Refrigerator recommendations, plus and minuses 2024

[*****]

This has been asked about over the years here and of course responses change over the years and decades.   Some of you have not recommended LG or Samsung, does that still hold?  I'm fine with a basic refrigerator, even white or black in another brand, but thought I would ask for an update.

If you have black, are there down sides to it?

We can go with stainless steel which would look better in our updated kitchen,  but I'm wondering about fingerprints. I'm always the one wiping prints off the microwave. So do they show pretty badly on stainless steel, even when it is advertised smudge-proof?

How about minor dents and scratches?  Do these show up pretty easily on stainless steel?

And I know quite a few of you like the freezer on the bottom.  Tell me why please?  

Ice maker and water dispenser, not needed.

And in all, I need to check the cubic feet within the refrigerator to make sure it is at least as big as ours now.  I really don't want to replace our current one, but suddenly it isn't keeping things cold like it should, so we're scrambling.

 

[SHP]

I have a basic black fridge with the freezer on top. It is older for an appliance which is why we have it, it is easy to work on. 

I have POTS and the idea of passing out getting my breakfast from the freezer isn't appealing so I cannot speak to any advantages there 

It didn't come with a water dispenser and we removed the ice maker for more space.

The dirt hasn't been a problem, I feature young people art and wipe the sides when rotating. I am sure there are dents and dings. I would have to closely inspect it to find them, they are not obvious. 

 

[Pawz4me]

We also have a basic black fridge, freezer on top. No dispensers or ice makers. 

I've never liked freezers on the bottom, even though I'm super short. My mother had one and I absolutely hated it. Plus when I was researching there was some conjecture that something about the freezers on the bottom were more prone to problems, but I don't have any recollection now of what the reason was.

In all my life the only issues I've ever had with any refrigerator were related to ice makers or water dispensers, neither of which (to me) are anywhere near real conveniences, let alone must haves. I'd much rather have a dependable, very basic fridge than bells and whistles.

Ours is the smudge proof, textured type and it pretty much shows nothing. Which is both good and bad.

[history-fan]

Before you begin looking measure the door opening where the refrigerator needs to go through. I have a 1960 ranch and the size of the door opening limited my choices to just a few even with the refrigerator door removed. I went with a black refrigerator no water or ice maker. We had a stainless dishwasher that was supposedly fingerprint free but I was constantly wiping it off and when replaced that went with black. I thought black appliances would darken the kitchen but they don’t.

[73349]

My stainless steel one does show a scratch pretty plainly, but there is only one scratch on it. It chills well. It's a Frigidaire. One attribute I wish my fridge had was more flexibility about where shelves go, etc., and the ability to remove drawers for cleaning more easily. It seems to be built on the assumption that everybody eats the same way all the time.

Our freezer-on-bottom model (I think Whirlpool Gold) was the one that failed in under 2 years IIRC. We have a freezer on top now (with the ice maker removed, as we don't use ice), and this spring I bought a separate upright freezer.

 

 

[gardenmom5]

The front of my "stainless" fridge isn't even magnetic.  (which means it doesn't get used much as a bulletin board, and I have to use scotch tape when I do need something on the front) My Bosch stainless dishwasher is . . my new range is . . .

LG is still a strong, don't buy, in the reviews.   

I have had three GE fridges in 42+ years.  I've been happy with all of them.  (first was a builder grade we replaced with a monster of a 29cuft SxS, which downsized to a GE Profile counter depth French door. - which has been my favorite, apart from the inconvenience of being non-magnetic on the front . . . )   I did the most brand comparisons with the last one, incl. some pricier brands.  I had one repair/part replacement (the part was $100, and could have been DIY - dh paid a repair guy.) in nine? ten? years.  

I'm cleaning handles everyday, more so than the front.  but when people have grimy hands to open the door . . . 

[Annie G]

After years of side by side refrigerators, 5 years ago we bought a Frigidaire counter depth w a bottom freezer. I love it BUT it wouldn’t be a good choice if (as we did when we were raising teens) we still bought frozen pizzas and other items that came in boxes. Our bottom freezer is great - slide out full size basket and large bottom compartment. But it’s not a good shape for boxes and pizzas. It’s great for bags of veggies, the meat I package  into meal size portions, and other non rigid stuff. 

