Refrigerator upgrade

[stephenson]

There is mo payback period on energy savings for these types of devices.

If ya want a new frig with cool stuff, it makes sense 🤣

Just don't buy Samsung ... they’re cool looking, but my two door, two drawer two years old has been crap ... icemaker frosts up once a month requiring full defrost ... or, i could spend $500 to fix, which requires almost complete icemaker replacement.

Samsung has TERRIBLE customer service. I love their refrig, but it is TERRIBLE.

[brett]

The home we purchased has a two door fridge, ice maker and cold water dispenser in the door.

If we replace it we will would not bother with the icemaker/cold water dispenser. Previous owner spent money on the icemaker. We turn it off...it makes a helluva noise sometimes. Both features are more trouble than they are worth to us. It is a GE Professional. Frankly, I do not see anything premium about it other than, perhaps, the price.

[Bir48die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett The home we purchased has a two door fridge, ice maker and cold water dispenser in the door. If we replace it we will would not bother with the icemaker/cold water dispenser. Previous owner spent money on the icemaker. We turn it off...it makes a helluva noise sometimes. Both features are more trouble than they are worth to us. It is a GE Professional. Frankly, I do not see anything premium about it other than, perhaps, the price.

I’m kind of with you on the ice maker. They are so convenient and I use a lot of ice during the day. However I can be sound asleep and when it dumps a load of ice in the container I just about jump out of bed

[brett]

Plus, the water dispenser takes too much time to dispense water for our liking.

We keep a filter jug in the fridge and use that. Faster, easier.

I do not know what we will do when replacement time comes around. There is so much junk on the market today. Price is not an indicator of quality either.

Last time we needed a dishwasher we asked the repair technician who was looking at our old one (bosch) what he would buy, what he would recommend. His first comment was forget the Bosch. Too expensive, not well made, parts very expensive. What did he own? A basic sears kenmore model manufactured by whirlpool. His other comment....never buy any appliance purely on price on price or name brand. Quality can change between models, between model years. No different than vehicles. Our experience since that discussion has proved him correct.

[LOL!]

I only read some of the responses. Our kitchen fridge is 25 years old. I don't think it is an energy hog. It is just as quiet as a Bosch dishwasher. We pay about 10 cents a kWh for power and our electric bills in the winter when not using air-conditioning are about $35 a month which would include lights, microwave, stove, oven, blower fans, dishwasher, clothes washer, electronics, and the refrigerator. I think $35 a month is cheap for a 3100+ sq ft home.

The fridge has freezer on top and we have turned off the ice-maker. I read that the ice-maker is an energy hog because it heats the tray where the cubes are made when it needs to eject them. The fridge doesn't have any water dispenser or hole in the door for anything. It ain't fancy. I don't mind making ice with trays and use 3 to 4 trays of ice a day. If we have a party, then we just buy additional ice.

The thought of upgrading never crossed my mind.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! ... We pay about 10 cents a kWh for power and our electric bills in the winter when not using air-conditioning are about $35 a month which would include lights, microwave, stove, oven, blower fans, dishwasher, clothes washer, electronics, and the refrigerator. I think $35 a month is cheap for a 3100+ sq ft home...

Astounding!

The lowest electric bill of my 2nd home when we are not there is $42. Only the 25 cu.ft. fridge is running. Water heater and heat pump are turned off. No lights.

Much of the $42 is a fixed cost. I don't know how much offhand.

PS. The home is not yet 15-year-old, and so is the fridge.

[sakowitzm]

Have you done any shopping for the (potential) new fridge yet? And the "features" you might be interested in?

I was considering replacing my current fridge, and look around quite a bit. French doors? Bleh. Door w/in a door. Just plain stupid. But mostly I wanted the freezer section to be on TOP. I don't want to have to bend down when I want my nighttime ice cream, but more importantly, everything gets stacked on top of each other. You'd always be playing tetris to get what you want.

But what I found is that the manufacturer's don't make hardly any models with freezer on top any more. All I found was a plain, vanilla, old-style refrigerator -- freezer on top, standard door (just one, thank you), and smaller than most other models. So I stayed with my current one.

[gerntz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman This thread made me realize something that should have been obvious. I have an LG fridge, French door, freezer on the bottom. There’s an in-door ice dispenser for cubes or crushed and a bin in the freezer for extra cubes. It’s about 12 years old. At some point I stopped using the in-door dispenser and just opened the freezer when I wanted cubes. That was probably due to bad experiences at a prior residence that had a similar fridge made by Samsung. The Samsung in-door dispenser was constantly locking up and/or hurling cubes all over the place. But the LG seems fine so I’ll go back to getting cubes through the door rather than opening the freezer which can’t be a great practice for energy use or keeping frozen food frozen.

