New refrigerator advice, please

[maytagbear]

My friend Linn is looking for a new refrigerator, though her older GE (late 70s-early 80s) is still running.

She wants a top-freezer, about 17-18 cubic feet.

She asked me to think about it.

The estimated price point is under 700.

I'm thinking WhirlMore or GEpoint.

What sayest?

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[appnut]

Whirlmore!!

 

[Cybrvanr]

Whirlmore's seem to be the one of the most reliable ones around, as I own one that is well over 20 years old and going strong. I know of many mor with considerable age. Top and bottom ones like she's looking for are the best efficiency wise. Also, look for the energy star logo to find the most efficient model in that size range. If your friend finds that her fridge stays empty a lot, she may want to opt for a smaller size for more efficiency. Also, ice machines can decrease efficiency, and freezer space.

 

[maytagbear]

With two teen-agers,

one of them a very active boy, Linn's current refrigerator is in a constant state of depletion and replenishment.

L/Mb

 

[toggleswitch]

Can't kill the GE's~ and aren't they often better priced than the Whirl-ies?

 

[DADoES]

I have on occasion wanted to kill my GE when it's dribbling down the freezer door from the ice/water dispenser.

 

[agiflow]

Go for a whirly.

 

[retromom]

So many choices......

We had a Whirlpool fridge for 23 years (and it was still going strong). We recently acquired a GE with a water and ice dispenser which launched us into the 21st century! LOL

I looked at the Whirlpool infinite fill and the GE's primarily because the water/ice dispenser was tall enough to accomodate a large glass, mug, coffeepot, etc. The others were either too short or too shallow (hmmmm I resemble that remark! LOL).

We ruled out the Whirlpool because of price creep; it increased by $300.00 in less than two months, and went for the GE. I also liked the molded shelf racks on the GE versus the shelf racks on the Whirlpool. The GE racks run the full depth of the refrigerator, thus helping to avoid collapses (which happened to me in the Whirlpool with a watermelon).

Since we have only had the GE a couple months, the jury is still out. I really like it so far.

I think that either GE or Whirlpool would be a good choice.

Good luck in the search!

Venus

 

[jasonl]

This one!

Yes, it's a Kenmore. $699, ice maker, filtered water and a great retro look.

Helen and I love ours.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&pid=04676932000&cat=Refrigerators&subcat=Top+Freezer+Refrigerators&vertical=APPL&ihtoken=1

 

[veg-o-matic]

Definitely a Whirly. I love my Roper side-by-side, which is just a Whirlpool from the wrong side of the tracks.

GE? Ecccchh. I've had nothing but trouble with GE appliances and wouldn't get another one.

Wasn't there a problem back in the '70s or '80s with GE refrigerators exploding? I definitely remember the exploding part, but I'm not sure if it was GE.

veg

 

[agiflow]

I think GE had a run of bad compressors in the eighties.

 

[gmmcnair]

Whirlmore Coldspot Here

I would pick a Whirlpool product over GE. Most of the family has them....purchased between 1970 and 2002. All are still running with no service calls! My grandmother's avocado Sears Coldspot is the oldest and we had to unplug the defrost drain tube around 1989....that's it.

And Agiflow is right, GE did have a run of bad compressors in the eighties but I haven't seen or heard of any problems recently.

 

[frigilux]

Lawrence--check the e-mail account listed in your profile. I'm sending you CR's latest ratings and reliability info as attachments. Not that it's the Bible, but they do test the things and you can do some comparison shopping and get an idea of what users have to say concerning reliability.

 

[frigilux]

So much for THAT idea; the e-mail came back marked 'undeliverable'. If you have a different e-mail address, send it to me (my e-mail is listed in my profile) and I'll send the info off to you, Lawrence.

 

[nurdlinger]

Jason,

Could you supply the model number of that Kenmore box? The link sent me to a scold page instead.

 

[goatfarmer]

I heard the run of bad GE compressors was because the wrong oil was used.Either way,they didn't last very long after the 5 year s s warranty ran out....

 

[DADoES]

The Kenmore refrigerator I bought in 1991 ended up with a bad compressor, covered under a warranty extension. It started going bad in the 4th year, noisy and running a lot more. I didn't notice that at first. Then it got more noisy and failed completely at a few months past the 5th year. I bought a replacement (KA). For some reason my dad decided to call Sears, being that it was just a few months past warranty and the trouble had started earlier. That's when we found out about the warranty extension. Something about the compressor valves going bad and pumping oil into the evaporator, which is what happened. Sears replaced the entire refrigeration system (evaporator, condensor, and compressor), and I sold it to somebody my dad knew.

 

[gmmcnair]

Sadly

Some Kenmore refrigerators from that time period were made by GE. I'm not sure now...our old Coldspots and Kenmores were rebadged Whirlpool machines, like mine.

 

[Cybrvanr]

GE fashionette

Prior to the GE Karry-kool was the GE fashionette. I've got a 6000 BTU version of these in my workshop. It's very similar in contstruction to a porta-cool, but it has a more stylized cabinet. The Fashionette air conditioner I have uses R12 instead of R22, which I imagine is how they were able to get an acceptable cooling capacity in a small, lighweight package

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