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Need a new refrigerator. Any recommendations?


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Dh said he'd been looking around for a new fridge as ours is very old and "acts up" all the time. True. I've been thinking the same thing. This is what I want: large capacity (large family!), built-in water/ice dispenser with a filter, freezer can be on top, side or bottom (is one position actually better than the other?). Not sure about the inside features except it must be roomy, lots of shelf space inside and on door. AND, most importantly, it must be relatively inexpensive (like under $1K)! Any suggestions?

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We love our LG bottom freezer ice in the door design. I much prefer this to my mom's side by side. Our bottom freezer design allows us to place large platters in the frig portion where you cannot with hers. I also prefer having the freezer on the bottom (versus the top) because the frig is the portion I frequent more often and the top seems more convenient to me. :-)

 

Dh said he'd been looking around for a new fridge as ours is very old and "acts up" all the time. True. I've been thinking the same thing. This is what I want: large capacity (large family!), built-in water/ice dispenser with a filter, freezer can be on top, side or bottom (is one position actually better than the other?). Not sure about the inside features except it must be roomy, lots of shelf space inside and on door. AND, most importantly, it must be relatively inexpensive (like under $1K)! Any suggestions?
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We love our Kenmore Elite Trio. It's a 'french door' fridge and it fits A LOT. Water on the inside door, icemaker in the freezer which is a bottom freezer. Have not (knock wood) ever had any problems with it except for on delivery when Sears attempted to hide some scratches with appliance paint. I complained and received a $200 or so credit.

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We love our Kenmore Elite Trio. It's a 'french door' fridge and it fits A LOT. Water on the inside door, icemaker in the freezer which is a bottom freezer. Have not (knock wood) ever had any problems with it except for on delivery when Sears attempted to hide some scratches with appliance paint. I complained and received a $200 or so credit.

 

I have MAJOR issues w/ Sears Cust. Serv. after my Kenmore HE washer gasket dry-rotten after only a year. They refused to refund any of my money or even repair it for free. The repair guy cracked the door while repairing it and tried to say it was like that. :001_huh: Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, though. You were lucky w/ Sears and that credit.

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I love, love, love having the freezer on the bottom. Mine is an Amana, probably 10 years old now, and still works like a champ. I'd consider a side-by-side, if I got a rilly big one. I don't think I'll ever want to go back to the freezer on the top.

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I have the largest Maytag freezer on the bottom one that they make. After looking at the side by side refrigerators, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to fit all of our stuff in the side by side refrigerators, even with the extra upright freezer that we have. We do not have the water dispenser.

 

It was expensive, even though I got a scratch and dent. I figure with 4 kids, a scratch and dent isn't going to be a big deal.

 

I've had good success with my Maytag and Amana refrigerators and freezers. Not everyone has.

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My side by side is big and has ice and water in the door and dh got a good deal on it...25 cf Maytag for $800 or so. If I get to remodel my kitchen (a far away dream) I will go for a bottom freezer with the french doors with ice maker in the freezer---no ice and water in the door. That cuts the price down and also gives you more space in the refrigerator.

 

I think ice and water in the door is way over rated.

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I think ice and water in the door is way over rated.

 

I did, too, until I got mine. :-) Honestly, when we were making the decision on this feature I told dh I would forego that. He is the one that decided for it and I'm glad he did. Because of that, we now have our well water filtered three times before we drink it - house filter, RO filter, and finally through the frig filter. It tastes incredibly good! Our family loves crushed ice and so the ability to have that (through the door) is a bonus.

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Nothing with plastic bins and sides to hold the bins - we got a Kenmore and you'd think it would last a long time - after three years two of the three plastic bins at the bottom of the 'frigde have chipped/cracked/broken off side "flangs" and the plastic molded 'fridge sides that the drawer "flangs" are supposed to slide in and out on are broken off, too. So the bottom two drawers (the most broken at the sides) are sitting on each other.

 

I hate plastic! Give me metal, good sturdy metal!!!

 

We did manage to get a model w/o the blasted ice/water dispenser - wasted space in my opinion. Give me more shlf space for frozen peas, pesto, Popsicles.

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We love our LG bottom freezer ice in the door design. I much prefer this to my mom's side by side. Our bottom freezer design allows us to place large platters in the frig portion where you cannot with hers. I also prefer having the freezer on the bottom (versus the top) because the frig is the portion I frequent more often and the top seems more convenient to me. :-)

 

 

Sharon, is the top part two-door? Is the bottom the drawer type? Or are they both single-doored?

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We love our LG bottom freezer ice in the door design. I much prefer this to my mom's side by side. Our bottom freezer design allows us to place large platters in the frig portion where you cannot with hers. I also prefer having the freezer on the bottom (versus the top) because the frig is the portion I frequent more often and the top seems more convenient to me. :-)

 

I completely agree. I had an Amana bottom freezer and it was great (had an ice maker, but not in the door). I absolutely despise side-by-sides! Not nearly enough room on either side, unless you get the monstrous 36" wide ones, and then you're looking at over $2K in most cases.

 

Consumer reports says Whirlpool and Amana are the best in brands, if I remember corrrectly. I can't put my hands on the issue that had appliances in it right now. If I find it later, I'll report back. :D

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I have the LG french door style fridge and I love the french door style. The freezer is a drawer on the bottom. The top part is the fridge and is very roomy. I chose not to get a water/ice dispenser since it took up the storage space on a door. I have an ice maker in the freezer. I will say that I do miss the crushed ice feature that came with the ice dispenser on the door.

