Refrigerator Recommendations?

Kex

appadv wrote: »

Why do you think so? Lasareath paid around $1000 for his fridge and IMO it's a reasonable price.

I have a 2nd GE fridge from the 1950's (yes, the 50's) that still worked until a few years ago so they are definitely well built!! The current one we have is about 20 years old.

If you look carefully, Las actually paid about $875 for the refrigerator, $10 for haulaway, and $230 for an extended warranty (which I would not recommend on a refrigerator, even if it's always nice to have).

Another thing you want to consider: those old refrigerators are costing you far more than you think in energy inefficiency.

Serendipity

Costing you in energy inefficiency?

Not if you keep the seals tight, replace worn parts, and lubricate the motors every once in a while. Plus clean the coils every 2-3 months and you'll have an efficient fridge.

Kex

appadv wrote: »

Costing you in energy inefficiency?

Not if you keep the seals tight, replace worn parts, and lubricate the motors every once in a while. Plus clean the coils every 2-3 months and you'll have an efficient fridge.

If you put it like that, then you must be right.

Gadabout

I just bought a fridge a couple months ago for the new house. I bought a GE. The decision was based on Consumer Reports brand reliability charts. Clean Steel, Side by Side with a ice / water dispenser, a little over 25 cu ft., energy start rated, delivered and set up from Home Depot for just under a $1000. If your looking for a top freezer, they have about the same size of your example in clean steel for a little over $800.

If you can wait till after Xmas, I'm sure there will be some great deals. The clearance sales, to clear inventory, usually are some of the best prices of the year. Also, if the $'s spent at Xmas time this year is low they will bring out the sales to try and prop up thier year end sales numbers.

Serendipity

Wow, that's a great deal for under $1000!

AsSiMiLaTeD

A thousand bucks for a 18 cubic ft top freezer fridge? Granted it's been about 5 years since I bought a fridge, but that seems a little excessive. I got my GE side by side that's a lot bigger for less than that...

Serendipity

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the GE from? I think MSRP for such a fridge is somewhat overpriced too...

AsSiMiLaTeD

Best Buy. We buy all our appliances through Best Buy as IMO they have the most hassle-free warranty program, and are generally cheaper than someplace like Sears.

Serendipity

Thanks, I'll try to find that fridge at Best Buy and price-match it at Sears then. For some odd reason, there are no Best Buys around here. The closest one is in Brooklyn!!

disneyjoe7

I wonder if the website could give you the same info, and save you some time / gas.

Serendipity

Thats what I am going to do. Print out the Best Buy website and bring it to Sears for a price match.

Serendipity

I found the GE on sale at P.C. Richard's for $799, so I guess I'll go with that then.

http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1873&parentCategoryId=1&categoryId=10000&subCategoryId=10020

Serendipity

This is crazy - the old fridge is now working fine again WTH?

Either it breaks or it doesn't but this intermittent operation is ridiculous!!

billbillw

appadv wrote: »

This is crazy - the old fridge is now working fine again WTH?

Either it breaks or it doesn't but this intermittent operation is ridiculous!!

I went through that back in June/July. My fridge seemed to die. I cleaned it, it worked again for a few weeks, then the compressor seized.

I'd have a plan in place. Your fridge is on its last legs.

I should add to the discussion above. Top freezer fridges are mostly old throwback designs. They should be cheap. I remember that almost every one I looked at was under $600. Almost every one of them is stripped down and nearly featureless.

I recommend looking at a bottom freezer design, either with a single top door, or a french door style. They have so many cool features that let you get more out of your space, and they keep a more even temp too.

I went with a bottom freezer, GE Profile. Although I really liked the LG models with the french doors, we were limited on the width in our kitchen, so I had to keep it under 20cu ft and the GE was the best in that size.

In addition to Sears, you should look at Home Depot as well as BestBuy. Not sure what's in your area, but there are many good deals to be had at the scratch and dent outlets. I bought mine from a place called Appliacesmart. It was about 40% off retail with only one dent, that was on the back side.

avelanchefan

FWIW I have a GE Profile. It's in stainless steel. I like the model and there are a lot of pluses with it, like nice shelving and very easy to clean, makes ice fast. The thing I hate about it, the water dispenser is just way to slow. It just seems like it is trickling out. My parents fridge blasts the water out of theirs.

