how do you select a refrigerator?

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Erwin
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how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Erwin »

I do not know about you, but in our case, we may have bought 3 refrigerators in the over 30 years of marriage, and the three times, it has been on price. Time has come to buy another one, and this time maybe we can be a bit more scientific! There are so many brands, so many options, etc., but for those experts in the subject, I am sure that the selection boils down to a few parameters. Which are they?
Inputs appreciated!
Erwin
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Mudpuppy »

The answer to this will be a bit individualistic. I'd start off by thinking about the size and style. How many cubic feet do you need? What are the dimensions of the space that it needs to fit into? Do you want side-by-side fridge/freezer, freezer on top, freezer on bottom, freezer on bottom with french doors for the fridge, or a 4 door model? What color do you want?

Use your answers to these questions to narrow down the options, then start looking at reviews (particularly about reliability), annual energy costs, and price. Don't forget to balance the annual energy costs against the price. If you're looking at one model at $900 and another at $950, but the $950 model will save you $10 a year in energy costs, then it's actually the cheaper model in the long term.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by mackstann »

I have yet to buy a fridge, but from what I've read, there are two big points:

1. French-door, freezer-on-bottom models save energy and are more convenient to use, because the refrigerator level (which you use the most) is at eye level.
2. Avoid in-door ice/water, because they're not very reliable and tend to break.
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
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stratton
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by stratton »

Don't foeget space considerations such as where you are locating it and getting it into the location. Measure things like doorways and getting it past anything like counter tops.

If you want the icemaker is the location plumbed for it?

How much power will it draw? Considering newer equipment is more efficient this probably isn't an issue, but special features such as an icemaker might push it over the edge.

Paul
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Carl53
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Carl53 »

Think also physical size compared to where you are going to locate it. Not only height and breadth, but depth. My son had to swap out his new refrigerator for another as the first was too deep and blocked too much of an adjacent doorway. They make some that would have been even better (counter depth) except they were priced much too high.

He likes his samsung with bottom freezer and door dispensers. I've not had any significant issues with a door dispenser in my nearly 20 year old maytag.
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serbeer
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by serbeer »

check consumer reports ratings
StillTired
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by StillTired »

First, I would determine what you prefer in a fridge unit. Some people need more freezer space than others, for example.
serbeer wrote:check consumer reports ratings
This is what we do. We generally go with whatever they rate as the "best buy" and basically always just pick one of their recommendations. We do this for both big and small (toaster, blender) items.
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Bengineer
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Bengineer »

How much beer do you need to keep cold and how cold do you need to keep it? :beer

To the above size / color / depth / config list, add how quiet it is if that's a concern. If a french door is on the list, will the doors swing closed like a typical single-door or side-by-side? So many wouldn't when we were looking recently. Side-by's aren't typically very energy efficient. Ice/water dispensers are a failure point. You'll pay a premium and have an order of magnitude less choice for a counter-depth. You wouldn't think 4" less depth would be all that much, but it sure seems smaller. We *had* to have a counter depth. Not enough room for beer...
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cheese_breath
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.
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livesoft
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by livesoft »

^ That's why you buy white. And certainly stay away from avocado.

We've been married 30 years and have bought one white fridge. We use it every day. The main criteria was "Can we open the door and not hit the cook island in the kitchen?" In the old days, the doors were either right-handed or left-handed and not switchable.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Sunny Sarkar »

We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
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Bengineer
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Bengineer »

cheese_breath wrote: ... So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary ...
This sounds familiar! As long as it's a counter-depth, french door, stainless, you can go on about cost, reliability and energy efficiency all you want... It's interesting how different the value system for something as basic as a refrigerator can be between one and one's spouse.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by jebmke »

I take my wife to the appliance store and buy whatever she recommends.
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ndchamp
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by ndchamp »

jebmke wrote:I take my wife to the appliance store and buy whatever she recommends.
Yep, when Mama's happy..... :D
texasdiver
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by texasdiver »

I'm not sure how the freezer on bottom is more energy efficient. For the past 75 years the freezers have been on the top because that allows the fridge compartment to cool by natural convection. Cold air from the freezer compartment naturally sinks into the fridge compartment and cools it without the need for any circulation fans. With the freezer on the bottom you will need some sort of fan to force the cold air up into the main compartment. But I suspect modern fridges are much more sophisticated these days. The old ones just had cooling coils in the freezer and that freezer naturally cooled the rest of the fridge. I have no idea how the new ones work.

