Need a new refrigerator - opinions welcome

[stessier]

We need to get a new refrigerator. The requirement is that it be a french door with freezer on the bottom. We'd like an ice maker and water on the door, but it's not a requirement. If it's there, though, it can't be the type that is inside the fridge and touches the back wall - that's like our current one and is why we are moving on from our Frigidaire Gallery.

We went shopping and saw several LG models that fit our requirements, but now that I'm doing research, I'm scared about their linear compressors. Anyone have any experience or something they would recommend?

[malchior]

I've had an LG for 5 years and it has been one of the best fridges I've owned. It's quiet. It is reliably stable temperature wise. The door in-door icemaker system is pretty good and has been reliable. That said, I get the linear compressor qualms since it's "new" tech but they've now expanded the 10 year compressor warranty to include 5 years of labor as well. I had reservations but I also read at the time that they had a normal failure rate compared to other refrigerators.

Edit: Did a quick search and I guess it appears they had a bad run a few years back (after I bought). I would have to imagine if they had a design issue they would have worked it out by now but get the concern.

[Sudy]

We've got an Optimum Malibu 6, which I think is a rebranded Fujitsu. It's got a dedicated crisper drawer for avocados and tomatoes with a camera, so you can view them from the screen on the door or your smart device. I've noticed that heirlooms ripen too quickly though, so I have it send me snapshots once an hour. The salted icemaker was touted as a premium feature, but to be honest it just melts and makes you thirstier. The Flexpro hinges are titanium bound, but we've had it little more than a year and it sounds like an angry llama whenever we open the door. I'll yell at my wife from the sofa, "WHO LET THAT DAMN LLAMA IN AGAIN??" thinking one got in from outside, but she'll say, "It's just me Sudy, I'm getting the cottage cheese. False llama alarm sweetheart. Go back to your show." We pressed some red felt triangles into the crevice to dampen the noise but I'm concerned we may no longer be Energy Star compliant.

[Alefroth]

The salted icemaker

Sorry, the what?

[disarm]

We've had an LG for seven years and it's been great...no problems with the compressor, and the in-door icemaker/water dispenser has been flawlessly. The only problem we've had is a drain line freezing up, creating ice on the floor of the fridge, but it was a pretty easy fix to melt the ice and clean the drain myself...common enough problem to find a video online without the fix, but it didn't cost me anything more than a little time.

[Smoove_B]

I can't offer suggestions on models or features, but I will only add to make sure the retailer has it in stock and ready to be delivered. My parents purchased a new refrigerator back in late June and were assured delivery a few weeks later in July wouldn't be a problem.

Well, as of last week the refrigerator is "out of stock" and there's no ETA on when (or if) it will be coming back.

[Lassr]

word of warning with the freezer on bottom. You will have the tendency to shut it with your legs and often times it will not completely shut and you will not realize it until you open it next and realize things have thawed. I had to empty the freezer completely once because of this, and I went several days before opening the freezer again, but you'd think we'd learn our lesson but we still shut it with our knees. Never had to throw the whole freezer out again but have had to trash ice cream that melted. It has not been completely shut more times that I can count now after 10 years of ownership.

So make a habit of checking it is completely shut from the beginning so it can become a habit without having to think about it.

[Freyland]

word of warning with the freezer on bottom. You will have the tendency to shut it with your legs and often times it will not completely shut and you will not realize it until you open it next and realize things have thawed. I had to empty the freezer completely once because of this, and I went several days before opening the freezer again, but you'd think we'd learn our lesson but we still shut it with our knees. Never had to throw the whole freezer out again but have had to trash ice cream that melted. It has not been completely shut more times that I can count now after 10 years of ownership.

So make a habit of checking it is completely shut from the beginning so it can become a habit without having to think about it.

If my freezer is full, shutting it occasionally pops the fridge door open, so I have to add that to my OCD as well.

[Isgrimnur]

Hepcat, I’m glad to see that sudy’s comedy internship is paying benefits.

[infinitelurker]

I can only offer a warning to NOT get a Samsung. We have a 5 year old model with the french doors and bottom freezer. Six months in was the first annoyance, to change the water filter, you have to first shut off the water supply to the refrigerator (pulling it away from the wall and crawling behind to the shut off valve). I'm not sure how they screwed up that in the design since I haven't had that issue with other brands over the past decades.

