American Style Fridge Freezer recommendations please

[Sheepshanks]

omniflow said:

Originally I had a Maytag, which was pretty good, but for some reason I can't recall I replaced it with a Samsung.

Probably due to the price difference, but the Maytag ones have stayed the same price for a long time - ours (stainless doors only) is 15yrs old and cost £2K. They seem to be around the same price today.

[jeff m2]

h0b0 said:

I have GE Cafe in my kitchen and profile in my laundry. Looks nice but I have had issues with all of the appliances. The one that grates the most is the fridge. The water line freezes up. The solution is to take a hair dryer to the water line and defrost it. After doing some digging and working with GE I found that their internal repair procedure was to add a heater to the water line. That's right, they heat the chilled water line. After I stopped laughing the GE person said "If you can provide a better solution we will put it into action". She was not being rude though. I had been working with her for a while and she respected my background which is engineering. They just did not have a solution.

I saw a fix for this prob.
Increase the length of the feed line (usually 1/4 clear tube) and put a couple of loops close to, but not touching the motor.
It warms the water just enough to to prevent freezing.

[Burwood]

Gazzab said:

Sub zero? Fancy one in my new office / cinema outhouse.

wanted a twin with wine cooler but 25k is too much on a fridge

[Burwood]

Gazzab said:

Sub zero? Fancy one in my new office / cinema outhouse.

wanted a twin with wine cooler but 25k is too much on a fridge

[Mattt]

I've got the same as roofer but without the sparkling water function - which worked out to £600 extra, which wasn't worth it for me!

Think I paid £1400 after cashback etc.

[omniflow]

Thanks for all of the input, but I'm still not much closer to understanding if there are any side-by-side fridge freezers out there that are less frustrating that the Samsung.

When I first looked at the Samsung that I bought, it looked like it was the best on the market. However, when it was delivered I started to have my doubts, it seemed to lean about 5 degrees to one side - it just felt really cheap. Now it's been in for a year or so, I'm starting to hate it. The problem with the drawers at the bottom of the fridge is REALLY frustrating - they're like the boot on a 916 GTV. It looks like you can get stuff in or out of there, but they only open about one third of the way, so they are inconvenient to use.

I was in John Lewis on Sunday and they have quite a limited range on display (loads more for sale on their website, but most of those are "mail order" only). Every one I tried had the same challenge. I have seen some advertised that have extendable runners or something similar, but I'm not buying another one without taking the opportunity to see for myself that it meets my requirements.

I definitely need something that is standard size - i.e. 915mm wide, as I have no desire to reconfigure my kitchen.

[Sheepshanks]

omniflow said:

The problem with the drawers at the bottom of the fridge is REALLY frustrating - they're like the boot on a 916 GTV. It looks like you can get stuff in or out of there, but they only open about one third of the way, so they are inconvenient to use.

In our Maytag one, the top drawer opens about 2/3, the middle draw about halfway and the bottom draw opens fully - the drawers get deeper (height) as you go down, but shorter (front to back). I would guess the restriction is due to the potential weight in the drawers bearing on the drawer sliders - not a problem for the bottom one as it's resting on the bottom of the fridge.

[loughran]

Are there any kitchen showrooms around where you live, they often have big fridges built into their displays that you can fiddle with.

Edited by loughran on Tuesday 10th March 15:19

[HotJambalaya]

loughran said:

I put an array of SubZero in for a customer recently.... 27k. They are just not worth it.

Sorry but they're not.

Fisher and Paykel, lovely. I've put a few in, the building in kit at 500 quidish which is a bit daft but it finishes the job off really nicely.

Fisher and Paykel is what I'll be putting in, the moment the kitchen is ready.

funny you mention that, I've been looking at one recently

https://www.fisherpaykel.com/uk/kitchen/fridge-fre...

I cant quite get to grips with how much space is needed on the door opening side to get the door opening properly. I've only got a tiny kitchen so its massive overkill, and literally every cm counts, any ideas? does the finishing kit make it need more space?

[loughran]

The finishing kit is basically a 3 part (top, 2 sides) stainless steel frame. The sides cut in at 45 degrees to allow the thick doors to open. The problem being that the doors don't open within the fridges width and they're quite thick. The frame will add about 86mm to either side of the fridge.

The alternative is to have the unit pulled forward 3 inches or leave an unsightly gap for the door edge to open into.

Here's the spec.... https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/dam/fisherpay...

I've been looking at some Gaggenau cooling recently, their doors open within the width of the appliance. The hinges are very mighty.... as are the prices.

[HotJambalaya]

loughran said:

The finishing kit is basically a 3 part (top, 2 sides) stainless steel frame. The sides cut in at 45 degrees to allow the thick doors to open. The problem being that the doors don't open within the fridges width and they're quite thick. The frame will add about 86mm to either side of the fridge.

The alternative is to have the unit pulled forward 3 inches or leave an unsightly gap for the door edge to open into.

Here's the spec.... https://www.fisherpaykel.com/content/dam/fisherpay...

I've been looking at some Gaggenau cooling recently, their doors open within the width of the appliance. The hinges are very mighty.... as are the prices.

Thanks. Actually realised I cant use a finishing kit since I've only got a wall up on one side. Think I just have to leave space to the right of about 3 inches and not have the door opening the full range.

