New refrigerator. Quietest?

[paulg]

I need to buy a new, plain-Jane 18 cubic foot refrigerator for someone.
Which brand, make or model is quietest?
Have encountered a noisy brand?
All comments welcome.

 

[petek]

We just bought a new LG fridge with bottom mount freeezer a few months ago when our all fridge died and it is silent and I mean dead silent. It makes no noise whatsoever. I would not have thought it possible.

 

[combo52]

Best no frills top freezer refrigerators

GE is the most reliable, whirlpool, or Maytag probably next best and then Frigidaire.

There’s no major noise difference unless that’s a top concern and you’re sleeping right next to the refrigerator. I guess then do some research and see what you can find.

John

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Quiet as in I’ll lose enough sleep paying for it, noisy enough to know that it’s running?

So far my still-working Whirlpool of about 15-years is tops, and enough to make me believe a new one will equal it’s track-record right down to keeping everything in her cold!

— Dave

 

[ea56]

For a great no frill 18 cf refrigerator I think that a GE top freezer model can’t be beat.

Eddie

 

[wayupnorth]

I bought a Frigidare FFTR1821TW 18 cu.ft. refrigerator in 2018. Its certainly not the quietest but it is set up just right for me. It had to fit in a 30 inch space and it was on sale for $499. Kitchen is on the opposite side of the house so sleeping is no problem.

 

[henene4]

Looking for a model with an inverter compressor will usually mean less noise.

These only run the compressor at the minimal speed needed, which reduces noise.
Further, they are usually really quiet on startup.
But the sound profile is really different.

I sleep maybe 20ft across from my Samsung bottom freezer and don't have any issues.

That comes at the price of having an inverter though, a part that can break.
Then again, while not cheap, replacing an inverter is cheaper than replacing the compressor itself, which often is warranted for 10+ years on inverter models.

 

[paulg]

Thanks for the info!

I’ve got something to work with.
I’m doing a bit of a favor for someone but one of the parties has been historically “particular” about the strangest things. Just trying to do a little bit of homework to head off a potential noise issue.
Much obliged!

 

[petek]

I have I guess particularly keen hearing and the sound of something off in the house has me up and out of my chair to investigate whereas my partner is completely the opposite. Like a toilet running upstairs or when that fridge we just replaced seemed to be running continually I asked him if he noticed it and nope,nothing. My folks replaced their fridge sometime back in the 80s with a new Maytag frost free and I guess it drove my dad mad enough that he actually wrote a letter to them complaining to which they replied it was normal. When I visited and listened to it around that time I'd say it was normal for a frost free fridge as we had already had one and I was used to that sound. Now with this new one being silent that took a week or so to get used to because I'm thinking to myself maybe it's not working. Of course the day it starts making any sort of noise I know already it's going to drive me nuts.

 

[henene4]

On sound awareness in humans

We are animals after all and thus evolved to survive in our common terrain.
That used to be our home tree or something, now it's our house.

We actually have pretty sub par vision in terms of sharp seeing.
We are way better at seeing changes (movement) than focusing to identify things.

Same with noise. If it is only slightly off, our primal senses think something strange is going on.
That noise never happens in our home, so we immediately jump to danger.

That reliance on noise means that we can get VERY deeply trained to associate certain noises with certain things.

It's the same as with vacuums. You CAN build vacuums not much louder than a tumble dryer with the same suction power as a normal one.
But most people don't buy them. Why? If it doesn't sound like a vacuum always sounded (loud, whiney) it can't be doing vacuum things.

So even the absence of noise can trigger dissatisfaction.
But a different noise might aswell.

Inverter fridges have a very "technology" sound to them on startup. Really can't describe it other than that.
It's the same like the very first bits when a LG direct drive motor (or similar) does its rotor alignment and then starts to turn.

Normal fridges with single speed compressors have that typical cold start where the noise of "dry running pump" suddenly spikes and then quiets doen over the nex few seconds.

Some people like that typical compressor sound, I like the more quiet wooshing of my inverter one.