Next issue was 3 years in, when the ice maker no longer works for more than a week or two at a time. It continually 'freezes up' and you have to end up manually defrosting it with a hairdryer for 15 minutes to get it back to making soft, near slushy-like, 'ice'.

[Jeff V]

The salted icemaker

Sorry, the what?

Maybe to make frozen Margaritas?

[Jeff V]

Our house came with a Whirlpool fridge. It does the job although some of the door shelves have gotten a little busted up. I assume I could find replacements if I tried.

Were I to go with a new one, I might go with LG. The replacement washing machine I bought was LG, and it's Alexa enabled. My kids like asking it to play songs, I suppose you could have the fridge tell you when it's time to order more water filters.

[YellowKing]

We got a Consumer Reports sub due to buying a bunch of new stuff for the move, and the LGs were very highly rated. The house came with Frigidaire stuff, but we did wind up buying a cheap LG for the garage based on the reviews.

We also got the LG washer and dryer, as CR had them on top of the ratings over and over again.

[ImLawBoy]

I can only offer a warning to NOT get a Samsung.

I cannot stress my agreement with this enough. Samsung appliances are pure garbage, and our Samsung fridge only lasted about 5 years.

We have a 5 year old model with the french doors and bottom freezer. Six months in was the first annoyance, to change the water filter, you have to first shut off the water supply to the refrigerator (pulling it away from the wall and crawling behind to the shut off valve). I'm not sure how they screwed up that in the design since I haven't had that issue with other brands over the past decades.

I hate to defend Samsung, but we just have the water cutoff for the fridge under the sink where it diverges from the kitchen faucet water supply. That sounds more like a poor plumbing design issue than a Samsung issue.

Next issue was 3 years in, when the ice maker no longer works for more than a week or two at a time. It continually 'freezes up' and you have to end up manually defrosting it with a hairdryer for 15 minutes to get it back to making soft, near slushy-like, 'ice'.

By the way, that hairdryer method will eventually ruin the rest of the fridge. I would chip out the ice with a butter knife when this happened (which probably caused some other horrible problem).

We currently have a Kenmore Elite, purchased using the requirements that it was big and available for delivery in 2 days. It's a little noisy at times, but otherwise pretty solid. It's impossible to find the right air filter replacement, so we're just using the old fashioned baking soda box. Having the bottom freezer is occasionally maddening (regardless of the brand), as inevitably something you need quickly is buried under 30 pounds of frozen goods.

In conclusion, fuck Samsung appliances.

[stessier]

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll be reviewing it with my Supervisor before we make our decision in the next day or two.

[hepcat]

The next thing you want to research is its ability to keep you alive if you take shelter in it during a nuclear blast test. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull taught me that useful bit of consumer information.

Hepcat, I’m glad to see that sudy’s comedy internship is paying benefits.

He's got a bit of Lord Mortis' stream of consciousness combined with a Pythonesqe sense of absurdity going on that I'm digging. I just make fart jokes mostly.

[Jeff V]

I would chip out the ice with a butter knife when this happened (which probably caused some other horrible problem).

This could be a catastrophically bad idea. Years ago, I had an old Hotpoint fridge with a single door and freezer box in the top. Every 6 months or so, that box (never a tight enough seal) would freeze solid. Once I didn't want to wait on the usual method of unplugging it and mopping up the ensuing puddle, so I used your method to try to remove blocks of ice. Well, it slipped and went right through the side of the freezer box and through one of the freon tubes. After getting showered in the stuff, it was off to Sears to buy a new one.

[$iljanus]

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll be reviewing it with my Supervisor before we make our decision in the next day or two.

Well before you go...

https://www.designerappliances.com/blog ... or-review/

We bought one of the Bosch 800 series without the ice maker in the door to maximize door shelf space but we like the water dispenser which is on the interior side of the fridge and easily accessible when you open the door. We also like the different storage zones for different types of foods which have independent temp controls along with a nifty long drawer the width of the inside of the fridge where all our deli meats and cheese go. It also has a dual compressor which supposedly helps maintain stable temperatures and it gently beeps at you if you've left the door open by accident. Bosch supposedly farmed out the production of their refrigerators years ago and had QC issues so they started making them in their own facilities and the reliability is much better.