That said, a friend of ours just got one of the new french door fridges and my wife loves it and wants one. So what do I know. They did intentionally get one without the in-door icemaker because it saves a LOT Of space inside the freezer compartment. There is still an icemaker that just fills a bin with ice and they keep a scoop there to grab ice when necessary. But I'm not sure about the energy efficiency of always opening the freezer door to get ice if you use ice frequently. Here in Texas during the summer my kids are always getting ice. It may cost more if they are always opening up the freezer to get ice.
gkaplan
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by gkaplan »

Here's a similar thread from late last year:

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... rigerators
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sscritic
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by sscritic »

When you are old with a bad back, you don't want to be bending over to get into your freezer. Trust me.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by mackstann »

texasdiver wrote:I'm not sure how the freezer on bottom is more energy efficient.
Well, my assumption was that the bottom freezer was a big sealed drawer that held its cold air when you opened it, as opposed to a traditional door freezer where all the cold air falls out when you open it. Upon further browsing of a Google image search, I've realized that I was mistaken. Most of them seem to have open wire baskets of some kind.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by fishnskiguy »

sscritic wrote:When you are old with a bad back, you don't want to be bending over to get into your freezer. Trust me.
So you'd rather bend over to get to the fridge? :happy

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sscritic
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by sscritic »

Two versions:
side by side: use top 2/3 of both freezer and refrigerator for the most frequently used items. I almost never put anything on the bottom shelves.
freezer on top: use top 1/2 of refrigerator, leaving bottom shelves mostly empty.

If the freezer is on the bottom, the only comparable choice is to leave the freezer empty. That's why I don't have the freezer on the bottom. My knees and back belong to me. You can do what you want with yours.

Note that this assume freezer is 1/3 of total capacity and refrigerator is 2/3 and you will not use the bottom 1/3 of any arrangement.
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GregLee
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by GregLee »

mackstann wrote:1. French-door, freezer-on-bottom models save energy and are more convenient to use, because the refrigerator level (which you use the most) is at eye level.
2. Avoid in-door ice/water, because they're not very reliable and tend to break.
Agree on 1. Our current freezer-on-bottom model is considerably nicer than our previous freezer on left one.

Disagree on 2, at least through personal experience. We did have some problem keeping our previous fridge dispensing ice -- the ice-making mechanism would clog with ice, periodically -- but that was only toward the end of its life, and our current Samsung fridge's door ice-maker is still working fine after a year. We use it all the time.

We also use our fridge's wine/cheese/drink/meat drawer (temp is settable) a lot.

Our last fridge, Kenmore, didn't keep a uniform temp in the fridge compartment, didn't have good air circulation, had too moisture there, so it collected ice in some places, mold in others, and food spoiled too fast. I guess it isn't fair to compare the old Kenmore near the end of its life to our newer Samsung, still, the Samsung is doing much better. It has separate compressors for fridge and freezer, and that may help.

When the top french doors are open, there's a small amount of counter space available in the fridge to set glasses temporarily, or whatever. It's convenient.
Greg, retired 8/10.
epilnk
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by epilnk »

Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
Probably.

When we bought this house 6 years ago we considered replacing the old fridge with a more energy efficient model. But we don't shop well and we avoid unnecessary purchases, so we put it off until a couple of months ago. If you run the two fridge models through an energy calculator, it turns out that we'd have been better off replacing it back when we bought the house. Since the theoretical break even point was less than 5 years, the fridge would have paid for itself at least a year ago. And without attempting to speculate on other changes in energy consumption (I can't think of any obvious reductions, but the pool and AC are big seasonal consumers) our last three electric bills were all much lower than the corresponding month last year, with the last two consecutive bills being lowest I've seen in a few years.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
You're probably not going to save a lot if it was built in 1994. Check the chart on this page for energy savings based on year built and storage capacity.

http://www.dteenergy.com/residentialCus ... ogram.html
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mrpotatoheadsays
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by mrpotatoheadsays »

Which are they?
Consumer Reports defines them, and Consumer Reports ranks the models.

