Which Refrigerator to buy?

[Starry436]

Anyone bought a new refrigerator recently? What brand and style refrigerator do you have or consider one of the better brands?

I've been reading mixed reviews on every style..French door, side by side, etc and on every brand. I know there's no perfect pick but as an indecisive person this choice has been hard.

[disneysteve]

Anyone bought a new refrigerator recently?

We bought one in January and also had difficulty. Our old fridge was from 1994 and a lot has changed since then. We had a traditional top freezer, bottom fridge. Those apparently have fallen out of favor. They're still around but in a limited selection.

We ended up with a top fridge, bottom freezer from Whirlpool. I love the fridge. It's easier to get into and it's roomier than the old one. The LED lighting is also nice. I don't like the freezer though. It is a drawer rather than a front door and it's more difficult to maneuver in and out of and doesn't hold as much as the old one. Fortunately, we have an upright freezer in the basement so we're using that a lot more than we used to which is kind of a pain since it's downstairs.

[wjcalderon]

I bought a Kitchenaid a couple of years ago - french door, bottom freezer, 25 cu. ft.
The bottom freezer keeps food better, but it doesn't seem to hold as much as my old top freezer and the ice maker is a little hard to get to.
The refrigerator section is very roomy. It has adjustable half-shelves, 2 large crisper drawers, a full width shallow drawer across the bottom, and several deep adjustable shelves on the doors.
Mine doesn't have the ice and water in the door, but it does have a water dispenser just inside the refrigerator. That's my favorite part. I drink a lot of water and like it really cold. Before I had this fridge, I kept a couple of gallon jugs of water in the refrigerator. That took up a lot of space.
I got a good price because I was remodeling my kitchen and bought several appliances at once. I think the refrigerator was about $1500.
So far I'm really liking it.

[disneysteve]

the ice maker is a little hard to get to.

Mine doesn't have the ice and water in the door, but it does have a water dispenser just inside the refrigerator.

We are the "no frills" type. No ice maker. No water dispenser. No bells and whistles.

We saw that model with the water dispenser inside the fridge and thought that was really odd. It doesn't make sense to have to open the fridge every time you want water. That's really energy-inefficient. We didn't care since we weren't getting one with a water dispenser anyway but that one really stood out as a strange design feature.

We have a water cooler since we drink a lot of water in our house.

[SavingSteve]

3-4 years ago I bought a Samsung french door with ice and water. It is still going strong and it's really energy efficient.

Before you choose see if your utility company offers rebates. I got $75. Also research the cost of filters if you go with ice and water. The Samsung filters were cheaper than the GE ones. That cost can add up over time.

[JoeP]

We have an Amana that has the fridge on top and the freezer on the bottom. For those of us with bad backs, not having to stoop down for almost everything makes a huge difference. With our fridge, almost everything is at eye level. I don't have too much opinion on brand, but I'd recommend this configuration.

[Drake3287]

We recently bought a Kitchen Aid with French Doors (lower freezer door) and also went with the Counter depth model for space savings in the kitchen. No longer does the refrigerator stick out almost a foot.

Ours also has the water on the inside which I like much more then the old style exterior ones. No longer dealing with spilt water and ice of the floor plus it looks cleaner.

[snafu]

Buying a fridge was hard work. Our main concern was getting a fridge that fit the dimensions of the 'surround,' flush with the counter so that doors didn't interfere with pantry door on the left or dishwasher opposite. I didn't buy an icemaker model and having visited friends with that feature, regret that, short sighted decision.

We have the big, double drawer, bottom freezer. It holds an incredible amount of frozen foods but I find it incredibly difficult to keep it organized. I've sectioned the sections, labelled sections, used color coded, ventilated, plastic boxes to separate fz vegetables, cheese, fish/chicken/beef, cooked rice, baking, home made sauces and such but DH muddles it all in an attempt to get at a carton of ice cream, an ice cream bar or even a muffin!

If you currently have an older unit with a top mount freezer, be prepared to adjust your format. I sit on my knees on the floor to find the cooked, sliced chicken breasts in their zip lock bag, likely under the two bags of cheese I spent an hour grating!

[disneysteve]

Buying a fridge was hard work. Our main concern was getting a fridge that fit the dimensions

Yep. Finding a new one that fit was a challenge. As it turned out, we weren't able to. We had to remove a cabinet that was over the fridge because the new one was an inch taller. That created the need to patch holes, sand, and paint that wall but it's all good now.