Actually for anyone else thinking about FP, its worth noting that I called them, had the call routed to NZ and spoke for a while to a helpful customer services guy to work out a solution. It just helps to take notes at the time, because 4 months later you've forgotten it all....

[Sheepshanks]

HotJambalaya said:

Thanks. Actually realised I cant use a finishing kit since I've only got a wall up on one side. Think I just have to leave space to the right of about 3 inches and not have the door opening the full range.

Does the model you're looking at work OK with the door opening restricted?

On many of these appliances, especially the 2 door side by side fridge freezers, you really do need the doors to be able to open towards 180 degrees. The door and its bins are usually very thick so access is restricted generally and you might not be able to open the drawers fully as they hit the side of the door bins.

The fridge side of ours is just about OK, as it's about 6" from a side wall but the door opens into a recess where the outside door is. If it was the narrower freezer side that was restricted, then getting into it would be right faff.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 10th March 18:15

[HotJambalaya]

Sheepshanks said:

Does the model you're looking at work OK with the door opening restricted?

On many of these appliances, especially the 2 door side by side fridge freezers, you really do need the doors to be able to open towards 180 degrees. The door and its bins are usually very thick so access is restricted generally and you might not be able to open the drawers fully as they hit the side of the door bins.

The fridge side of ours is just about OK, as it's about 6" from a side wall but the door opens into a recess where the outside door is. If it was the narrower freezer side that was restricted, then getting into it would be right faff.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 10th March 18:15

bugger....

[Sheepshanks]

HotJambalaya said:

bugger....

Actually I looked at the one you linked to and there is a drawing for a 90 degree opening door, so they must think it works OK like that.

I couldn't immediately find any decent interior pictures so I couldn't see if there are drawers and door bins that might get in the way of each other.

ETA: I just looked again and there is a comment that "for full drawer/shelf access, the doors need to be open past 90°".

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 11th March 11:53

[Yazar]

roofer said:

Got this, Sparkling water and split temp freezer in drawers. Much easier to use than usual twin door.

^^ as above. The ones with drawers (also known as French door Fridges) are useful, as shelves are wider so can put longer stuff in.

[h0b0]

Sheepshanks said:

HotJambalaya said:

Thanks. Actually realised I cant use a finishing kit since I've only got a wall up on one side. Think I just have to leave space to the right of about 3 inches and not have the door opening the full range.

Does the model you're looking at work OK with the door opening restricted?

On many of these appliances, especially the 2 door side by side fridge freezers, you really do need the doors to be able to open towards 180 degrees. The door and its bins are usually very thick so access is restricted generally and you might not be able to open the drawers fully as they hit the side of the door bins.

The fridge side of ours is just about OK, as it's about 6" from a side wall but the door opens into a recess where the outside door is. If it was the narrower freezer side that was restricted, then getting into it would be right faff.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 10th March 18:15

In the US the fridges with Stainless sides are not meant to sit all the way in. They are meant to protrude from the cabinets as shown in my picture in an earlier post. If the fridge has black sides then it is intended to be "counter depth" and can be slotted all the way in. These typically are smaller though

[lowdrag]

Useful topic this, so thanks to all. New Samsung 614 litres being delivered today, and I never thought about opening the doors wide to get the drawers out. It's a 2-door one, not the more up-market ones. Also, I only found out just in time that the LG ones don't plumb in; they use a 3.5 litre reservoir.

[Jaguar steve]

Ilikebeaver said:

Parents have a fisher and Pakel one.
Looks nice and works fantastically.
Also has the freezer drawers.

I told them not to go for the one with the water/ice dispenser as it looks messy and can get grubby easily

It cost £1800.

If I had money to burn and wanted something that looked excellent it would be SubZero.

If I was looking for a more traditional style I would go for an Aga or Rangemaster one

Rangemaster is pretty poor value IMO. We have a classic 90 electric range, matching extract and fridge freezer. Looks pretty good but the extract performance is rubbish, the hob is all or nothing temperature control and the freezer door pops open every time we shut the fridge.

Dispute being perfectly level look at the mismatched gap on the fridge doors. That's £1500 worth of kit - my daughters similar sized Beco fridge freezer cost £400 and is much better made

[lowdrag]

Samsung RSG5PUSL delivered and installed at 2.30 this afternoon. Temperature showed 14C. One hour later the fridge was at working temperature of 4C and after another 30 mins the freezer had hit -19C. Another 30 mins and the sound of ice cubes could be heard. Rather impressive I feel, and very quiet too. The only query is where do I put the egg thingy? It doesn't actually fit anywhere properly. Memsahib loves the little door for the milk, since it at her height

[anonymous-user]

lowdrag said:

Samsung RSG5PUSL delivered and installed at 2.30 this afternoon. Temperature showed 14C. One hour later the fridge was at working temperature of 4C and after another 30 mins the freezer had hit -19C. Another 30 mins and the sound of ice cubes could be heard. Rather impressive I feel, and very quiet too. The only query is where do I put the egg thingy? It doesn't actually fit anywhere properly. Memsahib loves the little door for the milk, since it at her height

Has it got a metal back? The ones with plastic backs burst into flames. Said so on watchdog