We have that design LG also, 3.5 years old. Really love it. Use a lot of ice with my bourbon & Coke, sometimes together, sometimes not. Also fill lots of small coolers with ice. Not big ice storage capacity but remakes more quickly. Never had a bottom freezer before & wondered if I'd like it, but it's much easier to see into than a top freezer.

We have a shallow depth one to line up more closely with cabinets/counters around it & not stick out into room. Between the shallow depth & French doors, I feel like I'm inside the fridge when I open both doors such that there's zero issue with locating items & reaching around things. Cool design.

The shallow design does reduce capacity, so we also have an undercounter beverage/bar fridge. Our KW's are cheap so $ not a concern at all.

[steelyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerntz We have that design LG also, 3.5 years old. Really love it. Use a lot of ice with my bourbon & Coke, sometimes together, sometimes not. Also fill lots of small coolers with ice. Not big ice storage capacity but remakes more quickly. Never had a bottom freezer before & wondered if I'd like it, but it's much easier to see into than a top freezer.

Sounds like you have a good one that’s several years newer than mine. I’m happy with it (knock on wood). I never use the crushed ice setting, only cubes.

The other thing I like is the replaceable water filter. I’m not sure what to think about the local water quality so all my drinking water and ice is filtered in the fridge which also accommodates filling a 12-cup carafe for coffee through the door.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakowitzm ... Door w/in a door. Just plain stupid...

Stupid? I don't know how they make them now, but my big GE 30 cu.ft. has a door-in-door to access a small compartment. This "small" compartment is big enough for a gallon jug, two bottles of wine, 2 six-packs. It's great.

Opening the large door to get a drink would cost me even more in terms of electricity. The small door is about 2 sq.ft., and the compartment behind it serves also as a baffle to reduce loss of cold air.

The fridge is almost 20-year-old, and long discontinued.

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakowitzm Have you done any shopping for the (potential) new fridge yet? And the "features" you might be interested in? I was considering replacing my current fridge, and look around quite a bit. French doors? Bleh. Door w/in a door. Just plain stupid. But mostly I wanted the freezer section to be on TOP. I don't want to have to bend down when I want my nighttime ice cream, but more importantly, everything gets stacked on top of each other. You'd always be playing tetris to get what you want. But what I found is that the manufacturer's don't make hardly any models with freezer on top any more. All I found was a plain, vanilla, old-style refrigerator -- freezer on top, standard door (just one, thank you), and smaller than most other models. So I stayed with my current one.

No, I've been distracted by other things lately. The main "feature" I was hoping for is reduced operating costs. Seems like that isn't really a feature available in the marketplace these days.

My fridge is a Whirlpool, apparently made in summer 2004. Maybe if I don't get distracted again I'll do the Kill-A-Watt thing and see what it measures out to be. I tried googling the model number and couldn't find any info.

[Qs Laptop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakowitzm Have you done any shopping for the (potential) new fridge yet? And the "features" you might be interested in? I was considering replacing my current fridge, and look around quite a bit. French doors? Bleh. Door w/in a door. Just plain stupid. But mostly I wanted the freezer section to be on TOP. I don't want to have to bend down when I want my nighttime ice cream, but more importantly, everything gets stacked on top of each other. You'd always be playing tetris to get what you want. But what I found is that the manufacturer's don't make hardly any models with freezer on top any more. All I found was a plain, vanilla, old-style refrigerator -- freezer on top, standard door (just one, thank you), and smaller than most other models. So I stayed with my current one.

I had a similar experience several years ago when shopping for a fridge for my elderly mother. Her criteria? Freezer on top, she doesn't want to bend down for HER nighttime ice cream and freezer needs to have a light in it.

Well, a top freezer model is fairly rare but a top freezer model with a light in it is extremely rare. I finally found a Whirlpool that fit her needs.

I don't mind shuffling items around in bottom freezer models, but I can't stand it when there are half full plastic bags of veggies and other stuff in the bottom compartment of the freezer and then you slide the top basket compartment forward and backward and the bags rub on the basket creating a noise that is akin to fingernails on chalkboard to my ears. Sort of a baseball card in the bike spokes sound but much higher in pitch. I find myself constantly tamping down these bags of veggies so they don't contact the sliding basket drawer.

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qs Laptop One thing I like about my Whirlpool Gold french door model refrigerator is that it has a filtered cold water dispenser on the inside of the left refrigerator door. Yes, you have to open the door and push and hold a button with your thumb, but not having the bulky water dispenser built into the door frees up a lot of interior space inside the door. This method of water dispensing is probably is a lot more reliable than through-the-door methods.

