Let Your Refrigerator Make The Coffee: GE Meets Keurig

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frigilux

frigilux

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Love your Keurig but wouldn't miss refilling the water reservoir? Want to reclaim counter space? A new GE refrigerator boasts a Keurig coffeemaker built in to the water dispenser area.

While I'm a K-cup enthusiast with a Keurig 2.0, can't help but think the coffeemaker brand's issues with poor reliability will lead to some spendy service calls. Still, a cool idea from GE.

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Looks like an LG

I wonder if after the Electrolux takeover if they'll still source refrigeration products from LG?

The picture is from the LG refrigerator lineup - same as the GE.

You're right about the coffee maker making for some expensive service calls, especially when you take into account the average lifespan of a refrigerator vs. the coffee maker. How long do you suppose Electrolux will support parts for these LG models? We know LG's track record for parts long-term.

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Parts!

I work in an appliance parts store, and I am now dreading seeing this. These refrigerators are going to be expensive and relatively rare. I'll bet that my company won't stock the coffeemaker parts. Of course, if the coffee maker uses standard Kurig parts, then any appliance parts store selling GE parts could become a source of the otherwise hard to find shared Kurig parts, provided the customer determines the part numbers.

The really frustrating part is that customers rely on the folks behind the counter, like me, to troubleshoot their appliances over the phone and at the store without seeing the appliance in question. Unfortunately, we have ZERO formal training in appliance repair! I see this being extremely frustrating on my end. I think it's an innovative feature, and I only hope that it is documented in parts literature in the GE style, and not in the Samsung and LG style. Samsung and LG have the worst parts support and literature in the business by far. They make the worst of WCI look good!

Nobody is totally worthless. You can always serve as a bad example!
Dave
 
Looks like it would be too fussy to consider...  I mean, an appliance designed to keep your food (and water in an Ice/Water Dispenser) COLD, expected to make coffee HOT! (Although, isn't GE the one boasting a Hot Water dispenser, too--in addition to the standard Cold Water/Ice making?)

 

It'd be more worth it to simply design a coffee maker w/ its own tubing for supplying the water needed (which I'm sure long-exists!)...

 

 

-- Dave
 
Never ever would I buy a hybrid thing like that. You're just setting yourself up for hassles and disappointments. Next model up will have wi-fi so you can have your Keurig start pouring as you get out of the car or something equally useless.
 
Cynical joke we had in the 70s about 'combos'. AM/FM/TV/CB/reel/cassette/8track/microwave/VCR/lavalamp. Which when any part of it quit the whole shebang "had to go to the shop". Which meant you NEVER got to use ANY of it.
 
It would be much, much more practical to make a Range--a Stove--do this than a Fridge! (Not that IT would be any less trouble-prone...)

 

An appliance that HEATS could make far better coffee than something that would break down sooner than give you ICED coffee...

 

As for parts/service/repairs, it looks like there are gonna have to be a lot of training sessions to season personnel who can specialize in Coffee Makers AND Refrigeration (anyone HERE, able to know/figure out every nut, bolt, wire, circuit in those two specific appliances, & down to the last detail?!)...

 

But back to the (better) coffee making stove idea: Sacrifice one burner, and you can have storage for the coffee (either already ground, or with its own grinder for Whole Bean) and have it automatically made on this range, while you fix your scrambled eggs...!

 

 

-- Dave
 
Wi-Fi-?? Oh, Please-!

Nothing but a nuisance.  I think GE missed the boat by not incorporating that "fabulous" idea Frigidaire attempted to snowball the public with back in 1974: The refrigerator that talks back-!  Yes, of course.  "Record recipes and play them back while you cook.  Or learn a language while you bake".  I am sooo ready.

 

(I presume the inquisitive dog is supposed to remind readers of Nipper-?  Thank you, RCA).

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I won't even allow a water line to run to the refrigerator for the ice maker, so my kitchen will never see a fridge with a water dispenser and coffeemaker.

As I've noted concerning other whizz-bang appliances: This model will have a brief run in the marketplace and become a holy grail item for future collectors.
 
Another flash in the pan....

Anyone remember the Samsung with the TV in the door back in 2007? Wonder how many of these they sold? I can just hear dad saying "OK kids dinners over, now lets all pull up our chairs around the refrigerator so we can watch TV"

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GM Frigidaire also made a range with a hot water dispenser on the panel. 

 

Just like the peek-in snack & beverage door panels from GE, Whirlpool and others, these fads come and go.  You only need to own one to learn that basic is better.  A friend of mine the other day told me a story about a TOL Cadillac her mother owned that had been plagued with many breakdowns and expensive service troubles.  No matter what the repair of the week was, you opened the car door and the light that shone the Cadillac symbol on the ground worked perfectly.  It was almost like getting slapped each time you saw it.
 
What about the oven that kept things cold.

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">Remember the oven that was supposed to keep items cold until it was time to switch on the heat and cook the food.  Anyone have any experience with one of these?  Sounds like another idea that likely didn't catch much ground.  Or did it?</span>
 
The Reason for This:

This is a case of a manufacturer sensing what I call "opportunity in the path of least resistance."

The fact is, most higher-end fridges already have plumbing for their icemaker/water setups, and many, many homes have the necessary icemaker supply line.

Ranges, on the other hand, almost never have a plumbing connection, so a range model offering a feature that needs plumbing would be a much tougher "sell."

I still say this is a perfectly dreadful idea from the standpoints of longevity and reliability, but you cannot fault GE for putting the feature on the appliance where it makes the most sense to prospective customers.
 
it may not be a big market for this sort of thing, but there are ones that will buy it based on something that 'fits' their needs, or space requirements....

some people have to have it just to be the first one with it....

you have to hand it to many of these manufacturers for thinking outside the box....its never really known what may take off and be popular, and then everyone will have an offering on their machines as well....

Maytag with the Neptune did a survey first as to a windowed door.....was found not needed....but look today, everyone wants one, and all manufacturers offer it...

Pedestals were not a big thing at first.....

Washers that hold a months supply of detergent for auto dispense...

I don't see why this would be any more of a big deal versus the coffee machine installed in the wall, which kept a built in supply of coffee, tea and hot chocolate.....all at your finger tips.....no one single feature is going to fit everyone's needs...
 

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