# A totally non dog question, my refrigerator got fried . . .



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

In the midst of the horrific storm that hit our area this past weekend, during which huge old trees gave up the ghost, their roots spit with a vengeance from the earth that nurtured them for generations, electric surges kept my lights flickering for five days and fried my trusty old refrigerator. It would appear I now need a new one. So, kicking and screaming I went off to investigate the possibilities. As one who hates change, I'd like nothing better than my old fridge to sputter, take a deep breath and come back to life but in the event that it doesn't, any suggestions for a good, reliable new one? I had a side-by-side but have been considering a bottom freezer. 

I looked at Samsung, LG and a few GEs. I can't tell you how much I don't want to do this.


----------



## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Oh Geri!!!! I am so sorry. I have been lusting after the french door style fridge's with the freezer on the bottom. I hate the side by side...no room for big stuff. I've read great things about the LG's


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I really need this extra expense now about as much as I need a third thumb but I guess I should count myself lucky. There were so many trees down and so many houses and cars damaged, I shouldn't complain. I just feel like a tumbleweed, with very little control over anything in my life right about now. *sigh*

If I have to do this I really don't want to make a very costly mistake. It's particularly aggravating because the fridge, though about 24 years old, was perfect till the other day. I lost a huge freezer full of stuff and a packed refrigerator full of food. I am now eating out three times a day . . . and snacking a lot on things that don't need to be refrigerated, like cookes, nuts, all the bad stuff.


----------



## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Geri, is there any way you could replace the motor in your old one? The reason I ask is that when we got rid of our perfectly working 17 year old fridge so we could get a more energy efficient model, a repair guy told us we'd be sorry in the long run. I hope he's wrong! He said that they just don't make them like they used to and new ones will only last a few years. He said we should have kept the old one. When our neighbor's fridge leaked he said they were smart to repair it instead of replacing it.
That said, I am quite happy with our Kenmore Elite side by side. I looked at the freezer on the bottom ones but they were a bit out of our budget. Not being able to fit big stuff in the freezer is a drawback for us but we don't store that much stuff in the freezer anyway.


----------



## ls-indy (Apr 10, 2008)

Missy said:


> Oh Geri!!!! I am so sorry. I have been lusting after the french door style fridge's with the freezer on the bottom. I hate the side by side...no room for big stuff. I've read great things about the LG's


Missy - I'm with you! I wish I could get rid of my side-by-side and get the one with two drawers on the bottom and double doors on the top. It's big enough to fit a turkey platter! Just can't justify the expense until this one dies....and it's relatively new - came with the house....


----------



## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

We have a Maytag Plus side-by-side that I love even though it is almost as big as our small kitchen......lol For something really big we have an inexpensive tiny upright freezer in the garage specifically for things like that. I didn't like the idea of the bottom drawer since I have trouble bending my knees but if you can bend easily they should be good.


----------



## trueblue (Jan 22, 2008)

I have a Samsung that is about 5 years old now. The ice maker gets clogged up all the time, and it drives me crazy. I said that from now on, I'm getting appliances from appliance companies, not companies that started making TVs and then spread to everything else. It looks cool though


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I just did some investigating online and it's astounding how many complaints some of the most beautiful and expensive models have on file. Many of them say the things broke down or died altogether within a couple of years. I'm used to refrigerators lasting 25 years or more. Yikes!! I'll have to see if mine can be fixed though I'm afraid of it because when I came home yesterday there was a strange chemical smell that greeted me at the front door and it smelled like something was burning. I feel between a rock and a hard place.


----------



## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

Geri, we have a Kitchen Aide bottom freeze that I love. I wanted the french door kind, but not a large enough space for it. My daughter got the Kitchen Aide french door one and she loves it. She's had hers for about 1 year and I've had mine for 3 1/2 yrs.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Rita Nelson said:


> Geri, we have a Kitchen Aide bottom freeze that I love. I wanted the french door kind, but not a large enough space for it. My daughter got the Kitchen Aide french door one and she loves it. She's had hers for about 1 year and I've had mine for 3 1/2 yrs.


My stove and dishwasher are KitchenAid and I love them both. I'll have to look at them. Do you know the size you and your daughter have?


----------



## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

I think you are lucky these days if a fridge lasts 15 yrs! and they cost sooooo much 
I would be scared of a chemical smell as well. I think older models are so much more fixable than newer ones (like cars). If you could find a motor, and IF there was no chemical leakage. Call a local appliance PARTS store, give them the model number and ask if a motor can even be bought or contact an OLDER individual company that has been doing repairs for many years and ask their advice. Need someone who's been around a long time, tho, and not some newbie. 