Our KitchenAid (made by Whirlpool) refrigerator also has the cold water dispenser inside.

DW choose this model because it looked good to her, but I've grown to like the inside dispenser. It's easier to refill large water reservoirs/jugs - like the Keurig water reservoir since you don't have to try to wedge it into the recessed on the outside of the door. And it does (as mentioned above) take up less space.

[jazz4cash]

I don’t understand the angst over finding freezer on top models. I see many many basic models configured this way. We bought one at Home Depot a couple yrs ago. I wasn’t expecting it, but it has a great led light in the freezer. It’s only when you go upscale that the top freezer option goes away.

[Teacher Terry]

I read that having the water and ice inside the refrigerator don’t break down as often as the ones in the door. I love the freezer on the bottom because I don’t use it as much as the rest of the refrigerator.

[catii]

Check out refrigerators that are only refrigerators. We have two of those, & one huge freezer - works like a charm.

[LastBoomer]

Your payback calculations may not account for lower expected lifetime of a new refrigerator! I purchased a new Whirlpool refrig 2.5 years ago, and it died out of warranty. Went 3 months this summer without a freezer (no ice for cock-a-tails!), then replaced it last weekend with a GE version. Some models have 10 year compressor warranty, but I don’t know if that includes all parts of the sealed system. My whirlpool died because a tube cracked (likely due to simple, normal vibration); this led in turn to compressor failure. Alas, my old one was > 20 years old (came with house), and we replaced simply because we thought it was too noisy.

[SpinDoctorTX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qs Laptop The new appliances are plasticky, cheaply built, and overpriced. I have zero confidence they will make it for 15 years. My advice? If your current refrigerator is working and you are happy with it, don't replace it to save $10 to $15 a year in electricity.

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett The home we purchased has a two door fridge, ice maker and cold water dispenser in the door. If we replace it we will would not bother with the icemaker/cold water dispenser. Previous owner spent money on the icemaker. We turn it off...it makes a helluva noise sometimes. Both features are more trouble than they are worth to us. It is a GE Professional. Frankly, I do not see anything premium about it other than, perhaps, the price.

Our GE Profile purchased in 2008 hasn't had a lot of problems, but the one issue it did have happened loudly and in the middle of the night. The computer that controls the ice/ water/ other electronic functions started bleeping, blobbing, sounding scales & wouldn't stop until DW detached the unit completely. Fortunately he is handy, so after ordering a replacement (couple hundred bucks or so) he installed it and no problems since.

We'll never buy a fridge with that many bells & whistles again- just more things to break. I hope the thing lasts another 10 years as did the one it replaced (it was at least 20 years old).

Also, I truly hate my french drawer. Who thought that thing up? I call it the black hole. At least 3 times a year I have to bring out everything and reorganize it- usually done after I pull out some meat that is still useable but not within the best flavor window (which in my mind puts it into the going into soup or stick category). I miss my old side by side. I could see what I have and organize things in a manner that would keep the older items in front, so less waste.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bir48die I’m kind of with you on the ice maker. They are so convenient and I use a lot of ice during the day. However I can be sound asleep and when it dumps a load of ice in the container I just about jump out of bed

Me too! They can be quite loud.

[papaof2]

Replaced a similar-aged Kenmore 21 cu ft top freezer fridge with a Samsung dual evaporator bottom freezer, french door fridge about a year ago. I have a solar-charged backup system for limited power without going out in the dark or a thunderstorm to start a generator, so I track appliance power usage carefully.

The 21 cu ft fridge used 2000 watt hours (2KWH) daily. The 28 cu ft fridge uses 1824 watt hours (1.82KWH) daily for a savings of 9%. Depending on the cost of your electricity, payback could be a generation or two. However, the 28 cu ft is only slightly bigger than the 21 cu ft it replaced and being able to find things easily does have some value ;-)

Note that the power used by a fridge or freezer is affected by the room temperature and they use more power in summer (78F inside) then in winter (68F inside). For me, that's 1824WH in summer and 1416WH in winter.

[Smoeller]

I seem to remember that the older style freezer on top models were the most efficient but all new units come with energy useage estimates which should help

As for where to get a deal......
Stores like Lowes and HD will have big appliance sales this holiday weekend. I've also gotten my best deals at Lowes on slightly dinged or damaged units. Sometimes scratch or dents are very minamal

To get rid of the old one you can always post it on Craigslist Free site. Someone will be glad to get it
Might also donate to a Habitat store if you have one or an appliance reconditioner who sells used appliances

Good luck!