<p>[High</a> Efficiency Air Conditioners Without CFCs](<a href=“http://socalgas.com/construction/builders/Builders%20Resource%20Guide/High%20Efficiency%20Air%20Conditioners%20Without%20CFCs.htm]High”>http://socalgas.com/construction/builders/Builders%20Resource%20Guide/High%20Efficiency%20Air%20Conditioners%20Without%20CFCs.htm)</p>
<p>dmd77, info I’ve seen is similar to yours: [Refrigerator</a> Efficiency](<a href=“http://www.refrigeratorefficiency.com/]Refrigerator”>http://www.refrigeratorefficiency.com/)</p>
<p>BCEagle: those are air conditioners. Not the same at all.</p>
<p>I had a look at ours and it was interesting to see that it was made in the USA. There’s no EnergyStar information or information about energy consumption other than voltage and amperage. It does use R12 which is a CFC. Our electricity bill typically runs from $40 to $150. The higher amounts are in the summer when we run an air conditioner. The lowest amounts are in the spring and fall. Winter bills run about $70 to $90. The refrigerator cost somewhere around $300 to $400 (probably closer to $300).</p>
<p>I don’t particularly see the need to replace something that works just fine where we have inexpensive electricity bills for something made in China that may last a few years and die. The one that we have has certainly proven itself over the years.</p>
<p>This last website didn’t have my model number in it and didn’t indicate its computational methodology. I didn’t see any discussion of refrigerants in my perusal. The models suggested by the site are very expensive and I wonder if he has any support from the companies that make those particular models.</p>
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<p>They all use similar refrigerants and have the same main purpose - heat exchange.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve never been convinced when I bought the <em>newer, better, high efficiency</em> stuff either. Never an electric bill reduction big enough to notice.</p>
<p>In a similar vein, how about all those drivers who run out and trade in their paid-for vehicle for the great new efficient one? Say 20 mpg vs 30 mpg, $3/gal gas, and 15,000 miles per year. Umm, a savings of $750 a year or $14 a week, before you account for the increased insurance and plate fees. Great savings (not!), especially when you factor in most of these folks financed $20-30,000 at 6-8% interest.</p>
<p>I am so sorry to hear about your ailing refrigerator. As the author of several appliance related threads I can assure you that I feel your pain. You are faced with a very difficult decision, but I am sure you will know in your heart… when it is time… to pull the plug. :D</p>
<p>I’m happy to report the new condensor was installed this afternoon. It was tough going from Thanksgiving to almost the New Year w/o a fridge. Who knew I’d get such pleasure from hearing a humming refrigerator? Ice cubes tomorrow!</p>
<p>Ha!–NJres, I’ll have no problem pulling the plug. I’m just looking for an excuse to get a shiny new fridge!</p>
<p>However, I also don’t like getting rid of things that still work. (I wish my stove would die too so I can get one of those turbo models. I guess my old thing will work forever.)
Thanks to everyone for all the advice. It sounds like my aged refrigerator owes me no favors at this point. I need to, um, ahem, go find out what a “compressor” is, then figure out which sounds coming out of the fridge is the compressor noise? I’m sitting 10 feet from the thing now and do hear something that sounds like a fan. It seems to be on all the time, or maybe I just don’t notice when it turns off. It did use to make this sort of clattering, shuddering noise (like an old man clearing his throat) somewhat regularly, but come to think of it, I haven’t heard that noise in a while. </p>
<p>I will go dig up the manual. </p>
<p>I do vacuum the coils and whatnot underneath every once in a while. Once, I discovered a 3 inch layer of ice at the bottom of the freezer (it’s a side by side, so I have no idea how long it was there, clogging up the drain). I cleaned that out and it seemed to be ok for a while.</p>
<p>And speaking of large appliances, my dryer often, but not always, makes a shrieking noise for about 4-5 seconds when I turn it on. It is still working fine though. I’ve been ignoring it in the hopes that it is “self-fixing”. I just turn it on and run out of the room and shut the door behind me. It’s been going on for about a year and so far… Are my days numbered?</p>
<p>You sound like a person cast from the same mold as me, MG. When I think I hear the car starting to make a funky noise, I just turn the radio up louder.</p>
