need recommendations on fridge

[ER_Hopeful]

looking to buy a new fridge, wanted to splurge a bit this time, by splurge I meant around $1000. I really like the Samsung 25.5 cf french door(model RF260BEAESR), lowes has mostly positive reviews while some say it's absolutely junk. I wonder if the negatives are fake (seems they're not from verified purchasers.)

I think Kenmore is the go to brand when it comes to fridge, is that still the case?

 

[pb4uski]

We have a Kenmore french door fridge at home and I like it. We have water and ice in the door and I like that too. I would look for a water dispenser that can accept a taller glass/cup as some of the taller glasses that we have don't fit well with the water dispenser. Our Kenmore was made by LG. IIRC they come with a 1-year warranty... so pay for it with a credit card that offers extended warranty protection. My Citi Cash Back card adds 2-years on top of the 1-year manufacturer's warranty.

We got Kenmore because we bought them as part of our house build and wanted appliances that matched in appearance. It has worked out well... our Kenmore dishwasher is made by Bosch and is really quiet. I'm not sure who made the stove or the microhood.

 

[Another Reader]

Kenmore is made by several companies now. Whirlpool used to make most of the refrigerators, not today. You can identify the manufacturer by the model number. There is an embedded manufacturer code. Search on the internet for more details.

I would not touch a Samsung appliance. Well deserved reputation for junk, based on the experiences of people I know. If I were faced with this decision today, I would buy a low end Whirlpool side by side, based on ratings.

Appliances are almost always "on sale" these days. The percentage savings varies. The July 4th sale this year is the highest percentage off list on most appliances this year at up to 40 percent. Lowes, Home Depot and Best Buy sell the same items at the same prices and delivery is included over a certain price. If you have a local dealer you trust, I would shop there.

 

[Souschef]

We ended up with a Maytag 25 cu ft single door bottom freezer. We removed the ice make to make more room for frozen food.

We keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge and the ice container gets filled from my little ice maker.
Why? because the tap water her is hard and tastes like crap. I use bottled water for drinks and cooking. I am retired, and do not mind refilling the gallon jugs once a week or so

 

[Dash man]

We have three Samsung refrigerators in our three properties. Never have had a problem. (Knock on wood)!

 

[DeborahB]

I had a Samsung french door fridge. It dribbled water down the inside of the fridge, in the back. It then stank. We had the Samsung repair guy out and he couldn’t fix it. Sorry, this was a while ago. But we ended up cleaning it every week so it didn’t smell. Now I have a Thermidor fridge, came with the house. No problems so far. I think Whirlpool makes it, not sure.

 

[davebarnes]

Sub-Zero.

 

[Bamaman]

All refrigerators in recent years have decreased in quality. They're prettier than they are good.
We have a Whirlpool with double refrigerator doors above (ice & water in the door). It has a refrigerator drawer in the middle and a freezer drawer in the bottom. We just love the configuration.
I also have an Amana side by side that's about 20 years old, and it's a much better quality piece than our newer Whirlpool. The Whirlpool is also sold as a Maytag at Lowes.

 

[njhowie]

NEVER SAMSUNG !!!

Purchase a fridge from a manufacturer that is in the appliance business ... like GE.

We bought a really nice Samsung about 15 years ago. Had a problem within 3 years. Only Samsung repair person within 50 miles didn't even want to come out to look at it, said to throw it away. Bought a GE from https://www.geoutletstore.com and it's been wonderful.

 

[Another Reader]

NEVER SAMSUNG !!!

Purchase a fridge from a manufacturer that is in the appliance business ... like GE.

We bought a really nice Samsung about 15 years ago. Had a problem within 3 years. Only Samsung repair person within 50 miles didn't even want to come out to look at it, said to throw it away. Bought a GE from https://www.geoutletstore.com and it's been wonderful.

GE sold off the appliance business... to Haier, about three years ago. I do not like the GE made for Home Depot I bought maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Expecting it to fail any day because of the loud fan and motor. Will buy what I recommended when it does.

 

[FlaGator]

I have gotten excellent performance from the 3 LG bottom freezers I have owned-20 CF, 22 CF and the current french door 28 cf with dual ice makers. Airflow is very good inside the box from top to bottom, and the icemakers on this one have been trouble-free.

However, they have their quirks. Water line to the ice maker in the bottom freezer on the 22 froze up twice, blowing the line off the fitting at the back panel and putting water on the floor. Freezer section had to be emptied out and a hair dryer applied to melt the ice in the feed tube to the ice tray. Probably didn't help that I kept the freezer temp a few degrees below recommended and we didn't use much ice.

