Tell me about your refrigerator

[tvguy]

We've had a Kenmore french door with bottom freezer since 2003 that has had no problems even though it's been in a garage since 2008. I don't know how good the current Kenmores are though.

I'd shop Sears no matter what brand you decide on. They seem to have the lowest prices, and at least here, they actually have them in stock. Lowes would order one and have it in 10 days, Home Depot needed 5 days.
We have a Kenmore side by side made by LG. They had it set up right next to the identical LG version, but the LG was $300 more! 10 years old now. 2 ice makers replaced under the Sears service plan. Judging from online reviews, no refrigerator maker has figured out how to make an ice maker last more than a few years.

 

[monkeydawn]

Ive had a horrible experience with Sears delivery (washer but Im guessing the same people as the fridge deliveries). It took awhile and they set it up wrong which meant a mess plus the thing stopped working (because of how it was set up, the washer is running right now almost 10 years later). I called within a half hour of them leaving and getting anyone back to resolve it or getting my old washer back and returning what I thought was a lemon was a big pain. So Sears is probably a YMMV kinda recommendation.

Ive had no issues with Lowes, Maytag direct and Costco deliveries and set up (but again, probably YMMV).

 

[georgina]

I'd shop Sears no matter what brand you decide on. They seem to have the lowest prices, and at least here, they actually have them in stock. Lowes would order one and have it in 10 days, Home Depot needed 5 days.
We have a Kenmore side by side made by LG. They had it set up right next to the identical LG version, but the LG was $300 more! 10 years old now. 2 ice makers replaced under the Sears service plan. Judging from online reviews, no refrigerator maker has figured out how to make an ice maker last more than a few years.

You still have Sears? Wow, not around me. I use a local small appliance store that we have been using for 30 years. But I'm no help to the OP since all my kitchen appliances are GE Profile. Ice maker still works fine after 5 years.

 

[Wendy31]

We have a Whirlpool French door w/ an ice maker & water dispenser in the door. (The freezer is on the bottom.). It doesn’t have the extra drawer on the outside, but it does have a drawer & 3 bins on the inside.

It’s worked well for us, & we’ve been pleased. (We’ve had it for about 5-7 years.... I can’t remember exactly.)

 

[greg9x]

My parents have a Kitchenaid that's been great for 22 years now and still going strong. It's a side by side, and pretty much the only fridge they could find at the time that would fit in the space (the island is weirdly close).

Sadly, that means nothing for todays appliances... Our desire for cheap things has driven almost all brands to put the lowest cost parts in their appliances.. add in the computerization of many appliances, it gives more things that can go wrong.

I have Samsung fridge... it was fine until the defrost went out causing ice build up that stopped the circulating fan from spinning. I was able to fix it myself (as well as make a modification to prevent another issue in future), but the amount of issues I saw during my research would push me away from Samsung appliances in the future. I will say it has been fine again since repair.

 

[caroline5177]

Don’t buy a Samsung! We’ve had ours for about 8 years and have lucked out.
Ours has luckily survived in good enough condition that I haven’t had to purchase another. YET! Many service folks won’t even look at a Samsung to service though.
Ours has a snack drawer (Between the frig on top & bottom freezer) which I love, but the temp control went out quickly.
Also, I have to defrost/empty the ice buildup on the bottom freezer pan about once per month. We know it has something to do with the ice maker/drip line.

We are not do-it yourself people so I haven’t looked into fixing that line ourselves. I just know I won’t buy Samsung again!

On a good note- our old KitchenAid side by side from long ago is still plugging along in the garage. It’s approximately 20years old.

 

[tvguy]

You still have Sears? Wow, not around me. I use a local small appliance store that we have been using for 30 years. But I'm no help to the OP since all my kitchen appliances are GE Profile. Ice maker still works fine after 5 years.

One location closed, but two remain open in our area. Three counting their outlet store. My daughter bought a house last year and bought her washer, dryer and vacuum there.

 

[DVC-Don]

Well over the years we've had:
Kenmore: Had problems after a couple of years.
GE: Had issues with them too, mostly with stoves.
Then there was Whirlpool: Had a lot of problems with those. Durn dishwasher.
Lastly the issue was a Samsung fridge.

Now have LG, but we'll see.

Basically all crap.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Replaced the refrigerator in my old house about two years before we sold the house. The space for the refrigerator made it hard to find one that fit. But I found a Samsung three door (freezer on the bottom) and I loved it. It stayed with the house when we sold the house because we knew how hard it would be to find one to fit the space. When we got to our new house, the refrigerator in the kitchen was an older, basic black one. Ugh. So we tried to replace it with another Samsung (again the space was a bit narrower than most of the refrigerators on the market). Couldn't find a Samsung, so found an LG. Same three door (two doors on top, freezer drawer on the bottom) and I really like it. No water on the door of either of these (too small), but both had a nice ice maker. Found both of them online at Lowes.