<p>Consider yourself lucky that your fridge lasted that long. Three weeks ago the compressor on our fridge failed, only 4 months AFTER the warranty expired. It was a Tecumsah compressor, and when I googled that I found lots of complaints about these compressors. But of course who knows to ask about the manufacturer of the compressor, and how would one know which ones are good or bad. What I have learned is that KitchenAid gives a 10-year warranty on the compressors in their fridges, while all of the others are only 5 years.</p>
<p>Good luck. Our repair person was able to rig a system that for the past 3 weeks has kept our fridge working, but there’s no guarantee as to how long this fix will last. The repair person said it all depends on why the compressor failed in the first place.</p>
<p>It seemed that appliances lasted a lot longer in the good old days. I think that my mother’s frig is 30+ years old. I also don’t remember them having the kinds of failures that they do today. Perhaps it is due to the complexity of modern refrigerators or the use of cheapest possible manufacturing costs.</p>
<p>Yes, I even buy extended warranties for major appliances, something I never ever used to do.</p>
<p>A lot of people talk about the Samsung for a popularly priced French door model:</p>
<p>[Refrigerators:</a> Refrigerator Buying Guide - ConsumerSearch](<a href=“http://www.consumersearch.com/refrigerators/french-door-refrigerators]Refrigerators:”>http://www.consumersearch.com/refrigerators/french-door-refrigerators)</p>
<p>This talks about side by sides but also which companies own which and some recent issues:</p>
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<p>Ha. My tactic too!</p>
<p>Big Sigh. I guess I have some serious research to do before I choose our next model. Gone are the days you could just go to the local appliance store and pick the “pretty one”. I’m kind of shocked at how many stories there are of relatively new refrigertors having compressor problems. I guess I should be grateful for this old thing.</p>
<p>I want a simple fridge with the freezer drawer at the bottom. No water/ice dispenser. No digital anything. Just keep the food cold/frozen.</p>
<p>The modern business models basically say that you need to be one or two in your industry and that there’s room for maybe three or four. I guess there’s been a lot of consolidation which makes for less diversity and competition. I think that the older stuff was less engineered and more overbuilt so that the tolerances on the modern stuff are tighter towards failure. This probably improves efficiency and saves on materials.</p>
<p>Something that I find interesting is that car aid conditioners have gone the other way. I find that auto air conditioners are more reliable today than they were in the 1980s and 1990s. It is possible to make better products but I think that the manufacturers don’t feel a need to. I guess that we’ll keep our old one until it dies. There are no indications of that happening right now.</p>
<p>Everyday, I say my prayers and include my fridge. It’s 15 years old…and it’s a counter depth fridge so it’s going to cost at least $2500 to replace. Maybe we’ll just stop eating foods that need to be refrigerated. </p>
<p>Yes…old fridges seemed to last longer (and stoves too) but they didn’t have all the fandangled gizmos in them that these newer models have…drawers with different humidity and temps for the veggies and fruits, ice things in the door etc. There’s just more TO break. The old ones were a box…cold on the bottom and freezing on the top. </p>
<p>The stove that we had that lasted forever did NOT have a self cleaning oven. We PRAYED for it to die. It seemed like they stopped making Easy Off. It finally died and we celebrated. </p>
<p>Now…all of our appliances are fifteen years old and I suspect we’ll be replacing them one by one. We just paid $150 to have the switch replaced on the batch feed garbage disposal. Replacement would have been $350…I guess DH made the right decision. I guess. The disposal we have is HUGE and was very expensive, and except for the switch (it wasn’t turning OFF), it works fine.</p>
<p>But the fridge…bleh.</p>
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<p>Why are they so expensive compared to boxy fridges?</p>
<p>I think the counter depths are more expensive because they make less of them…you know…law of supply and demand. Not too many needed, not too many made, not too many available…COST up. Ridiculous.</p>
<p>VH, you may remember where my fridge is located. It can’t stick out more or we would not be able to walk into the dining room from the kitchen without stepping on the island.</p>
<p>Thanks, roshke, for that link. My dying but still running fridge is a GE, one of the independents. It’s 17 years old now (I think I said 16 earlier in this thread but I was mistaken). thumper, I’m in the same position. All our appliances are about 17 years old-- we bought them all when we renovated our home. In all this time, we’ve had one repair, to the pilot light in the oven. I guess I have no cause to complain.</p>