I am thrilled to announce that it is time to buy a new refrigerator, and I need your help. I have had a hate/hate relationship with our current fridge since the day we moved in. You can read about it here. Even though our refrigerator is only six years old, even Mr. Right now agrees that it is time for it to go and has given the green light to start the hunt for a replacement.
This is what I want and need in a refrigerator.
1. It needs to be counter depth. I know that this requirement already limits my choices, but I prefer for it to be as deep as the cabinets rather than stick out a few inches beyond the cabinets. This is just a personal choice, but it cuts down on the cubic feet available. With a counter depth model, only the doors protrude past the cabinet rather than the doors plus a few inches of the fridge.
2. I want a stainless steel finish. There are some new bold finishes out there these days, but I want it to match our other appliances.
(Sorry about the bad photo, but it’s tough taking a shot of the inside of a fridge.)
3. I don’t want the ice maker to take up unnecessary space. Currently, our ice maker takes up 1/3 of the top shelf space. And if that isn’t enough, the food stored on the shelf right beside the ice maker freezes. So, in reality only about 1/2 of the top shelf is available for food storage. That drives me crazy.
4. I want a four-door model, I think. I didn’t even know this was an option until my son-in-law (Yankee) told me. Some refrigerators with four doors are flexible in that one of of the bottom quadrants can be either a refrigerator or a freezer. That means when we have our out-of-town family here and I need more refrigerator space, I can move a dial, and the freezer will warm up to fridge temps. We eat mostly fresh food, and if I needed more freezer space, I could always buy a cheap little box freezer and put it in our basement.
I have narrowed it down to two models, based on their getting excellent reviews in Consumer Reports. The brands that make a four-door model are LG and Samsung. Neither of them has every single thing on my wish list. The LG’s ice maker is in the door, but it does not have a section that will switch from freezer to fridge and vice versa. It also felt more solid than the Samsung.
The Samsung model has an interior icemaker, which takes away shelf space. You can see it there on the left of the top shelf. But …..one of its bottom freezer sections does convert to a refrigerator.
Now, this is where you come in (if you are still reading this, that is.) Do any of you have a fridge with a section that can be both fridge and freezer? Do any of you own an LG model? How about Samsung? I really need your help. I don’t want to end up with another refrigerator that doesn’t meet my needs.
Thanks so much for any input you can provide.
Take care.
Call your repair man and ask which units they will work on. In my area NO LG as they can not get any parts. LG stops making parts for a model after 7 years. Best advice I got was from the repair men. (I called them all.) Good luck and happy shopping.
Cathy, that’s great information. Will do.
I LOVE my french door. I will never have anything else. I had a side by side before. I have Samsung. Mine is not counter depth and I hated it for the first month or so as I felt I had parked a bus in my kitchen. Now I don’t even notice it. Mine is not built in however, so that would make a huge difference. I have an LG washer and dryer and TV. I am pleased with both brands even though I have had an issue with the fridge. I live in Georgetown and parts for LG washer and dryer are available so I assume the fridge parts would be as well.
Thank you Jamie. My French doors have been a challenge.
We bought all top-of-the-line appliances when we gutted and re-did our kitchen 2 years ago. Since then, we’ve had problems with everything. The dishwasher was the first to fail. That’s when we learned that no one in our area serviced Samsung any longer. After several lengthy calls to the help number, someone came from over an hour way to do repairs that were not surprisingly covered by the supposedly extensive warranty. Next, our ice maker broke, was completely replaced, and then broke again. Then, water began pooling under the bottom door of the fridge and causing the entire freezer section to frost over like an old-time refrigerator. At some point, the knobs on our gas range got distorted – from the heat of cooking?? After that, the ignition system in our oven failed. Just last week, the spring on our over-the-oven microwave’s latch broke. Not surprising at this point, we discovered that everything within the door is made of thin, shoddy plastic. If you doubt, just google these Samsung issues and you will find LOTS of complaints. Sadly, they were not available when I was excitedly purchased my first ever matching set of kitchen appliances. I promise you that we are not hard on appliances. Our previous mismatched ones (none from Samsung) had far-exceeded their life expectancy.
Washington 1967, what a horrible thing to happen. As my grandfather always said, “They don’t make them like the used to.”
We recently replaced our Maytag freezer on bottom, with a Samsung French door 2 drawer, counter depth. Although it is less cubit feet, it is easier to see things not pushed deep into the hole. Ice maker is on top but takes up much less space than former model. We researched and found that CR rated this highly for cold, repairs, etc. we had wanted an LG , but found it didn’t rate so well.
Thank you, Cynhia for the info. I felt that the Samsung was more solid than the LG.
I feel your pain. Our fridge is 15 years old and is almost ready to give up the ghost. We have been frustrated with it (side-by-side) for a long time, but we keep dealing with the issues. I haven’t started researching a replacement, but I do know that I won’t get a model that has the ice bucket in the door. I don’t know if that’s an option anymore, but ours freezes to the door and the ice cubes freeze together with the door getting opened and closed. Another issue is that our through-the-door water dispenser leaks and has ruined the stainless steel front. I’m thinking that I want a French door style as well. I can’t wait to see what you decide upon and for your review.
Cyndi, I am thinking that there isn’t a perfect fridge model/brand out there.
I have had the Samsung French door counter depth for 6 years with not one problem. We bought it at Lowes when it was on sale. They didn’t have the 4 door option then but I think I would like it. We did get ours with 2 ice makers, one in the door and one in the freezer than can be turned on or off as needed. We love having that extra option because the ice maker up top doesn’t hold all that much ice. I love the refrigerators with the glass doors and I think I’ll get one of those next time, but I hope this one lasts for many more years.
Candy, thank you for you information.
I replaced all of our kitchen appliances 3 years ago. All are LG except the dish washer. I love my French door bottom freezer LG. So far I haven’t had any problems with it. It was the style and finish I wanted. I had to get one to fit my space but would love to have space for a larger one. I cannot recommend the LG gas range however. I just spent $600.00 to repair it.