Refrigerator Recommendations

Parent Cafe
1

While I was away looking at a college with D19 our refrigerator broke and flooded our dining room! I am heading home today and hoping to buy a new one today or tomorrow while there are a few sales for the weekend.

Do any of you have a fridge you love? We currently have a side by side and I like it but feel like the fridge side is very small. We don’t do a ton of freezer food and we do have an old fridge in the fridge stage with a small freezer on top if we ever need extra space so I would be ok with a smaller freezer in the kitchen.

Thanks for any advice!

2

I love the french door style. BUT I do not love my fridge. I have a GE Profile…and it’s a piece of junk.

I also would not ever again get a through the door ice dispenser!

My next fridge will probably be a Kenmore Elite, or Kitchenaid.

3

I have this SubZero - bought about two years ago to replace a 15 year old Viking. Did not love the new Viking - looked like they haven’t changed the design in 15 years. The SubZero is fantastic - it was pricey, but I’m in love - it’s exceptionally deep, the drawers are very roomy and useful for organizing produce. The interior is all stainless and glass with NO plastic. I have the glass door on the refrigerator side, and I was concerned that the contents would show and I’d have to keep it neat looking all of the time, but with the light off, the contents are not visible. I think the glass breaks up the vast expanse of stainless.

https://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/full-size-refrigeration/refrigeration

4

She said fridge not car. :slight_smile: That’s a tuition bill.

We have a Kitchen aid. Been pretty good so far. Counter depth. Side by side. The freezer will fit a frozen pizza. A lot will depend on the space you have available for it. I think the bottom freezer is becoming more popular these days.

5

@momtogkc

What is your price range? And do you even have the right space for something like a sub zero.

The subzero is a terrific fridge, but I know…we would not spend that much on a fridge…and our space wouldn’t accommodate it anyway.

So…maybe give is some more details! Like do you need a built in model, counter depth, specific opening size, price point.

6

I ilke my Samsung French door frig with the extra drawer, paid extra for that drawer and am very happy. When I use my DD’s frig and have to open both drawers to use the full width cheese drawer, I am glad I got that extra drawer. The ice is very slow to dispense which drives DH crazy!

7

We have a Whirlpool Gold model with French doors and a bottom freezer. I love having all the refrigerated items up top and within easy reach; we don’t use the freezer much, either. It is 8 years old and has been very reliable.

8

We bought an LG last year and love it.

9

Thank you all! I meant to put orocecrange but was sitting in the plane and forgot. I’m thinking closer to $1-3,000 not quite Sub Zero prices although I would love that! Maybe after all three are done with college.

I just got home to a very loud house full of fans and dehumidifiers and am about to start looking online.

10

We have a Samsung side by side refrigerator with the showcase door. Would NOT recommend it. No one can figure out how to open it and the interior space is small. We have also had a lot of issues with the ice maker. Good luck in your search.

11

I dislike side by side refrigerators so I replaced the one that came with our current house. French door refrigerators place all of the bins at a much better level. We have a stand alone old 5 cubic ft freezer so I can stock up. I researched refrigerators extensively.

A larger one is nice even for empty nesters because we freeze portions and have many leftovers. In the door ice/water is a must for Florida if you want cold drinking water ad lib. Up north it may not be wanted.

It came down to two brands for me. Samsung or LG based on reliability and features.

Both have the feature where the freezer door has some lift to it when opened- try out those doors in the store and you will understand. Also think about solid instead of wire freezer shelves- food particles may end up hidden. And door storage can be useful.

Consider the need for a lot of ice versus where the icemaker is. Also check for shelves that slide/fold so tall items can be placed on more than one shelf.

Door in door is more expensive, as is counter depth for the same size. Neither useful- we easily open the door to get stuff on one side. I understand above poster’s issues. We opted for the three door model with an across the width drawer. Less expensive than one with a separate door for that. Pros and cons- we need to open the whole refrigerator to access that drawer but can see its contents whenever we open the refrigerator- no out of sight out of mind.

Little things can be good or annoying. I liked the Samsung rounded handles better than the LG’s (or other brands) plus the other details. I also had checked the type of cooling- dual or some such (a few years ago). I have seen refrigerators that look good but are awkward to open- recessed handles that I find difficult for right versus left.

Sears has had good information about many brands. Likewise check other sites for info- online and in the store. You do not need to buy where you look. Catch the sales and price matching. Check on delivery/haul away charges. We got a great price from hh gregg- out of business now

Ours is a Samsung RF28HF… Not too big for two of us and energy efficient, quiet… You need to go bigger than 24 cubic feet to get nicer features/quality. Ours listed for $3000 +/- but cost under $1700 after sale price/rebate et al almost four years ago.

I/we chose different brands for different appliances- no need to use the same brands in your kitchen. We did go all stainless to match the current GE stove and over the range microwave oven that are still going strong.

Go “kick some tires” at several stores. Read reviews. Some of those high end refrigerators have more issues than the free standing upper mid range brands.

Be sure to check dimensions that will fit your space as well!

12

When we did our remodel three years ago, the contractor sent me to an appliance store that had gorgeous high end appliances and the mid to higher end of the “more familiar” brands. It was great to touch, see, check lighting etc. I went and looked at Lowe’s and brought the prices to this store and they matched Lowe’s prices. Lowe’s had only 1-2 of those I wanted to consider that I could actually touch.

