it. Kenmore fridges also have them. Shame, Kenmore used to be a solid brand for a fridge.

 

Other reason for buying another GE fridge;
All the appliances in the kitchen have to match name brands.
GE range, dishwasher, microwave, so GE fridge.

The first one was Whirlpool.
It 18 years old, and bought it when we bought the house.
Only real issue with it was the vent that regulates air flow between the fridge and freezer was a little noisy when it moved.
Had it replaced twice under warranty, then I replaced it twice.
It would run quietly for about a year, then start grinding again.

She researched what she wanted and liked this one.
I don't really care what is in there.

When the Maytag clothes washer crapped the bed, it's time for a new washer AND DRYER.
They have to match.

First had Bosch, the boot would rip almost every time we washed a blanket.
I replaced that boot 5 times and got pretty good at it.

The second set was Maytag.
Got 6 years out of it before it started coding too many suds and shutting down.
Had a couple parts replaced and when it got to replacing the main board for $700, it was time to buy a new one.

We've had GE washer and dryer for 2 years, so far so good..

So if your wife doesn't demand matching brands, consider yourself lucky..
Happy wife happy, well you know..

 

Kenmore was a solid brand for everything back in the day.
The house I had before I remarried in 2007 was built in the 1960s.
I bought it in 1999.
The inside gas furnace was a Kenmore and it worked perfectly when we sold the house in 2007.
I'm pretty sure it was the original furnace from the 1960s.
The outside unit had been replaced, but the inside unit had been kicking for 47 years..

Parents always had Kenmore everything, kitchen appliances, washer/dryer, vacuum cleaners..
The good old days..

 

I love my whirlpool! 19 years old & still going strong! It has top freezer & I’ve never hooked up the ice maker.

 

I did ditch my Whirlpool “high efficiency “ washer for a speed queen old school agitator a year ago. Clothes are clean again. Whirlpool dryer doesn’t match but it heats and tumbles, so….


Sad that 30 yrs ago all this stuff worked and lasted. Now all the energy star, high efficiency stuff is “gov mandated” it lasts a couple years. Gonna stop now.

 

Ok, appliance repair guy here, Kenmore does not make anything,they buy stuff and put their name on it. Lg and Samsung are the worst, I steer clear of their refrigerators. All manufacturers switched to butane for Freon couple years ago, it ain’t working out so well. I tell everyone to buy the cheapest thing you can cause you will be lucky to get 10 years out of it.

 

I thought it was dehydrated propane?

 

I wanted a Speed Queen washer and dryer, but my 5' wife was against it.
She said she couldn't reach down into it..

 

She has 1.’ long arms???
Please don’t tell me she’s disabled. I apologize if that’s the case.
If not T-Rex arms?

 

Yeah there is an issue and samsung knows they messed up, a small steam cleaner works wonders to thaw it without having to empty the fridge. Part of the problem is it has its own compressor and it has to keep that section freezer cold when it's surrounded by fridge Temps.

Tech said if the ice maker is in the fridge area they are much more prone to issues of freezing up

 

I'm not sure I'll measure them and get back to you.

No, she had a top loader washer when we met and she didn't like reaching down into it to get her clothes out.
The front loader with the $600 pedestals, works out great..

 

yes side by side. Thanks for that chart!

 

My samsung fridge died in last days of it's 1 year factory warranty. Once i finally argued them to even send out service people, they botched the repair multiple times to the point it was no longer repairable due to their screw ups. They cut me a check to replace it and i'll never get another samsung appliance. The GE i got has been fine going on about 2 years now.