Author Topic: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION  (Read 3747 times)

Offline Rooney

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Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« on: December 20, 2015, 01:02:56 PM »
Thought this might be a good idea for one of those "reference" threads, like Ingredient of Day, (but not daily ;)). I have been thinking about this a lot  because we have just had one appliance after another going down lately, (most with warranties, thankfully, but some without).  The most recent and disappointing appliances to quit have been my double-doored LG frigde that is only about 4 years old (no warranty-STUPID!) This one will be a very pricey out-of-pocket fix.  The next, get this.........the brand new French door Samsung fridge we just got 4 MONTHS ago! Actually the ice maker quick on it the same week we got it and instead filled the bottom freezer part with shaved ice. :P  The repairman is coming out with parts to attempt to fix this one tomorrow,  if he can't, we are down to a single door one to hold everything and the food order will be coming in soon and this won't work, which means another refrigerator purchase and junking the one with no warranty.  THIS IS SO NOT COOL!  Evidently everyone's appliances are going down, because the repair place said they are so backed up with warranty fixes, that most times you have to wait 1-2 months to get someone out to even look at it.  I really don't know how people wait that long on a refrigerator though? ???

So, I thought it might be helpful to start a line of threads where you list what the best appliance, in this case, refrigerator, you have ever owned is.  Maybe we could tell the brand name, why you like it so much, has it had any problems, and did you get a warranty?  Kind of like a "review" line of threads on different household appliances?  Might be useful to people when they have to replace an appliance?

I will leave my opinion out on the refrigerator of my choice, because OBVIOUSLY I have no clue what is best. lol  :P

Oh, and if you guys don't like this, we can quit with the fridges, won't hurt my feelings. ;)


Offline Cheryl

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2015, 02:20:48 PM »
Sorry Lindsay, I am no help at all with this one.  In the past 30 years I have only owned 2 refrigerators, well 3 if you count the one we use as a spare and it belonged to my grandmother.  The first one I had was a Kenmore and I had no complaints about it.  We 'upgraded' to our current Frigidaire and it has been nothing but trouble.  I absolutely hate it but it's still kicking so can't really justify getting a new one yet.  The door handle was pulled off years ago, the shelves are crappy, and the small drawer for sandwich meat broke.  I really hate this refrigerator. :)  The one that belonged to my grandmother is a Kenmore.  It is a lot better quality than the Frigidaire.
Cheryl in Alabama
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Mother to Lana & Emily
Nana to Logan & Madilyn

shedrinkzcoffee

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2015, 03:10:50 PM »
We have had a Maytag for several years and its given us problems on occasion.  We are looking at the double door refrigerators with the deli drawer and freezer on the bottom.  Not sure what brand though.  Looking at Consumer Reports and reviews. 

Things are not made to last these days.

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2015, 03:47:07 PM »
We bought a Roper (by Whirlpool) back when I was pregnant with Mallory, who is now 11.  It was our first fridge purchase (our previous one came with the first house we bough).  That fridge is still running as our garage fridge.  The only issue we've had is the ice maker needing a part sometime several years into owning it...I think it was about a $50 fix (for the part).

So, when our previous garage fridge quit and we decided to replace our primary refrigerator and move the other to the garage, we went with Whirlpool Gold.  We are mostly satisfied.  My only beef with it is that its the kind with the freezer on the bottom BUT with the icemaker in the fridge.  You have to keep it set quite cold for the icemaker to function properly, so I have trouble with produce freezing.  I think it would be a great product if purchased without the icemaker in the fridge section.  :(  To solve this, we keep things like lettuce in the garage fridge.

Offline Rooney

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2015, 07:34:10 PM »
Cheryl, my parents had a Kenmore for like 20 or more years with no issues.  Don't know if I will be able to do that because of the price and the fact we have to have so many fridges.  I will definitely be looking at them though

Erica, before you buy one with the freezer in the bottom, I would ask a few people that have them how they like them.  I only say this because I don't like the bottom freezer one and not just because it quit. The littles keep opening the bottom and getting into the ice. IMO you can't get to the food as easily or see what you have.  You have to dig through it every time you need something.   It is like having a mini chest freezer in the kitchen.  Really wished I would have stuck with the side by side kind.  But.....others may like them and for a different reason. 

Offline MissMandy

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2015, 06:37:57 AM »
We had a repair guy come out a couple of years ago to look at our Kenmore (it turned out that the cooler-fan thingy had gotten so cold a tiny piece of ice had formed and stopped things up), and he cautioned us to avoid brands like Samsung and LG.  Not because they aren't American, but because they make SO MANY different products - refrigerators, TVs, stereos, cell phones - that they don't focus on making on or two great products. It wasn't something that I'd previously thought of, but it made a lot of sense.  I would probably do the same as some of you have mentioned, and just put in a bit of research to see what others say before purchasing.

Anyway, we have a Kenmore side-by-side now that came with our house, and it has served us well.  Since we plan to put an upright freezer in the basement when it's finished, I'll likely stick with this fridge until it dies, then look into one that's got a freezer on the bottom.
Mandy, wife to Jean, furmama to Irish Wolfhound Grimmauld (Grimm), living in the mountains of Virginia.  Childless by circumstance and loving it! ♥

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2015, 06:41:45 AM »
My brother repairs appliances as his job, so I always ask him for guidance on new purchases as well.  I thought those of you with Kenmore appliances might be interested in this chart which helps you know who manufactured your particular Kenmore appliance:  http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtml

Offline Alice

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2015, 06:49:43 AM »
Before the repair person comes, maybe all it needs is a day or two of being unplugged so the ice can thaw. My brother in law had ice problems and there is a youtube video up where there is this tiny little part that often freezes and he just unplugs for a day or so and following the youtube guy pulls this little rubber nipple out and it is full of gunk, cleans it, puts it back in and the problem is solved.