That said, the sales guy talked me out of LG and Samsung though I was drawn to their features. He said repairs were a problem but I don’t think that is necessarily true. Ended up with a GE Profile French door, 28 cuft. I loved and still love the dual ice makers, one in the door, one in the freezer. I can turn off the freezer one if I need to store more, but we use a ton of ice and most in the door models make little ice. I love the lighting but I think they all have amazing LED lighting now compared to my old dinosaur. It was about $2300.

I find a fridge personal, like a purse or backpack. We all have features we must have, want and can live without. Reviews are great but I really needed to see the appliance in person. Good luck. What an unlucky thing to come home to but hopefully you can take advantage of the Labor Day sales!

13

We have a GE French door fridge with bottom freezer that’s maybe 8 years old. I have really liked it. I like the way the space is laid out in the French door design and I would get one again. I can fit a Costco sized cake or a large pizza box in there with no trouble. We have a tight space in the kitchen and basically had to get a side by side or French door. We have had ice maker problems, twice. Ice makers just break a lot I’m told, but it’s worth checking reliability. We had a repair under the extended warranty and another out of warranty that we did ourselves. At the time we bought it, Samsung and GE were the same. One brand manufactured the other, and a friend of ours bought our exact same fridge as a Samsung. Not sure they are still the same but they were then.

14

Thanks for all of the information. I have been researching online and from what I can tell there is not one good refrigerator out there! :frowning: I have gone through the top ones on Consumer Reports and every one of them has terrible customer ratings. I am too tired from our trip to go out tonight but will head out to the stores tomorrow.

15

Our GE Profile french door is five years old. The gasket is taped together with packing tape because it is in tatters. The thing that makes the door close broke off after one year. The ice maker is fine but takes up valuable room in the fridge.

My husband hates it. I told him, he only has to hate it for two more years because fridges are built to last about 7 years.

Oh…we did check the price of ordering a new gasket…it’s $280. We are thinking about it.

16

There is good info about appliance reliability at https://blog.yaleappliance.com/topic/refrigerators .

We’ve had an LG French door refrigerator for about 2-3 years and are very happy with it. We originally had bought an equivalent Samsung, but it had a high pitch noise that bothered one of us. We don’t get the on-the-door ice makers because that seems to be the biggest problem area.

17

We have a Samsung French door RF263 that we bought at super price at Lowe’s around Dec. Has indoor ice plus extra ice maker in freezer (we like ice). So far so good. Have to open both doors for “deli” storage but that’s pretty small anyways.

Samsung has their own company sales independent of store sale so watch. The Samsung didn’t even appear to be on sale at the time as we were looking. The final price made it a no brainer.

It is harder to see what’s in the bottom drawer of the freezer of a French door but that depends on how much variety of items you tend to store as to how much it bothers you. The freezer does have its own light which is nice.

Friends have a LG French door and like it too. Very nice.

I HATED our side by side (GE). Never worked right from day one and pretty inefficient storage. After endless problems we just decided to change. I will never have another side by side.

18

From what I read the door-in-door thing is a real gimmick and totally energy inefficient. Plus they break down.

19

I have a french door Samsung, about 6-7 years old. For the most part, it’s been fine. We chose it over the LG b/c the LG ice maker took up too much room on the door so we would have lost much desired condiment storage space. Samsung ice maker takes up space in the fridge but not too bad.

What I dislike - the water dispenser on the door. Four kids who mostly drink water - the in door dispenser has been a major PITA. The kids constantly pull their glass away just as they depress the dispenser button, which means the last of the water then drips. Even though there is a catch tray, I HATE this feature and will never get water on the door again. In addition, the ice maker produces very little ice at a time. Again, four kids. Never enough ice on hot summer days when filling water bottles for sports practice. Last summer, the ice maker broke and rather than fixing it, I went the old fashioned way and bought ice cube trays. Though it means being good about emptying them into an ice bucket in the freezer and keeping the trays filled, we actually had more ice this way. Then earlier this summer. my fridge and freezer basically stopped cooling. Freezer went out slowly. then eventually the fridge. Stop gap measure until it got fixed - unplugging and plugging back in. This reset the fridge. Finally got it fixed - was not even going to both fixing the ice maker but the repair guy said that it would actually help if we did (long explanation but I understood). So now we have a working ice dispenser but we have kept the ice trays. My next fridge will have an ice maker that is actually in the freezer compartment, not in the door. If we have a water dispenser, it will be INSIDE the fridge, not on the door. We have filtered water at the sink though so just as easy to put ice in a cup, fill glass at the sink and not worry about drips on the door.

Repairman did tell me that Samsung parts take longer to order so that is something I’d factor in when purchasing next time. Aside from the in door water/ice maker. I’ve been happy with the fridge/freezer and its compartments, etc. Bummer that it broke this summer but I’m guessing ANY appliance these days is really hit or miss whether it will need repair at some point after 5 years.

Incidentally, while shopping for a new dryer earlier this summer, I looked at the fridges on display (since ours was on the fritz and we weren’t sure whether we’d repair or replace). I saw VERY few that did not have ice/water on the door. It seems like 80% of them did. I will not get this again, so I’m guessing my options will be limited.

20

We had a kitchen aid in our last house. It was still going after 11 years but we had to replace all the drawers and such because they cracked very easily. I also found it difficult to clean.

We bought a Bosch for this house but without the water dispenser because we heard that’s were issues with the water/ice dispenser. Fingers crossed. I agree that unless you can afford a Subzero, the review of almost all the brands don’t look very promising.