Serendipity

billbillw wrote: »

I went through that back in June/July. My fridge seemed to die. I cleaned it, it worked again for a few weeks, then the compressor seized.

I'd have a plan in place. Your fridge is on its last legs.

I thought it was going to die too, but the compressor seems to be fine. (It's not going into thermal protect mode so that's a good sign.) I think I either have a fan motor problem or thermostat problem because the fridge is noisy but works fine when the temperature is cranked to MAX.

Edit: I don't know of any scratch and dent outlets around here in NY.

billbillw

appadv wrote: »

I thought it was going to die too, but the compressor seems to be fine. (It's not going into thermal protect mode so that's a good sign.) I think I either have a fan motor problem or thermostat problem because the fridge is noisy but works fine when the temperature is cranked to MAX.

Edit: I don't know of any scratch and dent outlets around here in NY.

Sounds exactly like mine. It was noisy, erratic, then it died completely after about 3 weeks. If you have to have it on Max, its not in good shape.

Better have a plan. At least find out where you can get dry ice if it dies. Often it takes a few days to get a fridge delivered and all your food will spoil unless you put some dry ice in there.

As far as S&D outlets, Sears usually has Appliance Outlet stores (with S&D savings) in major cities. Ask around. There are usually several S&D stores around, but often, they don't advertise. They rely on word of mouth. Appliances get dented on a regular basis by the shippers and warehouse workers. They've got to sell them somewhere.

wizzy

Watch out on Sears/Kenmore units.

Some are made by Fridgidaire, others by Whirlpool - or at least last time I looked.

I would avoid the FA units and stick with the WP built ones.

Serendipity

wizzy wrote: »

Watch out on Sears/Kenmore units.

Some are made by Fridgidaire, others by Whirlpool - or at least last time I looked.

I would avoid the FA units and stick with the WP built ones.

How can you tell if the unit is made by Frigidaire? Is it as simple as a rebadge or are there minor differences?

wizzy

appadv wrote: »

How can you tell if the unit is made by Frigidaire? Is it as simple as a rebadge or are there minor differences?

Generally just some rebadging. Once you know what a Frigidaire looks like on the inside, and a whirlpool looks like, you can tell just by opening up a sears unit and looking at it.

W

Serendipity

Thanks.

I hope the current one still lasts 3+ weeks like billbillw said, maybe then there will be after holiday sales or the like. I just hope the fridge lasts past Christmas.

billbillw

appadv wrote: »

Thanks.

I hope the current one still lasts 3+ weeks like billbillw said, maybe then there will be after holiday sales or the like. I just hope the fridge lasts past Christmas.

Unfortunately for me, it worked out just the opposite. When my fridge first went on the fritz, I quickly went out after work and shopped for a replacement. I found an outlet store that was having a 40% off sale for the 4th of July weekend and they had a perfect replacement that would be about $500 with tax. Later that night, I cleaned the coils, etc and it seemed to be working better. The next day, temps were nice and cool again, no funny noises, so my wife convinced me to wait and not spend the money :rolleyes:

3 weeks later, the thing just up and quits with no warning while I was at work. My wife called and I could hear the pump in the background making an awful noise. It was seized. No 40% off sale. Had to re-shop and find a replacement. Food was spoiling, my wife was due to give birth our baby girl any day (not kidding!), and all the stores needed 2-3 days to deliver the thing. GRRR! On top of that, the cheapest suitable replacement I could find in the area was going to be about $300 more than the one I found during the 4th of July sale! Luckily, a buddy of mine had the day off, had a truck, and had an appliance dolly that we could use. We went and picked the thing up the next day and swapped everything out before most of the food spoiled. I threw out a few things, but managed to save most of the frozen meats and other expensive items. I'm still upset that it cost me an extra $300 though. Yes, the one I ended up with is a bit nicer, but not really worth the extra $.

My point is, have a plan! If you find a great deal, jump on it. I wouldn't really expect there to be much of an 'after Christmas' sale on refrigerators.

Oh yeah, we got the new fridge on a Friday afternoon; went shopping on Saturday to restock the new fridge; I took the old one to recycle on Sunday, and my wife went into labor on Monday night! It was all a little too close for comfort. I can only imagine what a hassle it would have been if the fridge died while we were at the hospital. Come home with a new baby and a toddler to find a warm fridge of spoiled food!