That said, we also bought this because it was in stock. As Smoove_B mentioned, if they have to order the unit you want it could be stuck in the Pacific or waiting in some long queue somewhere to dock and offload. Good luck!

[YellowKing]

I just wanted to take an opportunity to beat up on Samsung again. They make great TVs, horrible dryers. I had to fix my Samsung dryer 3 times in roughly 5 years. Once was the dryer belt, once was the heating element, and once was some other pulley doo-dad that got brittle and shattered inside. The only good thing about that dryer is that it gave me valuable lessons in dryer repair.

[Alefroth]

The salted icemaker

Sorry, the what?

Maybe to make frozen Margaritas?

Still does not compute. Am I the only one baffled by this? Even a Google didn't return anything related to a refrigerator.

edit: It just occurred to me I may be missing a joke.

[Sudy]

edit: It just occurred to me I may be missing a joke.

Just a little joke, sorry. I don't know anything about refrigerators so I felt it was more important to make something up than remain silent.

[Alefroth]

edit: It just occurred to me I may be missing a joke.

Just a little joke, sorry. I don't know anything about refrigerators so I felt it was more important to make something up than remain silent.

Lol... no need to apologize. My density is the issue. I did learn that saltwater ice makers are a thing though.

[Jeff V]

I just wanted to take an opportunity to beat up on Samsung again. They make great TVs, horrible dryers. I had to fix my Samsung dryer 3 times in roughly 5 years. Once was the dryer belt, once was the heating element, and once was some other pulley doo-dad that got brittle and shattered inside. The only good thing about that dryer is that it gave me valuable lessons in dryer repair.

Good thing I bought a Samsung TV but an LG washing machine. And I really like my Samsung TV.

[stessier]

Purchased an LG during my lunch break. They asked if our current fridge was dead or if we could wait a bit. We agreed we could wait, so they said they should have one next week. They have 12 in stock but thought they'd rather wait for a new shipment that is due the end of the week. Not really sure what that is about, but our fridge currently works so if it helps someone else out who is desperate, I guess it's a win/win. (Which almost certainly means it will be dead by the time I get home. )

[Carpet_pissr]

I will echo the ‘avoid Samsung fridges’ calls above. Absolute garbage (at least models from several years ago). Due to the constant probs we had with ours, I will never buy one again.

Replaced with Frigidaire/Electrolux and I hate it, but for different issues. Both models French door, bottom freezer.

[Hrothgar]

We got an LG Fridge last year. Partially because it was one of the few in stock at the time and our old fridge had died. We had actually ordered a GE unit on the labor day sale at Costco. They gave us a three week delivery time. Needless to say, they didn't show up. They didn't even communicate with us until the day the shipment was supposed to arrive. They gave us a revised delivery day in December, but couldn't guarantee delivery. After a lot of run around with customer service, I had to cancel that order. Normally, I've had great service at Costco just not home appliances.

We went with our second choice the LG that was in stock at the regional warehouse for Home Depot. It was delivered a couple of days later. So far it's been great. During our research, we found that the LG's had a linear compressor problem for about five years. They redesigned the compressor about three years ago and doubled the warranty to 10 years. While it's too early to make meaningful comparisons, incident report rates are significantly lower on the new units. The main down side seems to be that LG burned a lot of appliance repair relationships over parts and warranty service on the troubled units. Some repair places here won't touch LG. Like all the big fridge manufacturers, the water and air filters are crazy expensive. Fortunately, the generics work just as well. Overall, we're very happy. Ask me again in five years.

[ImLawBoy]

So a seller accepted our offer on their house yesterday. It's very nice, but we're already budgeting to replace the allegedly high end Samsung refrigerator when it fails.

[stessier]

So a seller accepted our offer on their house yesterday. It's very nice, but we're already budgeting to replace the allegedly high end Samsung refrigerator when it fails.

Congrats on the house! May you be in the long tail on the failure curve for the fridge...I think that's how that blessing goes.

[ImLawBoy]

Anyone want to buy a house? It notably doesn't have a Samsung refrigerator! (Ignore the Samsung stove, microwave, and dishwasher.)