 

[ronandannette]

This is the thing I struggle with. If it's a fridge that's lasted a long time, well maybe they're not making them that way like they used to. If it's a new fridge and the reviews are good...well, maybe it's because it's not old enough to have had problems yet. A lot of this is taking it on faith, which I don't like to do with a big-money purchase.

They don't - period. I run the Warranty department for a homebuilder and we put hundreds and hundreds of sets of appliances into new homes every year. Our customers get to make their own selections so I see an extensive cross-section of brands and how they perform. Some are better and some are worse but the universal fact is that they are all designed with a planned-obsolescence cycle. If you get 5 - 8 years trouble-free from any major appliance, you are ahead of the game.

The best advice I can give you is to buy extended warranty and to be aware that many appliance brands are made by the same manufacturers and are essentially the same except for the added features. Here's an article about it: https://academy.fredsappliance.com/news/appliance-brands-owns/
In terms of reputation and price, just taking the Whirlpool brands for example, this is how they stack up (from least to best):
Amana
Maytag
Whirlpool
KitchenAid
Jenn-Air

If you spend a lot of time shopping and compare models very carefully, you can find some of the lower-priced badges with many of the same features as the higher-end badges and the basic engineering and parts inside will all be the same. Best of luck.

 

[Lizgistix]

My refrigerator? It, uh, it keeps stuff cold.
We have a side by side fridge/freezer and the shelves in the freezer are spaced out where it's just not quite high enough to put a frozen pizza inside. And I like frozen pizza. Also our ice mover-outer-thingy broke so we have to reach into the bin to pull ice out for drinks instead of the dispenser built into the door. Also finding replacement water filters for the water dispenser is becoming a challenge but thankfully they were still available on the Sears website.

 

[greg9x]

Also, I have to defrost/empty the ice buildup on the bottom freezer pan about once per month. We know it has something to do with the ice maker/drip line.

We are not do-it yourself people so I haven’t looked into fixing that line ourselves. I just know I won’t buy Samsung again!

Not sure if same issue your talking about..but the modification I made is to put a piece of copper wire from the defrost coil down in to the drain lline. The drain line can get clogged with ice causing drain water to run/freeze over. The wire heats the drain line during defrost cycle and keeps ice from forming. Just bad design.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

he one brand we won't consider is GE. Our house was an all-GE appliance house when we moved in and we've had trouble with just about every one of them, including this fridge we're replacing..

Ok, to be fair, when did you move in and how old were the appliances at that point?

 

[caroline5177]

I really should look into that! Thanks! @greg9x
It’s kind of weird that the frig went about 4 months with no build up (end of Nov thru March), then I’ve had to clear it twice since then.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Ok, to be fair, when did you move in and how old were the appliances at that point?

Well, I thought I was being fair.

We moved in in 2009. The appliances were purchased between 2002-2005. We had our first issue with a GE appliance (a dryer) a week after. It continued regularly since then.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Well, I thought I was being fair.

We moved in in 2009. The appliances were purchased between 2002-2005. We had our first issue with a GE appliance (a dryer) a week after. It continued regularly since then.

15 to 20 years for an appliance seems pretty standard at this point, though, right? Although if you had problems with them right away, when they were between 4 and 7 years old, I can see why you don't trust the brand.

 

[KristinU]

Don't buy an LG. I love our fridge when it works, beautiful counter-depth french door with an extra drawer that we can set to be a fridge or freezer, and ice in the door that doesn't take up extra space. I love everything about it except the fact that we've had multiple instances where the Linear Compressor stops working and doesn't cool. At least they've extended the standard warranty length and have fixed it three times at no charge, but still. Google 'LG Linear Compressor Class Action Lawsuit' and you'll find several. As far as I know, they haven't changed the issue in the compressor design that causes the failures. I almost hate to jinx myself and say it, but it has been about 9-10 months since the last repair where they replaced the compressor and the condenser coils and, knock on wood, it has been OK.

 

[candy0730]

We have a Samsung french door purchased about 8 years ago. Love the style and the size. I don't love the knocking sounds it makes every so often or how easily it dents. It is not stainless steel but looks like it. Maybe brushed steel?? That may have be why it dents easier. Overall it works great and keeps food cold.

 

[fla4fun]

I have French doors and a bottom freezer, but I would prefer freezer on top. The drawer that pulls out exposes most of your frozen food to the warmer air every time it’s opened, and the back of the drawer is angled, which cuts down on available space. Fortunately I have an upright freezer in the basement, but if I didn’t I don’t think I would buy this style of fridge again.

 

[SueInBoston]

I love my Samsung French Doors (right door is a door within door with bottle shelves for drinks), snack drawer and freezer drawer. I wish I had one when the kids were young when the fridge get opened 30x a day for snacks and drinks alone.

In the. past I've had Whirlpool and Maytag and both ice maker died within 5 years.