I bought my Samsung via their rankings; it's awesome; yes, I said my refrigerator is awesome.
SurfCityBill
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by SurfCityBill »

serbeer wrote:check consumer reports ratings
+1 (I tend to stick with the one showing the best repair rating)

-B
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Watty
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Watty »

cheese_breath wrote:You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.

You can get it painted to match, there are companies that do this.
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cheese_breath
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

Watty wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.

You can get it painted to match, there are companies that do this.
We tried this with the previous fridge. It's the basement refridgerator now. In fact if we get a new one it will be the one we get rid of. She said it didn't match good enough. Looked pretty good to me, but she's a perfectionist.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Mudpuppy »

cheese_breath wrote:
Watty wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.
You can get it painted to match, there are companies that do this.
We tried this with the previous fridge. It's the basement refridgerator now. In fact if we get a new one it will be the one we get rid of. She said it didn't match good enough. Looked pretty good to me, but she's a perfectionist.
You know, color "matching" is not just a matter of getting a certain color number off the color wheel. Get two GE Bisque units from different color lots and they're going to vary. Put two from the same color lot under two different CRI (color rendering index) light bulbs and they will seem to be different colors because the light hitting them is different. Same goes for something getting natural light vs something getting artificial light (unless the artificial light has a CRI > 95). This is also why what you buy at the store doesn't always look the same when you get it outside or home. Stores have been known to fiddle with the CRI of their lighting to get the effect they want in the store. It's one of the dirty little secrets of the designer world.

Not that I expect this will have any bearing influencing your wife. Once a person sets their mind on something, that tends to be that. But just in case the new fridge also "doesn't seem to match", this at least will explain why. There is no perfection when it comes to color matching, unless the room has no windows and has perfectly matched light bulbs spaced equidistant from each appliance.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by anonenigma »

Check whether your state and electric utility offer rebates on specific models that are Energystar compliant. This can result in substantial savings. Also see if you can buy it from a merchant that offers free delivery and free removal of your old refrigerator.

We bought ours around Black Friday and got a great price, free delivery, free removal and two big rebates.

Then pray, as our experience has been that refrigerators of the past decade are poorly made and break easily.
epilnk
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by epilnk »

cheese_breath wrote:
Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
You're probably not going to save a lot if it was built in 1994. Check the chart on this page for energy savings based on year built and storage capacity.

http://www.dteenergy.com/residentialCus ... ogram.html
The fridge I replaced was a 94. We have high electricity rates, though, which skews the equation more heavily toward efficiency.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fus ... gw_code=RF

Will give you an idea (there is a savings calculator spreadsheet, driven by model number, on the right hand side).

As per other replies, almost certainly.

A 1980 fridge burns c. 2000 kwhr pa or at average US retail electricity prices about $210 pa

A 1994 fridge probably burns over 1000, say 1200-1500 - $120-150 pa say

An Energy Star 2012 fridge? around 550-700 kwhr pa. Say $60 pa.

EDIT
- there are 2 'savings buttons' on the EIA website. Doing a 'quick and dirty' the site estimates savings of $50 pa ($45 pa v. $95 pa).
You can estimate more precisely with the model number.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fus ... y=7&model=

However:

- electricity prices could go up- you are buying a hedge
- time of day electricity pricing will be rolled out, I would predict, to 80-90% US households in the next 20 years (California, Ontario, it's already there)-- you don't control when your fridge runs and so it could be spending more of your money than the straight consumption figures (1)
- if you are like many Bogleheads, you don't have a better use for the money. Ie your only debt is your mortgage (paying that down will give you a 4-5% after tax return pa). Energy savings are basically *risk free* returns-- as good as US Treasury Bonds

(they would only not be risk free if 1). you were planning to move soon and you didn't think you'd get the value back (ie the new buyer would not value having a fridge (any fridge) in the house at all 2). electricity prices go *down* in the future.(2)

Your utility may have some kind of programme to encourage you to purchase Energy Star appliances.

Notes
1 - it costs the utility up to 10x (actually up to infinity times) as much to deliver power to you at 4.30pm on a July Thursday than it does in the middle of the night in April. As utilities struggle with renewing a huge, ancient asset base, time of day pricing is absolutely key (leads, typically, to c. 10% reductions in residential consumption, more from businesses). Regulators are beginning to recognize that.