[Halftime Hope]

I didn't think I'd like it after years of side-by-sides, but I do like our bottom drawer LG.  It was expensive, but we shopped and watched and got it for about 75% off. We've had the golf-ball ice maker replaced under warranty twice. (The plus side of that is that my husband adores the large ice balls; they keep large-volume drinks cooler longer without as much melt due to their volume and shape. Go figure.)

The reason for this particular fridge is that we had a unique-difficult space to fit a fridge into. It's just a couple inches shallower than typical, so it was tricky. That fridge will likely be offered with the house, it was that difficult to find even a low-profile to fit. 

We also bought a new Fridigaire side-by-side just before COVID, and we don't have it connected to any water. It only cost me $700 from a scratch and dent place. It works just as well as the expensive LG, and they're about the same capacity.

 

[Scarlett]

We have a 25 cf Whirlpool French door bottom freezer. I love it and have no complaints except one door won’t shut without a push. Also mine doesn’t have an alarm so that is an issue if we don’t push the door shut. Annoyance but never caused a serious issue.  It has no ice or water in the door but it does have water inside that Dh uses quite a lot.  We have had it almost 5 years with no issues.  
I much prefer the bottom freezer because the drawers pull out and you don’t have to stand on your head to retrieve things from the bottom shelves of a refrigerator that has a traditional freezer on top. 
 

 

[KungFuPanda]

18 hours ago, ***** said:

This has been asked about over the years here and of course responses change over the years and decades.   Some of you have not recommended LG or Samsung, does that still hold?  I'm fine with a basic refrigerator, even white or black in another brand, but thought I would ask for an update.

If you have black, are there down sides to it?

We can go with stainless steel which would look better in our updated kitchen,  but I'm wondering about fingerprints. I'm always the one wiping prints off the microwave. So do they show pretty badly on stainless steel, even when it is advertised smudge-proof?

How about minor dents and scratches?  Do these show up pretty easily on stainless steel?

And I know quite a few of you like the freezer on the bottom.  Tell me why please?  

Ice maker and water dispenser, not needed.

And in all, I need to check the cubic feet within the refrigerator to make sure it is at least as big as ours now.  I really don't want to replace our current one, but suddenly it isn't keeping things cold like it should, so we're scrambling.

 

Is the freezer still working? I’ve read that a huge percentage of time when the freezer works but the fridge is too warm it’s because there is ice blocking the channel that sends cold air from fridge to freezer.  There are YouTube videos on how to fix this. 
 

I’m in this predicament currently. Do I take the steps to check for an ice blockage? (It’s simple, unskilled work) Or do I act irresponsibly and replace it? Since I can’t decide I’ve just been freezing milk jugs full of water in my chest freezer and keeping one in my fridge at all times. It has solved the problem of the milk turning too quickly. 

[SHP]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Is the freezer still working? I’ve read that a huge percentage of time when the freezer works but the fridge is too warm it’s because there is ice blocking the channel that sends cold air from fridge to freezer.  There are YouTube videos on how to fix this. 
 

I’m in this predicament currently. Do I take the steps to check for an ice blockage? (It’s simple, unskilled work) Or do I act irresponsibly and replace it? Since I can’t decide I’ve just been freezing milk jugs full of water in my chest freezer and keeping one in my fridge at all times. It has solved the problem of the milk turning too quickly. 

We just did this yesterday. It took less time than emptying the fridge did.

[popmom]

I’ve had an LG counter depth refrigerator for several years. It’s been flawless. It’s a side by side. 
 

It’s stainless. It smudges really easily. I don’t love that. 
 

I do not like bottom freezers. Some I have used are very heavy to pull open when they are full. I’ve thrown my back out pulling less heavy drawers open in my dresser. Also, and maybe they’ve improved designs, but some I’ve used look like you lose a lot of the cold air out of the back while it’s opened—thinking about the cold air sinking.