Fridge is dying - need advice ASAP.... Andybody bought one lately?

M

music-city-missy

Well-known member
Been trying to tell DH but he just keeps arguing thinking it's going to miraculously heal itself. Temp now up 46-48 degrees - he's going to kill us before giving in! It's 13+ years old but it's my fault it's going out - I keep it too full he says. He says that about everything I do.

So, we have a freezer so the freezer part is not the most important part and I prefer to take up as little room with it as possible. We've always done freezer on top but looking at CR, there isn't that much difference in top and bottom freezers as far as repairs go - but BIG difference when you go o side by side.

So - what brands and which do you find better - top or bottom, regular or french door?

 
I have an Amana bottom freezer mofel

that we got maybe 6 years ago.
I love it, because I don't have to lean down to get out the veggies and other stuff at the bottom of the fridge.

I also have a separate freezer, so this one is just for things I use regularly.

Good luck in your search.

 
I have a french door GE profile with the freezer on the bottom. Do not get one!!!

I don't have issues with the configuration as much as with the brand on mine. The part at the top of the door broke two months after the one-year warranty expired. I had a repair guy out who told me he had seen several others with the same issue - and our fridge doesn't get heavy use - there are just 3 of us. It was going to cost $400 to replace the door because the cheapo plastic latch at the top broke. The other latch broke three months later. Still holds temp, but we have to be careful about shutting the doors. Ice often misses the ice tray & winds up in the bottom of the freezer. Lots of cheap plastic.

Never again will I get a GE fridge. Customer service was completely unhelpful.

As for the configuration, it's okay. I thought I would use the freezer space better than in the side-by-sides in our old houses. I like the frige end, and it's nice to have more width and a basket, but to be honest I think my freezer space worked better for me in a side-by-side. I have adjusted by not freezing as much as I used to. That said, if freezer capacity is not important or if you have an additional freezer, I think the configuration of the french door is nice.

 
I've not heard a lot of good things lately

about GE appliances.
Our daughter and SIL have had nothing but trouble with both a range and dishwasher, and GE customer service has been useless...even telling them that there is no problem.

The appliances are just over a year old, and the electronic control panel on the stove had to be replaced after only 4 or 5 months.

The dishwasher heating coil overheats and has awakened them to the smell of smoke. But, according to the repair person, there is nothing wrong with it!

End of rant...

 
I have the Amana Bottom Freezer model also. Love it - roomy frig. The bottom freezer is a little

small but I have a separate freezer. DD had all GE products installed when she built her new house. Lots of problems on all and very poor service.

 
Re: I also have the Amana Bottom Freezer model and am happy with it.

The bottom freezer can get a little disorganized - but that's probably me. I've never had to have it repaired - it's approximately l0 years old.

 
I've been very happy with my freezer on the bottom Kenmore - 6 problem free years

The only "issue" I had was forgetting to clean the bottom coils - after 2 years it revolted. smileys/smile.gif A quick vacuum got everything back on track.

One thing I highly recommend - get the swing out freezer door vs. the pull-out drawer type. You have much more flexibility and easier access to contents. Mine has a pull-out lower bin and a fixed upper shelf, plus a tip out shelf on the door.

I've been very happy with all of my Kenmore appliances. Too bad I didn't buy their stove, I got a GE. smileys/frown.gif

 
Got lots of helpful responses awhile back. Mine is on order. I did lots of research

as well as prioritizing and have learned a few things:

Whirlpool makes them for LG, Kenmore, Maytag, Kitchen Aid, depending on the model. I believe Amana makes some models of LG. So at that point, I figured it didn't matter what make I got, but the features inside were critical.

I had started out wanting an LG but just could not get enthused about the design of the interior in terms of functionality. And it lacked some of the features that others had, although the US models are a bit better from what I can see on the internet.

I opted not for the bottom drawer as I think they have not yet been designed for ease of retrieval of contents. GE is furthest ahead but the model I wanted is $3800, and I'm not planning on staying long enough.

The cabinet sides, in too many cases, are black rather than matching the stainless steel fronts, if that is the finish you want. They are starting to come out with more gray paint but that severely limited my choices.

At another home, I briefly enjoyed a new frig with the wide shelves on the doors. This, for me was the most important feature, as I am continually getting annoyed at having to remove everything from the guts of the frig to find small condiment jars.

I didn't want but couldn't avoid the ice and water in the door, and in the past have not used it because it was just stale water. So I made sure it had a good filter and an ice crusher. I do like my little cocktails so crushed ice is a decent feature. And with a good water filter, I may even use the regular ice.

I became convinced that Sears provided good service, regardless of what make it sells. And you can always bargain with them. I saved about 20% by negotiating.

If you get a side-by-side, as I opted to again, be sure that you know what size containers you may want in the freezer. Some are not as wide as you may need.

The extra quiet function may be important to you as well.

GE has a huge warranty in comparison with others. BUt GE is getting out of the home appliance business. My old GEs have survived almost forever.

My appliance repair guy tells me that some of the most expensive fridges are real junk. Such as Sub Zeros that are always breaking down. Said to stay away from Frigidaire.

The new feature that I thought would be really handy is the 'Deli Drawer' or Snack drawer. It is very shallow and covers the width of the frig. I've always wanted to be able to store prepared trays in the frig when getting ready for an evening of entertaining. I will have that, but since my new guy is only a small side-by-side, the drawer is not very wide.


Pull-out and shove-back shelves can be handy but they don't pull out very far.

Electrolux appliances are very pretty.

End of research. Good luck on the hunt.

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=90978

 
I bought 2 GE Monograms- stand alone freezer and stand alone refrig. I got GE to buy them back!

True story. One unit was all refrigerator and one unit was all freezer. I thought I was smart on this tiny island to buy GE because I thought I'd have better luck getting them serviced than if I had Sub Zeros.

The design of these GE units was incompatible with the tropics. We do not have air conditioning- we leave the doors and windows open always so humid air is the norm. GE built these units (mind you these are massive stainless steel units that 5 years ago cost around $7,000 EACH) with the drip pan underneath the coil that is supposed to evaporate the moisture so that the pans would overflow and simply DUMP on our nice Brazilian Cherry floor about once a week. So there I was with bath towels about every three days sopping up, pulling out the pans, etc.

So. I had enough and went after GE. It took me four months and I needed the help of the main GE repair guy on the island to do it but I got GE to buy back the units including the outrageous shipping cost I paid to get them here. I got a check in the mail and celebrated a victory of no small scale. Getting GE to do that was a major accomplishment of my life I think!

I bought two Sub Zero units to replace them. Why didn't I do this in the first place? Who knows. I love them.

 
I had the same problem with my Whirlpool in the tropics. And we used AC from time to time. Puddles

every 3 days or so, ran over to my oak bar. Yikes!

 
I got my sub-zeros (all ref and all freezer) at Factory Builder Stores on sale.

Good deal, and I really love them.

 
I also have a Kenmore...4 or 5 years now, no issues. French door with bottom freezer. I like it.

 
I saw two new Samsung French Door ref. at Home Depot...one was

26 cu.ft. and 28 cu.ft. but the dimensions were exactly the same. The 26 cu.ft. is approx. $2299 and the 29 cu.ft is approx. $3099. Of course I liked the bigger one.

 
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