2 - the US electricity asset base, generation, distribution & transmission is *old*: built in the 70s. It will need replacement at say 3 times the nominal cost of the existing asset base. Electricity rates are based on the cost of the assets + the cost of the fuel. Customers are going to have to pay for that. For example 1/3rd of US coal plants (generally the older and smaller ones ie not as much as 1/3rd of all capacity from coal fired stations) are going to be shut down the next 5-10 years.

The benefits of cheap gas and the recession for electricity prices are now 'in the system' (probably only up from here) but the asset renewal problem remains.
Last edited by Valuethinker on Sat Aug 18, 2012 3:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
A small additional note.

In DFW (ie Texas) a more efficient fridge saves you on comfort and air conditioning.

Every waste watt that fridge puts out has to be air conditioned away. If you have a Coefficient of Performance of an Air Source Heat Pump of 3.0, every waste watt costs you another 1/3rd of a watt in AC.

Of course in winter the reverse: but gas for heating costs maybe 1/4 of what electricity does, so having an inefficient fridge is a very expensive form of electric room heat.

The real saving though is in comfort: kitchens tend to be hotter than the rest of the house.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

mpt follower wrote:I do not know about you, but in our case, we may have bought 3 refrigerators in the over 30 years of marriage, and the three times, it has been on price. Time has come to buy another one, and this time maybe we can be a bit more scientific! There are so many brands, so many options, etc., but for those experts in the subject, I am sure that the selection boils down to a few parameters. Which are they?
Inputs appreciated!
In order of priority:

1. - it has to fit the counter! -- dimensions.

2. - you have to have a colour you can live with - white is best (it doesn't date) but may not fit your kitchen decor. Here (Europe) the white appliances are c. 5-10% cheaper than the stainless steel. If you move, and take it with you, white is the safest colour (given you don't know what your next kitchen will look like). That's also true if you are selling, in that we have all seen avocado kitchens and bathrooms-- coloured appliances *date*.

3. - it has to be reliable. Check Consumer Reports recommended brands (problem: the brands are now all mucked around, made in the same factories with different labels- -CR is probably as good as you can get).

4. In that subset, try to buy Energy Star. You are making a risk free investment with a positive return (the incremental cost of Energy Star is not usually large). You are future proofing against rises in electricity rates. You are reducing the stress on your home AC. You are contributing to saving the Planet.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fus ... gw_code=RF
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

epilnk wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:
Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
You're probably not going to save a lot if it was built in 1994. Check the chart on this page for energy savings based on year built and storage capacity.

http://www.dteenergy.com/residentialCus ... ogram.html
The fridge I replaced was a 94. We have high electricity rates, though, which skews the equation more heavily toward efficiency.
And you don't control when the fridge runs-- so time of day pricing really counts against an inefficient fridge.

People don't carry models of the energy cost of appliances around in their heads: most people would not know how many kwhr they consume a year-- they might not even know their electricity bill. Also most households will only replace an appliance when they absolutely need to (rationally due to capital constraints ie they've got other things to spend money on). For that reason, I am a big fan of minimum standards of efficiency-- consumers are 'locked in' to major appliance purchases that were made 10 years ago or more (my heating bill is governed by Victorian building standards of 1890!). In refridgerators, California has led the world in this (the governor, in the 1970s, a guy named Jerry Brown (whatever happened to him? ;-)), was persuaded that California could avoid building new nuclear power plants if it invested in energy efficiency-- a guy named Art Rosenfeld persuaded him of this, and in energy efficiency circles, it is now known as 'the Art Rosenfeld effect').

