Considering an early 1960s Frigidaire Imperial Refrigerator, Some Questions...

[islandradiosvc]

Hi,
My late 90s refrigerator's compressor has been making unhappy noses for some time.. Experience says this can go on for years or months..(I used to repair appliances) (it's been doing it for well over a year now) but that's not the issue.. I have been offered the chance at an early 1960s Frigidaire Imperial, in an appropriate size. I realize that one cannot buy a machine of that build quality today. I used to repair appliances as a teenager in the 1990s, and these were still rather common. I have changed a fair share of defrost timers and even a defrost coil or 2. We actually HAD one of these in our kitchen, when I was a kid in the 80s, It was replaced by a newer model, round about 1990. We gave it away and for all I know it's still running. Anyhow, here is the big question. While I realize nice things cost money, and quality has a price. I am wondering just HOW much more, it will cost to run this machine, than a newer one. We all know that anything non frost free, will be more efficient than anything that is, but what about these older frost free machines? I would love to hear from someone who actually owns one, or has worked on them, and perhaps has actually made the comparison. I simply don't believe the hype, and would rather go by individual experience? Also, how is the compressor longevity on these? I never saw one give trouble 25 years ago.. but we are now 25 years on, and the 25 year old refrigerators then, are now pushing 50.. Any thoughts would be very much welcome and appreciated!

 

[norgeway]

Well

John Lefever is the expert,but my experience with a 63 bottom freezer is, I would wait for a GE ,Coldspot or something else, the Meter Miser rotary units they used get much noisier with age, and these will cost some more to run, I am not a proponent of anything frost free, A manual defrost model runs much less and keeps food much better in my opinion.

 

[rp2813]

I agree that GE, Coldspot/Whirlpool are the better options.  Frigidaires had the exterior bling, but from what I've read here and based on my own experience, they are more trouble-prone.

 

Since you know how to work on refrigerators, repairs may not be an issue for you, but speaking for myself, things going wrong would still be annoying even if I knew how to fix them.

 

There will be a difference in operating costs for sure.  We had a mid-'80s Whirlpool up until around 2005 or so when we replaced it with a new KitchenAid.  Our electric bill went down by $20 a month.  The difference would have likely been even greater if we had been using a '60s frost free fridge from any manufacturer. 

 

As Hans said, John ("combo52" here) has posted quite a bit over the years here about the difference in operating costs of a vintage frost free fridge compared to a brand new one.  Give him some time to add his $ 0.02 on this subject.