The upshot to getting a new fridge is the better utility bill. Speaking of, states are now having a rebate for replacing older items with new, energy efficient ones and will give a little refund back if it qualifies (maybe only $ 50, or $100). States are doing it at different times this spring, and only till the alloted money runs out.....but maybe you will get lucky and if your state is doing it in April, you could buy on April 1, and get a tiny bit back (however much your state is allocating for a particular product).

I have a bottom freezer b/c I'm in the fridge so much more than the freezer, and didn't like the lack of room in a side by side. I do have trouble, tho, keeping all the freezer stuff sorted out b/c the bottom is just one big drawer with only one divider. I guess my side by side had previously lasted about 12 years. I suppose the current bottom freezer has only lasted about 6-7 years. 

The current one just went total kaput a few weeks ago. It is an LG. The history on it is that about 3 years ago an electrical storm hit it and it quit working. I don't live in a huge metro area like NYC, but I do live in a fairly big town. I could only find one company that would work on the LG - none of the big companies, including where I bought it from (BestBuy) would work on it. Took about a week or so to get parts. It never worked as quite or as well as it did before. Then, it just quit again. I have been debating whether to spend another couple of hundred on it, and I don't think I will. And, nope, I doubt I will buy that brand again. I do have a super old fridge out in the garage that is my 'extra' and I have been using that for now (it's a side by side, and the freezer room is really tight, and the fruit/veggies bins are super small in the fridge). I still prefer the bottom freezer, I'll just look for a different brand. Not that it matters, but my current one only has one door on the top fridge part. So, you can get them this way, and I liked only having one door, but I do have an island in the middle of the room and when it opened, it barely squeezed by.....so if you go that route, make sure to measure good if you have an island as well in front of the fridge.

Hope you find something you like. I know sears and mayby the BestBuy's and such can get you their store credit card or some way in which you can pay monthly....maybe a deal where they don't charge you interest on the purchase?


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

Kathie said:


> We have a Maytag Plus side-by-side that I love even though it is almost as big as our small kitchen......lol For something really big we have an inexpensive tiny upright freezer in the garage specifically for things like that. I didn't like the idea of the bottom drawer since I have trouble bending my knees but if you can bend easily they should be good.


I have a Maytag side by side that I hate!!! First Maytag product that I have not liked at all. It is the huge one too, but the little knobs that hold up the meat, veggie bins have broken off two of the shelves, or torn off I should say. Instead of being metal they are hard plastic and they just broke off the side of the fridge, leaving the shelves hanging lopsided, and willnot close properly. No children here, not hard use, just happened ..within the second year of use I would say...so check and see how the shelves are supported!!


----------



## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

as far as working and lasting I have been very happy with Kenmore (sears own brand.) 
People I know love kitchen aide.


----------



## kelrobin (Jan 21, 2008)

Geri, I'm sorry about your fridge! Not a great way to have to get a new one. We just replaced our old Kenmore with the freezer on the top. It was a good trusty frig, but I'm sure expensive to operate. After much research and talking to a lot of people, we got a Samsung stainless look with the French door and the freezer on the bottom. I wanted an ice-maker/water dispenser in the door so badly that we moved the still working Kenmore in the basement as our "second fridge", and bought the Samsung when we had a tax free weekend last fall in Nov. as well as the energy rebate deal. I usually wait until something dies, but we could save so much that weekend that we bit the bullet. It is great looking with many features. One thing to be aware of is that many of the stainless do not have magnatized surfaces so that you cannot put anything on the front of them.

Best Buy and our local big box home improvement store, Lowe's, both advised us against LG. I also looked at Sears but will never have another Sears appliance because of their service (long story.) I also have a Samsung washer and love it, so I felt like this would be a good choice. Ours has dual ice-makers . . . also has one in the freezer which is nice if you need a bunch of ice. Some only have it in the door. I love everything about it except a couple of things. You have to really make sure the doors are closed as they don't pop back in place the way my old fridge doors did. There's an alarm, but it it's 90% shut, the alarm won't sound. Same thing on the freezer door.

We have also already had a minor problem with the ice-maker . . . I am convinced that ice-makers are the most sensitive of all equipment. It does not crush ice all the way and we still get a lot of cubes mixed , but that is such a minor problem and probably just needs adjustment. The lighting is the new LED and for the first time I can actually SEE what is in my fridge! Love the freezer and decided the duel door was not worth the extra money. Some also have a push button freezer, but the Samsung one glides out with ease, so that was another thing we felt we didn't need to pay for.

The new Electrolux look nice but are very pricey. Sorry for the long length and good luck!