 

I had a side by side before and hated it. Had to have that style due to location, needed small doors in order to allow door to open. Side by sides are very hard to store anything in. Large frozen items (like pizzas) have to be placed on their sides to be stored in the freezer. It was always a struggle to make enough room when I had parties. I would have to put drinks in a cooler and food in the fridge. Trays and platters would not fit well since the fridge portion is not very wide.

 

If you are looking for something with plenty of storage I would suggest staying away from a side by side.

 

The only thing bugs me about my LG french door is that when I open the freezer and pull out the top tray a few ice cubes almost always get swept out of the ice cube tray and onto the floor. It is a minor annoyance. It may be worth it to look at other models to see if they do this and if you go with a dispenser in the door you might not have this problem.

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Sharon, is the top part two-door? Is the bottom the drawer type? Or are they both single-doored?

 

Yes, I have the two door top because that is actually what drove us to this decision. We'd ruled out the side by side (space issues) but *needed* something other than a full door to open at one time because of the location in our kitchen (door would otherwise block a doorway). The freezer is a drawer.

 

I will say that the ice/water in the door does cut into space inside the door. It's a give and take feature....

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I love my side-by-side and will cry when/if it dies and i can't get it fixed.

 

It's a 15yo GE that is the size of a 25cu ft on the outside, but is like a 30 on the inside. They don't make them this big anymore.

 

Heck, i can put a Costco cake in it no problem - same for frozen pizzas.

 

Living in FL - there is no way i could NOT have ice/water on the door (ok, i couldn't live without when we lived in CA either - i'm a water drinker!).

 

There was French Door style that i would consider - we thought it was dying awhile back - it was the one that had 4 sections. The left side could be switched from Freezer to Fridge. I just did a quick glance on the LG & Samsung site and don't see it there. I'm not sure who it was.

 

But, my MIL and SIL both have freezer on the bottom fridges and I do not like them. I was raised on a side by side, and i can never find anything in theirs, and they hold nothing it seems!

 

Gee, I used to sell appliances during a stint at Best Buy - fridge shopping used to bring out the "best" in couples that came in! LOL!!

 

eta: I found the link to the Samsung one i want (which is over your budget - and mine :Glare:)

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=homeappliances&type=refrigerators&subtype=quatrocooling&model_cd=RM257ABBP/XAA

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We've got the freezer drawer at the bottom, ice in the door model and I have a few problems with it. I have a hard time getting the refrigerator at the right temp. On the side with the ice maker, things freeze very easily in the two drawers and the shelf in between. The doors do not close on their own and the alarm does not always sound to let you know. It seems if the doors are open just a bit the alarm isn't triggered. It's hard to get my guys to make sure they push the doors closed all the way. Also, the ice melts periodically and drips out the dispenser. Don't know why this happens.

 

Definitely love the idea of the side by side fridge with the freezer on the bottom, though!

 

Cindy

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I have MAJOR issues w/ Sears Cust. Serv. after my Kenmore HE washer gasket dry-rotten after only a year. They refused to refund any of my money or even repair it for free. The repair guy cracked the door while repairing it and tried to say it was like that. :001_huh: Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, though. You were lucky w/ Sears and that credit.

 

That's nothing. Funny story.

 

The best was when they came to repair my dishwasher and ended up tearing down my suspended ceiling in my finished basement - DOH! Oh yeah, that was 'fun'. (In fairness that ceiling was most likely a DIY job done badly, can't imagine why else it just crashed down when the tech moved stuff around but then again I didn't watch what he was doing I was upstairs with DD, then 4. By the time hubby came home I couldn't wait to have a glass of wine.

 

I did end up getting them to pay for a completely new ceiling (reimbursed me $2K that I had paid a contractor to repair) but it was a daily three month battle with their insurance carrier. I do love our new ceiling though!

 

I hear you though - Sears can be challenging to work with. I do recommend the french door style refrigerator though. I LOVE it.

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We have a bottom freezer, which I love. It is easy to reach, nothing falls out of it, and it has a top basket-shelf which slides out.

 

We didn't get an ice-maker or the water in the door thing on the new fridge, even though DH wanted it. They sometimes leak, and I've been through 2 kitchen floors, a new ceiling, new cabinets, etc., due to leaks in the past 3 years.

 

We used to have a side-by-side fridge, which I hated with a passion. The shelves on both sides were too narrow to hold large items easily -- like big turkeys or large pizzas in boxes. It was the biggest fridge DH could find at the time, but looks were deceiving. I was glad when it broke.

 

RC

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We used to have a bottom freezer frig until we moved. I liked the bottom freezer design, but I have to say I like the design of the side-by-side that we have now better. One big plus is that our young children can easily get to stuff inside the refrigerator unlike the bottom freezer design. I like the organizational design of our side-by-side better, and the filtered water is another bonus.

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We are a family of 7 with no room for an extra refrigerator or freezer so I too had to find the largest non-commercial frig I could.

 

I love our LG freezer on the bottom model. We have water only in the door and love it. We have an ice maker but it is in the bottom freezer. The kids really only want water but can reach the ice if they need it. The real reason we got water only in the door is because if there is an ice-maker in the door, you lose the use of the door for the frig.

 

Good luck.

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