Since then, the electricity consumed by the average fridge (which is now bigger) has gone from something like 2000 kwhr pa to sub 700. It's gone from being 1/6th say of the average household consumption, to less than 1/10th.
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Toons
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Toons »

Bought a refrigerator a few months back.Our first consideration was size as we only need enough storage capacity for 2 people,,,after that it was price.
Found a great deal at the Lowes website on sale, Whirlpool , very pleased :happy

http://www.lowes.com/Appliances/Refrige ... ors&rpp=16
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cheese_breath
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

Mudpuppy wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:
Watty wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.
You can get it painted to match, there are companies that do this.
We tried this with the previous fridge. It's the basement refridgerator now. In fact if we get a new one it will be the one we get rid of. She said it didn't match good enough. Looked pretty good to me, but she's a perfectionist.
You know, color "matching" is not just a matter of getting a certain color number off the color wheel. Get two GE Bisque units from different color lots and they're going to vary. Put two from the same color lot under two different CRI (color rendering index) light bulbs and they will seem to be different colors because the light hitting them is different. Same goes for something getting natural light vs something getting artificial light (unless the artificial light has a CRI > 95). This is also why what you buy at the store doesn't always look the same when you get it outside or home. Stores have been known to fiddle with the CRI of their lighting to get the effect they want in the store. It's one of the dirty little secrets of the designer world.

Not that I expect this will have any bearing influencing your wife. Once a person sets their mind on something, that tends to be that. But just in case the new fridge also "doesn't seem to match", this at least will explain why. There is no perfection when it comes to color matching, unless the room has no windows and has perfectly matched light bulbs spaced equidistant from each appliance.
Tell me about it. :) She made the poor guy paint it twice trying to get 'just the right tint'. I'm not sure if she gave up or just felt too sorry for him to make him do it again.
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

anonenigma wrote:Check whether your state and electric utility offer rebates on specific models that are Energystar compliant. This can result in substantial savings. Also see if you can buy it from a merchant that offers free delivery and free removal of your old refrigerator.
The free removal can be especially important for refridgerators. Some trash companies won't take them unless the freon has been removed first by a certified technition.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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cheese_breath
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

epilnk wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:
Sunny Sarkar wrote:We have a 1994 model refrigerator. It looks old, but works as expected. I've heard that modern refrigerators are very energy efficient. If we do not need anything bigger, does it make financial sense to replace the fridge?
You're probably not going to save a lot if it was built in 1994. Check the chart on this page for energy savings based on year built and storage capacity.

http://www.dteenergy.com/residentialCus ... ogram.html
The fridge I replaced was a 94. We have high electricity rates, though, which skews the equation more heavily toward efficiency.
Looks like we will be getting rid of the pre-1980 basement model and moving the 2000 model into the basement when we get our new one. Based on the DTE Energy chart (Detroit Edison) I referenced above for my area it looks like energy savings will pay for the new one in about 5 1/2 years. So even though I initially resisted getting a new one it looks like a winner to me now. (Maybe the wife knows something after all. :wink: )
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
Valuethinker
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

cheese_breath wrote: Based on the DTE Energy chart (Detroit Edison) I referenced above for my area it looks like energy savings will pay for the new one in about 5 1/2 years. So even though I initially resisted getting a new one it looks like a winner to me now. (Maybe the wife knows something after all. :wink: )
Let's put that in Boglehead terms. You are getting an 18% pa return from this investment in a new fridge, essentially risk free.

After tax.
Valuethinker
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Valuethinker »

texasdiver wrote: But I'm not sure about the energy efficiency of always opening the freezer door to get ice if you use ice frequently. Here in Texas during the summer my kids are always getting ice. It may cost more if they are always opening up the freezer to get ice.
To quote epilink '8 year olds are not Energy Star compliant' ;-).

The icemaker is just something else to go wrong and I try to avoid 'gadgets' for that reason.

I doubt the kids in the fridge factor will really make a huge difference on energy consumption (but, then, I don't have teenagers ;-)).
ddunca1944
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by ddunca1944 »

For us, the first considerations were size. We wanted a "counter-depth" refrigerator and it had to fit in the space available.
The second consideration was style - that is very individual. We wanted a side by side.