----------



## j.j.'s mom (Aug 16, 2009)

i can share your headache.. i have been washer/dryer shopping..
if your library has it, check out the consumer reports reliability ratings..
and yes, they don't make them like they used to.
i bought a ge side by side in 2003, and i have had it for 7 years..
knock on wood, and i haven't had any problems. after dropping the $$$, i found that a lady in my quilt group has had nothing but problems with the same refrig.
i did buy a floor model clearance refrig that helped knock down the price a bit. don't forget to look for energy saving rebates. 
with my recent appliance adventure, i did go by reliability ratings... lg was good for washer dryers.. looks like kenmore and a few others have the edge on refrigs.

i was told lg has a problem with servicing some of their appliances. so i called the local service rep to see what he had to say.. but it could be an issue in other places.
samsung seems to have a rep for very poor customer service.
that is a summary of some of my internet crawling...


----------



## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

I forgot to mention earlier that we bought our Maytag from Sears and got a service contract. That was the best thing we have ever done because whoever mentioned the tricky icemakers was right - we think our service contract has paid for itself by now! The Sears repairman is always here pretty quick, too.


----------



## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

We have the GE Profile side by side that I wish an electrical storm or something would get. I have hated it since day 1. At the time I chose it because of the size and the way I had designed the kitchen. It has never had a sick day and is going on 16 years old. My DD in Wales has an LG that is about 7 feet tall, and narrow. Its large bottom freezer has pull out drawers. It is the best laid out refrig I have ever seen. But never seen on like it in the states.

As much as I hate mine, I would hate to have to choose another one.


----------



## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

We have a GE french door fridge with bottom freezer. We LOVE it! Can't say much about reliability, as we've only had it about a year. Only comment is that it seems slow to make ice (or maybe it just doesn't make much at a time (but this is the first fridge I've ever had with any kind of ice maker)). It has water and ice in the door.


----------



## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

pjewel said:


> My stove and dishwasher are KitchenAid and I love them both. I'll have to look at them. Do you know the size you and your daughter have?


Geri, my refrigerator is 68" high and around 36" wide. It's hard to measure because of the rounded edges. I haven't been able to reach my daughter this afternoon to ask about her's, but it is wider.


----------



## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

pjewel said:


> My stove and dishwasher are KitchenAid and I love them both. I'll have to look at them. Do you know the size you and your daughter have?


I agree, my stove and dishwasher are KitchenAid and never a problem.


----------



## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Geri, hope everything else was OK with you after that storm. We lucked out, but my neighborhood looked like a war zone.

I have a side-by-side that is getting old considering when I got it. I have had it repaired once already. So, I've been "window shopping" so when it goes, I'll be ready. I was looking at the Samsung french door, mainly due to budget.

I've already decided on not getting a door ice maker. My cousin and my brother both had very bad experiences with them.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Geri -

I share your pain. I was just refrigerator shopping because I thought my fridge went kaput. It is a Jenn-aire side by side. It is fabulous looking and has great features but the **** thing needs service about every six months. After a two week wait (Sears service) they were finally able to get the part to fix it . . . During those two weeks, I shopped and couldn't find anything I liked. There was a Bosch that was pretty nice but it was a lot more than I wanted to spend. They put all sorts of stupid features in fridges . . . I don't buy canned beverages and I forget what brand it was that had a wire shelf built on the door for cans. Not much you can put on the shelf if you don't use cans. Two stores I was in recommended against the LG, third store said it was the best. 

I had a GE Profile side by side in Florida that the finish came off after about 7 years - the shelves on the doors used to fall off all the time so I was not sorry to retire it - the outer panel where they hung spread apart just slightly after a few years . . . it was an enormous pain. I spray painted that and put it in the garage minus the shelves and it is still working fine. I replaced it with a Sears Elite side by side that is good so far . . . it's only about two years old though.

I always wanted a French Door model until I spent some time with one. My almost daughter (long story) has one and everytime I'm there and need to get something out of the freezer, I feel like I am digging forever. I usually empty half of the freezer until I find what I need. Side by Side is a problem fitting larger items but I have an upright freezer in the basement so I just store bigger stuff down there.

I have a friend with a 50's vintage look refrigerator in their basement. It is probably newer than the 50s but the thing is ancient and is still working. I would have to agree that they just don't make them like they used to.


----------



## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Arlene, glad you mentioned that about the bottom drawer freezer. That has always been a question to me. I was thinking of getting another side-by-side and just getting a small freezer in the basement for larger things and to be able to stock up on things we use alot.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

My nightmare continues. I've called LIPA three times to get someone out to check it. The flickering lights and the surges of electricity have wreaked havoc on my home. As of now my refrigerator is gone, two new TVs, I've had melted surge protectors and my washing machine might be the last casualty of this war. I'm beyond frustrated and all but slept with one eye open last night because I thought my house was going to burn down. I need to have a good cry. Oh, and to add to the mess, Ruby ate through the cord of my new Dyson. Boo hoo hoo!