The best news there is that once we get used to the sounds, you can usually learn to ignore them completely without any effort.

It just takes you getting through the first 2 weeks to get over the noise. Your awareness will learn to categories the noise into "familiar" all by itself and it'll be almost like nothing ever changed.

 

[rp2813]

Sound Awareness

My 2009 KitchenAid SxS has always been super quiet.  The compressor is only barely audible if you get down in front of the grille.  Otherwise, it's just the muffled sound of the evaporator fan motor inside the cabinet.  The condenser fan is silent.

 

The only time you might hear the compressor making a hybrid buzz-whine noise is after a defrost cycle, and it quiets down in fairly short order.  I have never owned such a quiet, well-behaved refrigerator and I'm pretty sure it has to do with the inverter system.

 

I had to replace the control board recently (the fridge doesn't have a standard relay), and my active listening was on high alert after installing a refurbished board (they are NLA new).   For a week I never heard the sounds of defrosting and there was never any water in the drip pan.  The evaporator coils in the freezer section that were visible were frosty, but not alarmingly so.  I sent the original board to a different place for refurbishing and within less than a day after installing it, I heard the sounds of defrosting.  Large chunks of coil-shaped ice fell into the drain area.  I sent the non-defrosting replacement board back for a full refund.  I'm sure many people would have never tuned into the lack of sounds regularly heard during the defrost period, but I did.  

 

[bradfordwhite]

It used to be, not that long ago, that Whirlpool had the market on quiet and reliable "standard" refrigerators.

 

IMO- GE was the louder models.

 

[qsd-dan]

I've read that GE fridges have been having compressor issues, unsure which models though. They're dying around the 9-10 month period.

 

[sudsmaster]

My Kitchenaid SxS has also been very quiet. Pretty much the only noticeable noise it makes is when the internal ice maker dumps ice into the bin. But that's been deactivated since last fall, and frankly I don't miss the ice.  I suppose I'll reactivate it once outdoor temps get toasty enough. Probably around June/July.

 

According to the sticker inside the fridge part, this model was made in December 2000. I probably purchased it in 2001. Still running strong.

 

As far as I can determine, and I had to use a cell phone to take a photo, it's Model # KSRS25IHSS02.

 

Bingo! Found the file for this fridge in one of my filing cabinets. I got the model number right. Apparently I paid $2109.60 for it, 22 years ago, including tax, delivery charges ($40), and extended warranty ($90). Whew!

 

 

 

[sudsmaster]

I should add that the file shows the KA SxS fridge failed after less than a year (2002). However the warranty covered that, a repair guy came out and fixed it, and it's been trouble-free ever since.

 

[davey7]

Frigidaire

I have a no frills Fridigaire (10/11 years old) and it is fairly noisy - I can hear it down the hall at night.

 

[dustin92]

We got a new Hisense bottom freezer (17-18cf I think, it's a counter depth model) in September when we bought this house, and it's very quiet. Barely audible standing next to it. Came with a 2 year warranty and we got the 5 year extended warranty so it's good for 7 years at least.. I think it was $899.

 

[slb77]

The GE fridges having issues with the compressors are the dual evaporator french door bottom mounts, GFE28 and all of its derivatives. The single evaporator french doors, top mounts, and SxS don't really seem to be having issues, along with the 4 door french doors like the PVD28 and similar, which also uses an inverter driven compressor.
I've replaced several of the bad compressors at work, they're saying it is premature bearing failure.

I have a GE 17 cu ft top mount thats 3 years old that is fairly quiet, fan noise is the most i hear from it. Any top mount is going to be fairly quiet, i think whirlpool SxS fridges have to be the among the loudest.

 

[sudsmaster]

A couple years ago I was visiting a friend on the other side of town. There, someone had put an old single door GE fridge out on the curb. I thought about it for a few minutes, and then said to myself, "What the eff?" and loaded it into my van. Still haven't plugged it in, though.

 

It's probably from about 1949, with a little freezer. Needs a new door gasket. I got the material, just kind of lost interest. I suppose I might install it and try the fridge out this summer.