Then we did some research on Consumer Reports, a lot of looking.
We ended up with a counter depth, side x side, Kitchen Aid with an in door water/ice dispenser. We've had it now about 4 years and are very happy with it.
We were surprised at how expensive mid range refrigerators were.
Fallible
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Fallible »

You've already got many good replies on buying, so I'll just add one piece of advice. Once you've chosen the fridge, be certain it is installed correctly and that includes proper leveling. I recently bought a fridge that became increasingly noisy, including an occasional vibration heard throughout the house. I complained to the company, but they said the noises were "common." When the doors then began to squeak when opened, I called again and this time a repair guy was sent out. He said the fridge had not been leveled, which he then did, ending the so-called "common" noises and squeaky doors.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
Northster
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by Northster »

Based on my experience with a Kenmore I would agree that indoor ice/water dispenser can be problematic. Another consideration is that the water dispenser also has a filter. I estimate that if I change the $50 filter as often as recommended I will spend as much on filters as on the refrigerator.
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daytona084
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by daytona084 »

Northster wrote:Based on my experience with a Kenmore I would agree that indoor ice/water dispenser can be problematic. Another consideration is that the water dispenser also has a filter. I estimate that if I change the $50 filter as often as recommended I will spend as much on filters as on the refrigerator.
:D ... isn't that the truth. I have a warning light that goes on when the water filter supposedly needs changing. I quickly learned how to reset the light without changing the filter. I think we have changed the filter once in eight years.

The lesson here is to avoid recommendations on product replacement from the people who make the product. Such as: "If your car has 30,000 miles or more, you need new struts/shock absorbers.".... "If your wiper blades are more than six months old you should replace them"
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cheese_breath
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by cheese_breath »

Valuethinker wrote:
cheese_breath wrote: Based on the DTE Energy chart (Detroit Edison) I referenced above for my area it looks like energy savings will pay for the new one in about 5 1/2 years. So even though I initially resisted getting a new one it looks like a winner to me now. (Maybe the wife knows something after all. :wink: )
Let's put that in Boglehead terms. You are getting an 18% pa return from this investment in a new fridge, essentially risk free.

After tax.
I like to think of it as after 5 1/2 years I'll have a free refridgerator. Almost anything free is good, even if it is 5 1/2 years old. And after the 5 1/2 years it's pure gravy.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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dratkinson
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by dratkinson »

cheese_breath wrote:
Mudpuppy wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:
Watty wrote:
cheese_breath wrote:You guys are sooo lucky. My wife told me last night she wants a new fridge because the bisque color on the old one doesn't quite match the bisque color on the range and dishwasher we bought a few months ago. I managed to put her off for awhile, but she's insistant now. So the primary criteria in a new refridgerator is it must be General Electric bisque. Everything else is secondary. The price one pays for peace in the family.
You can get it painted to match, there are companies that do this.
We tried this with the previous fridge. It's the basement refridgerator now. In fact if we get a new one it will be the one we get rid of. She said it didn't match good enough. Looked pretty good to me, but she's a perfectionist.
You know, color "matching" is not just a matter of getting a certain color number off the color wheel. Get two GE Bisque units from different color lots and they're going to vary. Put two from the same color lot under two different CRI (color rendering index) light bulbs and they will seem to be different colors because the light hitting them is different. Same goes for something getting natural light vs something getting artificial light (unless the artificial light has a CRI > 95). This is also why what you buy at the store doesn't always look the same when you get it outside or home. Stores have been known to fiddle with the CRI of their lighting to get the effect they want in the store. It's one of the dirty little secrets of the designer world.

Not that I expect this will have any bearing influencing your wife. Once a person sets their mind on something, that tends to be that. But just in case the new fridge also "doesn't seem to match", this at least will explain why. There is no perfection when it comes to color matching, unless the room has no windows and has perfectly matched light bulbs spaced equidistant from each appliance.
Tell me about it. :) She made the poor guy paint it twice trying to get 'just the right tint'. I'm not sure if she gave up or just felt too sorry for him to make him do it again.
Cheap devil's advocate here.

Could your repaint all three at the same time: range, dishwasher, and refrigerator? Surely that would be an exact match if from the same can of paint.

And with the left over paint you could also do the microwave, toaster, door and window trim,....



Of course this could lead to a repaint of the whole kitchen.

And a freshly painted kitchen could make the rest of he home's interior look dated, so you might have to repaint the whole home's interior.

Freshly painted walls could lead to re-upholstery, or new furniture, or other remodeling projects.

On second thought, it may be cheaper to just buy another refrigerator, and let her choose it, so there is no doubt about the color.

Never mind.
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
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GregLee
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by GregLee »

Black.
Greg, retired 8/10.
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tetractys
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Re: how do you select a refrigerator?

Post by tetractys »

Refer's make too much noise; they should all be silent. -- Tet
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