----------



## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Geri, maybe you should send Miss Ruby to me for a few days. You poor thing. LIPA must be doing a lot of repairs in your area and cutting off the power without letting anyone know. They did a great job in my neighborhood, but this was an incredible storm. Hope it gets better for you and they pay for your losses.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I'm trying so hard to take this philosophically, which I must admit is sometimes harder than it would seem.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

My refrigerator is not working again . . . just called Sears for service. They will be out tomorrow. Last service on this piece of junk was first week in February and it took them two weeks to get the part. :Cry:


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

It's amazing to me how expensive refrigerators have gotten and how junky in the process. I've read the scariest complaints about most of the brands. I have no choice, once we get it all sorted out, but to replace my fridge (lost two in the storm) and my washing machine. For now I'm eating out three meals a day, not fun . . . at all.


----------



## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Geri,

I totally agree . . . I feel for you having to replace multiple appliances.

I guess I will see what service says about my fridge in the morning. I have a little fridge that my kids had at college stuck in the corner of my kitchen for now. 



Arlene


----------



## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

Geri, I forgot to tell you that my Kitchen Aide is counter depth, another reason I love it.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I looked at the counter depth ones but thought they were too shallow inside and wouldn't hold enough. Are you comfortable with the amount of food it holds?


----------



## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

pjewel said:


> I looked at the counter depth ones but thought they were too shallow inside and wouldn't hold enough. Are you comfortable with the amount of food it holds?


Geri, that hasn't been a problem at all. It's just DH and myself, but family comes over all the time so I have much in the refrigerator that's for them (sodas, cheese, etc.). I don't think you lose that much space. I love the fact that the refrigerator is relatively flush and not sticking out. It's just a cleaner look to me. It's all preference. It's hard making these decisions because if you end up not liking what you picked your stuck with it. At least I'd be stuck with it.


----------



## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Geri, OUch! What a bummer to lose all that to the storm! I hope your utility company will help with th cost of replacements.

I have an Amana refridgerater and like it so far. I've only had it a couple years though so time will tell. I went without the ice maker, it's just another part to break down and have ice trays in the freezer. We have the freezer on the bottom and yeah it hs the big pull out drawer so not so organized, but since our family doesn't eat meat we don't have as much in the freeze anyways.

We also replaced the washer recently. I was warned off the LG products being told that they were a long wait to get parts for so repair shops hated to work on them.  Nothing worse than to have something break down and then have to wait forever to get it fixed!


----------



## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Something else I just thought of, if you have to replace your clothes washer, look at the front loaders! I am so glad I got mine! You can wash dog beds in them! :whoo:


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Rita Nelson said:


> Geri, that hasn't been a problem at all. It's just DH and myself, but family comes over all the time so I have much in the refrigerator that's for them (sodas, cheese, etc.). I don't think you lose that much space. I love the fact that the refrigerator is relatively flush and not sticking out. It's just a cleaner look to me. It's all preference. It's hard making these decisions because if you end up not liking what you picked your stuck with it. At least I'd be stuck with it.


Oh trust me, I'd be stuck with it too. These things are so expensive.


----------



## Rita Nelson (Jul 13, 2009)

Sure hope your home owners insurance comes to the rescue for you.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Rita Nelson said:


> Sure hope your home owners insurance comes to the rescue for you.


Me too!!! Of course when I called the insurance company this morning I was told they'd have to check and determine whether it's covered and whether it was caused by LIPA or whether it was coincidental. I think I lost it a little when I told the hapless girl that yes, my appliances all got together and decided to drop dead right about the same time that the storm and the electric surges started.

Interesting aside, the electrician told me this morning that it was not an electrical surge problem that zapped my appliances and surge protectors but a voltage issue. Something having to do with a neutralizer not bringing all the balanced power into the house. I don't know, it's still all Greek to me.

What kind of front loader did you get???


----------



## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

pjewel said:


> What kind of front loader did you get???


Sorry Geri! I must have missed this! Afte much research I got a Whirlpool Duet. I love it and even with four dogs an washing dog beds and such I haven't had any problems with it!

Years ago, I had several appliances blow out due to a PG& E issue and was able to file a claim on them. They paid to replace the items. Maybe that's what your insurane company is alluding to with the voltage issue comment.


----------



## j.j.'s mom (Aug 16, 2009)

i have a counter depth refrigerator. what i have found it that i have fewer science projects growing in the back of the fridge... ;-)


----------



## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

I have a GE Monogram Professional series, it's AWESOME and fits so much stuff. Two weeks ago I catered an event for 200 people and I fit ALL the food in the fridge, including the regular stuff we already had in there. I love that I can control the humidity and temperature in each different compartment, perfect for my cheese obsession 

It's counter depth but it's really wide, so you gain back all the space that way.

http://products.geappliances.com/Ap...?REQUEST=SPECPAGE&SKU=ZICP360NXRH&SITEID=MON2


----------

