I need advice on repair vs new

[Mamaw]

I have a Magtag side by side ref. bout 1999 the right side door won't stay closed, the lines freese, freezer doesn't get cold enough to things frozen. I am sure that this is going to be a large bill and what is the life of a ref? Use to be when you went to Sears you had a refegerator for you lifetime. Please advice me as soon as possible as I must call this morning. Why do there things happen on the weekend. I sure don't want to have to spend a lot of money I just went to Mayo's twice.

[kork13]

I think a new one might be better.... it would actually work for you, and also, newer technologies that are used now will probably lead to some energy savings. Just my opinion, but I personally think you've got quite a laundry list of problems there.... unless the repairs (complete repairs, which would make it work normally) are going to cost less than half of a new one, I'd say get a new one.

[Mamaw]

If you have the repair man you have to pay before they come. I don't mean actual pay but if they don't repair you still pay them

[momof1in150]

You will have to pay them for a service call. They can tell you what is wrong and how much it will cost to repair but you will pay a minimum of a service call fee.

[disneysteve]

Absolutely replace. The new one will save you a bundle in energy, probably enough to pay for itself within a couple of years. My cousin replaced his last year and his electric bill dropped in half (he lives in an apartment, not a house).

[kork13]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Absolutely replace. The new one will save you a bundle in energy, probably enough to pay for itself within a couple of years. My cousin replaced his last year and his electric bill dropped in half (he lives in an apartment, not a house).

That sounds great, but is it really plausible that changing 1 appliance could have such a significant impact? I mean, maybe if you cange ALL appliances (fridge/freezer, water heater, A/C, washer/dryer) to more efficient ones you could expect a drop that big, but surely one inefficient refridgerator can't account for 50% of your power bill.... can it?

[maat55]

I would not rule out getting a fairly new one used, maybe on Craigslist.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by kork13

That sounds great, but is it really plausible that changing 1 appliance could have such a significant impact?

but surely one inefficient refridgerator can't account for 50% of your power bill.... can it?

Yes, it can. His was about 15 years old. He lives alone on the 2nd floor of a duplex. He works full time, so nobody is home all day. He has gas heat and hot water. Other than lights, TV and laundry, he doesn't really use much electricity. His bill dropped in half with the new fridge.

I'm sure in my house, a new fridge wouldn't have that big of an impact since we have a much larger home than him and run a lot more things that are electric.

[myrdale]

Nine years is just not that old for a fridge. My parents fridge was over 25 years when we replaced it. NO MORE ICETRAYS THOUGH!!!

About 6 months ago, the compressor on my fridge started making alot of racket constantly. I endured it for a bit, but it got louder and more frequent. Finally after dashing down stairs rifle in hand thinking someone was breaking in at 3 AM, I decided it was time for a new fridge.

My bill really spiked for the last two months of it's life. It's now come down. I'd say the old fridge was costing me $20 to $40 extra to run every month vs last year. Sort of hard to average, I did run the AC some.

If you are buying new, look around and find a good sale. Get a 10% off coupon if you can. I really hate saying it isn't worth repairing things, but it is getting more and more so.

[Judi Dial]

Originally Posted by kork13

That sounds great, but is it really plausible that changing 1 appliance could have such a significant impact?

btw, I used to fix appliances for sears briefly. It maybe that all you need is a new door seal, which is minimal. A door latch would be more, but still less than a new fridge.

Re the question above, acc. to energyhawk.com an old frig uses approx. 3 times the energy that a new one does. You can read the write up yourself it's their first refrigerator tip. When you consider that a frig runs 24/7, that's a lot of energy!

JD