The french door 28 cf was a spectacular machine as to cooling and convenience until two things - the in-door water dispenser froze up, leaving the switch in the open position with water running out the dispenser. Fortunately I was home when it started running and disaster was avoided. Thawed out the water dispenser with the hair dryer and turned the fridge temp up *1 degree* and that has not reoccurred.

The more concerning issue is the compressor recently failed after 3+ years, something I did not experience in the 7+ years I had the smaller units. As I was scheduling service with LG, I noticed an announcement on their website about extending compressor warranties for all their units, so there is clearly a problem. The tech who fixed mine said a 2-3 year life has been typical, but the replacement units are said to be better. Time will tell on that one.

Regarding Samsung appliances:
1. I shopped their bottom freezer units several years ago and was not impressed with how they designed the airflow for the fridge section. Basically blew diverted air from the freezer to one entry point and depended on convection to distribute it throughout the box. LG uses a panel running the entire height of the fridge section with openings ~ 8 vertical inches apart. The temperature consistency from top to bottom is the best I have experienced.

2. Recently purchased a new gas range and was impressed with Samsung's single-door, dual-oven design. Once I got into the reviews, though it was disappointing. The design, while clever, didn't work as well as some people expected. More troubling were the number of people who rated it 1 out of 5-close to 20%. Most of the issues seemed to be with out-of-the-box problems and challenges getting them fixed. I expected some number of bad reviews, but when they exceed 10-15%, I get anxious. I ended up staying with LG. So far, so good. Ask me again in a couple of years

 

[FreeBear]

We've had a traditional side-by-side Samsung for over 3 years and we're very happy with it. It's not perfect, but we didn't expect it to be since for the price ($1200??).

I've given up buying "nice" appliances after the previous owner left us some nicer Maytag units that just didn't hold up. I take the attitude that major appliances are just disposable. I don't bother with service calls if something is over 7-8 years. After all, every single Maytag appliance had a minor electronic issues after about 8 years and I was just waiting for an excuse to upgrade.

Well, when it was the fridge's time to go, I looked for the largest unit that would fit the space for $1000-$1400, WASN'T a Maytag/Whirlpool, and reported non-aweful reliablity on Consumer Reports. Well, pretty much it was Samsung, 2nd from the bottom of the line for side-by-side.

The good:
- Cools very well
- Compressor is kitten quiet, other misc. noises are quite too (old Maytag sounded like a prop plane AND rattled like crazy)
- side-by-side is surprisingly spacious, w*rks better for us than french door (hate the small bottom freezer that you have to drag out while bending over)
- smaller ice maker in door leaves tons for freezer space
- Samsung filter makes water taste great, easy to replace (using generic Amazon Basics)


the bad:
- ice maker tends to jam/freeze up (common Samsung issue). When it start acting up, we just defrost it for a few hours sitting in the sink to defrost. Have to do this a few times a year, but then get a fresh load of ice.

-plastic bins feel fragile, although haven't broken anything yet

- cleaning with stainless steel safe cleaner caused prominent rust spots that had to be buffed down with a plastic scouring pad (other Samsung and Maytag appliances not as easily rusted)

Overall, I'm very pleased for the money I paid, given that it's pretty low end. I'd do it again. Well, I did get a cheap Samsung, convection oven, also decent.

 

[FIREd]

For my new kitchen, I picked a fridge by Liebherr. My parents have one which is almost 20 years old and it still works great.

 

[DrRoy]

We have a Samsung 2 door side by side, and it ices up once or twice a year.

 

[zinger1457]

Replaced all of my kitchen appliances at the end of last year, went with LG, includes a french door refrigerator. So far so good but way too early to be given recommendations out.

 

[Kwirk]

Call your favorite appliance repairman, if you have one, and ask what he's willing to work with.

Several years ago we bought a Kenmore (made by LG) that stopped working after just 2+ years. Our trusted appliance repair company wouldn't work on it. They would not be reimbursed adequately for the time required to repair it under warranty and he expected that the repair would not be durable in any case. Sears warranty service couldn't get a service person out for several weeks (and what are we going to do without a fridge?). We wound up buying a GE model from Costco and junking the LG. We were not happy.

 

[W2R]

I think Kenmore is the go to brand when it comes to fridge, is that still the case?

I love my cheap Kenmore, that I bought in 2015. It is just $599, so it probably does not have enough bells and whistles and decorator approval to appeal to most people. But it keeps my food cold, day in and day out, with no repairs so far and that is what I want from a refrigerator. It is noisy but I am used to it so I don't care.