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Offline MissMandy

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2015, 07:58:05 AM »
Before the repair person comes, maybe all it needs is a day or two of being unplugged so the ice can thaw. My brother in law had ice problems and there is a youtube video up where there is this tiny little part that often freezes and he just unplugs for a day or so and following the youtube guy pulls this little rubber nipple out and it is full of gunk, cleans it, puts it back in and the problem is solved.

Alice

Good thinking!  We were certainly glad to avoid unplugging our fridge for days, though, as it was full of food at the time :o
Mandy, wife to Jean, furmama to Irish Wolfhound Grimmauld (Grimm), living in the mountains of Virginia.  Childless by circumstance and loving it! ♥

Offline Rooney

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2015, 08:28:11 AM »
Before the repair person comes, maybe all it needs is a day or two of being unplugged so the ice can thaw. My brother in law had ice problems and there is a youtube video up where there is this tiny little part that often freezes and he just unplugs for a day or so and following the youtube guy pulls this little rubber nipple out and it is full of gunk, cleans it, puts it back in and the problem is solved.

Alice

Youtube videos are awesome for helping with problems of all kinds! :)  We have had so many fixes using it! :) 

I didn't explain the whole ordeal with the Samsung with the bottom freezer.  The ice maker was just the start of it.  It  went completely down and thawed all of the stuff in the freezer and the first sign of it was the water on my kitchen floor. :o  All the food in there had to be thrown out to be safe, because it was completely thawed out and I had no idea for how long exactly.  Like the whole appliance will not even turn on and the compressor doesn't even run. 

Because my husband finished mechanic trade school before he finished formal college, he can fortunately fix pretty much anything that breaks, ummmm.....like EVER, (thus why we never used to buy warranties).  This ability to fix things has been a much appreciated gift from God over the years.  Matter of fact, we just had a repair man out 2 weeks ago to fix one of the dishwashers under warranty for free and my husband had to tell him what was wrong with it and what part was broken, because the repair guy's little diagnostic meter thing had gotten the diagnosis wrong twice. lol   The guy got a little aggravated with him, but hubby didn't want him leaving without the dishwasher running again, and after he tried what hubby said and it fixed it, he wasn't aggravated anymore, because it saved him another trip out here. :)  But now we have more appliances (to wash more clothes, hold more food, and wash more dishes more quickly).  Things go down more often than is worth his time to fix it himself.   Fortunately the Samsung is under warranty and will be fixed for free in any instance for the next 4 1/2 years. 

Now the LG was from before we were getting warranties.  It also went completely out. :P  Hubby knows what is wrong with it and how to fix it, but they are making it where the parts for things now are almost as expensive as buying a new appliance.  That was another driving force in us buying warranties on everything we purchase now.   We bought the Samsung as our third fridge, which we really needed, but didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on.  I had seen another homeschool mom (who also needed multiple fridges) with one and she really liked it, so when it went on sale for 1/2 price, we jumped on it.  I guess it goes to show that you usually DO get what you pay for. :P  But now I am freaking out cause I have a big food order coming and only 1 working fridge today!  It takes at least 2 to fit it all, so unfortunately if it isn't fixed by this weekend, I am backed into a corner having to buy another. :P

We had a repair guy come out a couple of years ago to look at our Kenmore (it turned out that the cooler-fan thingy had gotten so cold a tiny piece of ice had formed and stopped things up), and he cautioned us to avoid brands like Samsung and LG.  Not because they aren't American, but because they make SO MANY different products - refrigerators, TVs, stereos, cell phones - that they don't focus on making on or two great products. It wasn't something that I'd previously thought of, but it made a lot of sense.  I would probably do the same as some of you have mentioned, and just put in a bit of research to see what others say before purchasing.

Anyway, we have a Kenmore side-by-side now that came with our house, and it has served us well.  Since we plan to put an upright freezer in the basement when it's finished, I'll likely stick with this fridge until it dies, then look into one that's got a freezer on the bottom.

Ha, girl!  Our repair guy said the same thing over the phone. :)  The Samsungs were not a good choice.  Would be nice if the sales guys would tell you this stuff too! ;D


 

Offline Rooney

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #10 on: December 21, 2015, 07:33:03 PM »
Well, the repairman showed up today.  He fixed the Samsung's refrigerator part, but it needs a whole new ice maker installed before the freezer will work again.  The neat thing is that the he had the part to fix the LG with him, just by chance, and it now works completely, both the fridge and freezer part of it.  So no refrigerator has to be purchased! Whew!  Back in business. ;D

Offline greyhoundgirl

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Re: Which appliances are best? REFRIGERATOR EDITION
« Reply #11 on: December 21, 2015, 07:55:05 PM »
Well, the repairman showed up today.  He fixed the Samsung's refrigerator part, but it needs a whole new ice maker installed before the freezer will work again.  The neat thing is that the he had the part to fix the LG with him, just by chance, and it now works completely, both the fridge and freezer part of it.  So no refrigerator has to be purchased! Whew!  Back in business. ;D
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Big sigh of relief, right?  Yay!