If you currently have an older unit with a top mount freezer, be prepared to adjust your format. I sit on my knees on the floor to find the cooked, sliced chicken breasts in their zip lock bag, likely under the two bags of cheese I spent an hour grating!

I agree with this too. The drawer freezer is very different than the top freezer. Very hard to keep organized. Very hard to squeeze things in and still have the drawer slide properly.

[FrugalFish]

It's been a couple of years since we've bought a fridge- though not that long (10 years). DH and I were browsing through the appliance dept at a local store and were surprised at how much fridge styles have changed in the last couple of years--- doors within doors, specialty compartments everywhere...

My approach to appliance buying has been the same for whatever appliance it is we have purchased. Usually there are one or two features that are important and we start there and with an online appliance retailer that lets you refine by features (A J madison is usually where I go). You can sort by all manner of feature there and narrow the field down a lot- as well as read reviews. Size always seems to be a factor in all our appliance purchases-- finding something that fits. Last year it was trying to find a larger capacity front loading washing machine that fit into the space allotted by an older walk-through laundry room. With our refrigerator it was finding a counter depth model since our kitchen is very small and a couple of fewer inches of fridge makes a world of difference.

Anyhow, that's my approach- decide what matters to you and start refining your choices online based on that. By doing that, we usually end up narrowing it down to 2-4 models very quickly.

[HappySaver]

Refrigerator shopping is not easy these days. Especially disappointing is the fact that they don't make them like they used to. While this is true for all appliances, nowhere is it more pronounced than in the world of refrigerators, the appliance that used to last the longest of all, and the one in which failure is most catastrophic in the form of spoiled food. Even the highest-end models don't have the same reliability they used to, and you can find plenty of horror experiences online about the newer models of all brands, even SubZero.

I still remember the avocado green fridge my parents had. That thing lasted 25 years. They had an appliance repairman in to look at their dishwasher and he just about bust a rib laughing when he saw it. I think they finally bought a new one out of embarrassment. The thing never broke. Our own Kenmore fridge is 10 years old and going strong but it is is a side-by-side with no water/ice dispenser, no bells and whistles. The extra features are what kill you with repairs, but they are also practically impossible to avoid nowadays.

Recently I was casually looking to replace our fridge. We just bought a new range and nothing matches, plus the fridge sticks out really far beyond the cabinets. My preferred style is side-by-side. I really like how easy it is get food out of both the fridge and freezer sides. An organized easy to use freezer is essential for me, so I don't like the bottom freezer styles. There are very few models without ice/water dispensers though, which I would rather avoid. After everything I read, we're just going to stick with ours for now, as it's ironically probably more reliable than a new one would be, even at its age.

[wjcalderon]

We saw that model with the water dispenser inside the fridge and thought that was really odd. It doesn't make sense to have to open the fridge every time you want water. That's really energy-inefficient. We didn't care since we weren't getting one with a water dispenser anyway but that one really stood out as a strange design feature.

We have a water cooler since we drink a lot of water in our house.

You're right - it's probably not very energy efficient. But I don't have a water cooler or a good place to put on.
And before, I was opening the fridge every time I wanted cold water and pouring it from a jug that took up fridge space.
So I was already energy-inefficient! At least it's not any worse.
I considered the one with the water dispenser on the outside, but every one I've ever used never had cold enough water to suit me.

[Starry436]

Well we decided to go with a Whirlpool french door, bottom freezer style after making several trips to look at the different models in store. We currently have a side by side and find that we don't utilize any of the space at the bottom for the sake of feeling like the food gets lost down there.

We got the new one on sale plus had a coupon and received an extra discount for delivery issues so all in all not a bad deal for a bigger refrigerator. It has an energy star rating too so hopefully that helps us out some.

[disneysteve]

Well we decided to go with a Whirlpool french door, bottom freezer style after making several trips to look at the different models in store. We currently have a side by side and find that we don't utilize any of the space at the bottom for the sake of feeling like the food gets lost down there.

We got the new one on sale plus had a coupon and received an extra discount for delivery issues so all in all not a bad deal for a bigger refrigerator. It has an energy star rating too so hopefully that helps us out some.

So far, we're very happy with our Whirlpool Enjoy yours for many years.

[snafu]

Enjoy your new Whirlpool fridge. I'd be interested in knowing if you see an energy usage reduction you can ascribe to the energy efficient fridge. I forgot to mention that many communities have a rebate program for changing to energy efficient appliances that is worth seeking.