I had the same model at my old house for 10 years, but left it there to help that house to sell quickly. Then I bought a new one of the same kind for my Dream Home. Neither has ever needed repairs.

 

[NW-Bound]

We ended up with a Maytag 25 cu ft single door bottom freezer. We removed the ice make to make more room for frozen food.

We keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge and the ice container gets filled from my little ice maker.

Why? because the tap water her is hard and tastes like crap. I use bottled water for drinks and cooking. I am retired, and do not mind refilling the gallon jugs once a week or so

I installed an RO water filter under the sink with its own faucet to get drinking water. I also ran a line to the fridge for the water dispenser and ice maker. It was worth the trouble.

 

[Sue J]

We are currently 2/3 of the way through a kitchen renovation. Our previous refrigerator was an Amana from 1999, still worked perfectly but the freezer on top/refrigerator on the bottom configuration didn't work well for us as we got older. Too much crouching or bending over that didn't work well with bifocals. Also it was very deep and stuck out too far into the kitchen.

When we went refrigerator shopping I was drawn to the counter depth models because I always hated the way the old refrigerator stuck out so far. The French Door counter depth felt tiny and there were very few shelf configuration options. Also, I found the freezer drawer use to be awkward. On many models the freezer drawer had a sliding shelf and many of them felt like flimsy plastic. DH really liked the side by sides. I always felt they were kind of claustrophobic, just so narrow! But he kept looking at them and he had spent a lot of time at his late mom's house and he got to really like her side by side.

It took a while for me to come around but I started considering a side by side. It's just DH and I so I let him convince me that side by side was the way to go. We looked at a Whirlpool and an LG that were similar and decided on the Whirlpool.

I have to admit that I LOVE the ice and water dispenser! I quickly adapted to the new configuration and I'm learning to use the spaces efficiently. The counter depth size makes a big difference in the new kitchen.

I've replaced a few major appliances recently and after reading many reviews I am now buying extended warranties. Appliances don't last like they used to and I got burned last year with a 5 year old washer that needed a new bearing that would have cost 80% of the purchase price!

So for this new refrigerator I paid $195 for a 5 year extended warranty. This was through Home Depot and the warranty reimburses you for 50% of the cost of the water filters (replace every 6 months) so that made it a pretty good deal. If I don't have a repair claim after 5 years they rebate 30% of the warranty cost back to you.

I'll report back in 5 years on how all this worked out!

 

[Moemg]

I had an LG side by side that died at 31/2 years .I then purchased a Whirlpool side by side so far so good.

 

[skipro33]

NEVER SAMSUNG !!!

Purchase a fridge from a manufacturer that is in the appliance business ... like GE.

We bought a really nice Samsung about 15 years ago. Had a problem within 3 years. Only Samsung repair person within 50 miles didn't even want to come out to look at it, said to throw it away. Bought a GE from https://www.geoutletstore.com and it's been wonderful.

Ditto
GE Profile French Door going on 12 years old now and good as new. I know too many who had Samsung that failed. Usually in the defroster of the freezer, causing them to ice up and then not able to chill right. I've torn into my son's and replaced several parts, never to get it working right. I got my GE off craigslist; rich family who remodeled their kitchen, didn't like the GE Profile ensemble for their kitchen and replaced them all before even moving in.

 

[Calico]

I love my cheap Kenmore, that I bought in 2015. It is just $599, so it probably does not have enough bells and whistles and decorator approval to appeal to most people. But it keeps my food cold, day in and day out, with no repairs so far and that is what I want from a refrigerator. It is noisy but I am used to it so I don't care.

I had the same model at my old house for 10 years, but left it there to help that house to sell quickly. Then I bought a new one of the same kind for my Dream Home. Neither has ever needed repairs.

This looks exactly like my Kenmore refrigerator, except mine is white. The size and configuration are the same. I purchased it in 2001, and have never had a problem with it. I don't need any bells and whistles at all. I dread having to replace it someday, because I am sure quality has decreased tremendously in the intervening years.

 

[target2019]

We will be in the market for a fridge, since current GE model is showing signs of age (like me). Kenmore is just a label, and the various appliances are made by different corporations (I just found out).
https://www.goedekers.com/blog/who-makes-kenmore-appliances/

 

[W2R]

We will be in the market for a fridge, since current GE model is showing signs of age (like me). Kenmore is just a label, and the various appliances are made by different corporations (I just found out).
https://www.goedekers.com/blog/who-makes-kenmore-appliances/

Right. We all know that (I would hope!). It pays to do your research when buying online, whether from Sears or from Amazon. But then that's just common sense. The link you provided is pretty informative.