Has anyone bought a new rFridge lately????

[danna]

The fridge we had upstairs suddenly went and it did not make sense to fix. Needed to buy a new one ASAP and
because we might not be staying I bought a cheaper "Frigidaire" and it is a piece of ****.

Supposedly it has some fan in the back that runs very loudly and the whole thing runs a lot; like up to
16 to 18 hour a day. Had one service guy out yesterday that walked in the house and in 2 seconds said the noise level was normal and
there was no way it was running that much, because the fridge would be freezing up if it did. Why would we lie about this?
He offered to replace the control but, when asked if that would help the running or the noise he said no, and still insisted it
couldn't be running that much (Yes we were lying to him, that is what you need is a service person telling you you are lying).

His supervisor came out today....Put something around the fan in the freezer and adjusted the cover....to stop virbrations and (that made it somewhat quieter),
he said it was normal for that fridge to be kind of louder because of the super fan in the back and according to him it is normal for
a fridge to run up to 16 hours a day.

I have had many fridges that are not expensive; they do not last anyway...the one that just went was in this house when we
bought 3 years ago...very expensive and only 9 years old now and the compressor is gone.

Sorry for the rant...at this point I am trying to get the store to take it back and let me buy something different; more expensive if neccessary.
Does anyone one have any experience with a brand and model that is quieter.

[SteveinMN]

danna, how old was your previous fridge? Refrigerators nowadays are built cheaper than they were. It's just a fact. Part of it is that their parts are not "oversized" the way they used to be, with just a fraction of the electricity used running the compressor. Now parts are sized more closely to the capacity of the cabinet and the refrigerator runs more often and closer to its ultimate mechanical capacity. Parts also are specified for the price point the manufacturer wanted to hit with this model; the higher costs of steel, oil, and more environmentally friendly refrigerants have driven up appliance costs, as has inflation.

[ApatheticNoMore]

From what I've seen some of the energy efficient models seem to be quieter. I think they are designed to run less rather than crank away (just more efficient in general). Although they don't come in the smaller apartment sizes (and that's why I don't have one). Another great thing about the energy efficient models is around here you can often get city and state discounts for buying them - thus money back. I don't know about Canada though.

[danna]

Thanks
The old fridge was an expensive one that was 9 years old...so I would have thought we would have got a few more years out of it..sad
Yours thoughts on the size of the running parts being smaller so they run more makes sense as to what is happening.

And this new one is suppose to be an "Engery Star" which is what we are suppose to look for in Canada.

[awakenedsoul]

I bought a Kenmore 15 years ago at Sears for $400. It's still doing really well. It is kind of noisy sometimes, and has a vibration, but it doesn't bother me. I looked up the model number, and it's a Frigidaire. (Kenmore puts their label on several different brands.) I looked mine up on appliance411. I haven't had to do any servicing or repairs. I just replaced one of the vegetable bins and the piece of plastic that sits above it.

I've read horrible reviews on line for Frigidaires, but I've been extremely happy with mine. My electric bills are very low...$11.00 per month in the winter!

[Mrs-M]

The extended running-times does not sound right, Danna. We bought a new refrigerator a handful of years ago, and it's been a gem. Quiet, efficient, and designed well, as in overall user-friendliness/storage.

Ours is branded as being Energy Star rated. I don't think you'll go wrong with a higher-end LG or KitchenAid.

[JaneV2.0]

I have a friend who had to get rid of her (at least) forty year old refrigerator due to a kitchen remodel. It was working perfectly when she recycled it. At last I'm old enough to intone "They just don't make things like they used to."

[catherine]

I do think the older ones might be more substantially built, but they're not necessarily quiet or energy-efficient. I've been married 34 years; and we had 4 fridges: 1) My MIL's old 1950s one that she used to keep in her basement, but gave to us when we first got married in 1977; 2) a $75 used one that lasted many years; 3) a $50 used one that, when we bought it, we transported one mile by having my son drive the car while my DH held on to the fridge on a dolly while sitting in the trunk of the car. That one worked fine, was old, but it was so gosh-darn noisy. We put up with it for probably a dozen or more years. It got noisier, the seal started to get hard and crack; there was mold in those areas. So, we actually bought a new floor model Frigidaire with a much better energy rating--it was a great deal because it had scratch on it. I love it. I feel like I'm in the height of luxury because it has a filtered water thingy in the door. And our energy bills are lower.

[Float On]

I had to replace my whirlpool fridge a few years ago and went with another basic (freezer on top/no ice maker) whirlpool and have been happy with it but from what I hear fridges are only made to last 5-7 years now.
I just replaced my 21 year old whirlpool washer with a maytag commercial simple washer (made by whirlpool)....we'll see how many years we get out of this one.
Also bought a whirlpool dishwasher to replace the kenmore that replaced the maytag that replaced a roper. I don't expect much out of dishwashers anymore and the only reason I replaced this time is because my MIL was here for a visit and thought it was horrible that we were having to handwash dishes.

[try2bfrugal]

I asked Sears to take back a new fridge a couple of years ago because it made this continuous, high pitched squealing sound. It wasn't super loud, and it only bothered two of us and not the other two. I guess it depended on each persons hearing range. I paid a restocking fee and they kindly took it back. Otherwise it worked fine, but I just couldn't envision 20 years of high pitched annoyance day in and day out. We got a new fridge and there is no squeal at all. I was so glad I had them take the first one back.

[pinkytoe]

Our KitchenAid is 13 years old and still runs like a champ. We have never had any issues with it and the icemaker still works too which is unusual. Now that I've said that, it will probably stop working:)

[Blackdog Lin]

Our Kenmore refrigerator is the ONLY major appliance in the whole house we haven't had to replace since we moved into our new house in 1993. Which is unfortunate in my case, as I really really really want a black fridge - to go with the now-black dishwasher and stove - but noooo, this fridge just keeps chugging along perfectly.

I think it knows I want to replace it, and is hanging in there just to spite me.

[Rosemary]

We had to replace the Kenmore fridge that came with our house almost 2 years ago. I think it was about 10 years old. Not an outstanding life time for such a major appliance. I researched reviews online and Consumer Reports. We bought a Whirlpool with a top freezer, which seems to have the highest reliability, although there is variation among models. It seems to be a lot more energy-efficient than the previous fridge (not surprising as that was not only older but also side-by-side).

[Gardenarian]

I got a new-to-me fridge off Craigslist; someone was remodelling their kitchen and I got their 2 year old counter depth Amana for $300. I ran kill-a-watt on it and it uses about 1/2 the energy of our previous fridge. I love it. I like the bottom freeser and the wide refrigerator section that lets you see everything at a glance. It's easy to clean, too.

http://www.ajmadison.com/ is a place where you can look at a lot of different refrigerators and see how much energy they use, look at ratings, etc. (I have never purchased from them, only used for research.)