Refrigerator w/ non-crescent ice maker

[jjsunshine]

Hi Malcolm,

I use to have the Electrolux Wave touch fridge and had nothing but problems with it...believe what you read in the reviews! My Sister has a 8 month old LG SxS stainless fridge that has rust spots developing all over the front! After 2 in home service calls and MANY calls to LG, they are telling her it's "cosmetic" and not covered under warranty! I wouldn't recommend the LG either! I will ask around about a refrigerator that makes cubes in different shapes.

Jeff

 

[sudsmaster]

I had an early 80's GE Side by Side in Harvest Gold - it came with this house when I bought it in 1997. I had to repair the water valve for the icemaker; after that it worked pretty good, and I did like the little barrel shaped cubes. But the fridge was a real energy guzzler - it was rated by GE at 1700 KWh/month, about three times current energy star models. So I replace it with a $2000 Kitchenaid Superba side by side, which gives those crescent shaped frozen water things. It's ok, and I don't really mind the crescent shape all that much, but I do miss the barrels.

At the same time I also replaced a top freezer GE unit in the enclosed patio, which was rated at 1500 KWh/month, almost as bad as the old side by side. After replacing those two, my electricity bill was cut in half - which is important in this region as the more you use, the higher price you pay per KWh - up to .30/KWh... Even with a koi pond pump running 7x24 and a 15 cu ft chest freezer, the electric bill is about 60% what it was with the two old GE fridges. The replacement for the patio was a curved door KA top freezer, with was also an Energy Star appliance back in 2000.

In future if I ever replace the KA top freezer unit in the enclosed patio kitchen (it has terminal warping of the stainless steel doors - the foam insulation much have shrunk and it sucked in the door panels and the sides), I'll probably move the KA side by side from the main kitchen to the patio and then get a nice french door bottom freezer number for the main kitchen - providing it has some way of keeping food odors out of the ice.

I also like the newest generation of french door fridges that have LED lighting. Very energy efficient and smart. I *think* Samsung also has a separate cooling system for the ice maker, or at least some way of keeping food odors from the ice and so forth, but I'm not sure. It does have a very nice lighting system and bin arrangement.

But I'm not there yet.

 

[rp2813]

I selected our KA fridge because I wanted the ice bin in the door.  It's much more convenient to access ice than lifting a flap and reaching into the top freezer shelf, and the entire bin can be removed and stood up on a counter if desired.

 

[combo52]

WPs NEW IN DOOR ICEMAKER

Malcolm the new WPs IM is in the ceiling of the ref section of the FD models it is a very cool design. I would be leery of any IMs with flip&twist plastic trays unless you have very soft water. The mineral buildup on the trays will cause them to malfunction big time and often destroy the complete IM in the process.

 

[appnut]

leery of any IMs with flip&twist plastic trays unless you ha

I can vouch for that.  I was one of the "victims" of Whirlpools Flex-Tray ice maker experiemt that came about in late 1970s early 1980s.  I lived with it for just under 27 years.  Had to have the whoole mechanism replaced after about 12 years.  The flex-tray wasa a nitemare.  I have somewhat hard water.  I'd have to take out the tray and clean it very good with CLR or something like that to get the calcium deposits out so it would release cubes again.  The IM died again and I lived with one for about 2.5 years until the whole fridge died.  I cherrish my more crescent style ice, it's far more reliable design. 

 

[mrb627]

Water Filters

Don't most refrigerators have water filtration built in now?  I would hesitate to consider one without it.

 

Malcolm

 

[franksdad]

Our 2006 WP Gold side by side

has the ice maker in the door. It is very handy and doesn't take up much space. It also has the water filter in the botton that lasts about four months. It is easy to replace but costs about $40.00 per filter. We bought the 5 year extended warranty and have used it three times in the last five years. Problems with the ice maker. We extended the warranty another three years. I think our next fridge will be a french door freezer on the bottom with no ice maker. My wife and I both want a small under counter ice maker when we remodel our kitchen.

 

[mattl]

Unless you use a lot of water or have very bad water there is no reason to replace the filter every 4 months.  I have the WP Gold too and replace my filter maybe once a year.  My brother has the same fridge and does the same.  The red light is just a suggestion, and from what I can tell it's based on time not quantity.

 

[dblrinz]

Electrolux

Malcolm - Let me chime in here and say that I purchased an Electrolux FD 'frig 6 months ago - I love the refrigerator it is pretty and roomy, but we have had the IM changed already and two software upgrades just to try to keep the IM working. Each time it works for 2 to 6 weeks then stops again. We are currently in the middle of a kitchen renovation and had we not needed to totally gut the kitchen and an electrical service panel upgrade, I would have the spent the money for an undercounter icemaker which can be as much if not more than purchasing a new refrigerator. I will eventually have an undercounter IM installed in a pantry so that a refrigerator IM is never an issue...

PS - Electrolux has been beyond wonderful about the service it is just extremely inconvenient.

 

[a440]

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">Matt,</span>

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">I am with you.</span>

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">I replace my filter about 1 per year.</span>

<span style="font-family: georgia,palatino; font-size: medium;">Brent</span>

 

[sudsmaster]

My Kitchenaid Superba also has the water filter in the bottom grille.

It has a filter timer that changes lights from green to orange to red after about six months for the standard filters, five months for the cyst filters. I've found one can get filters for much less money if one orders on-line. Do a little shopping around and you'll probably find you can get the filters for about $20 a pop, not $40, which I think is a rip-off. And if you order a few at a time, the shipping charges are not unreasonable.

 

[spankomatic]

I'm waiting for a refrigerator/freezer that makes "bar" ice. I love crystal clear ice cubes.

 

[mrb627]

Bar Ice in a Fridge

That would be awesome, but you would need a waste water receptacle to discard the bad water so to speak.

 

Malcolm

 

[retromania]

...and I'm still dumping trays!!!

 

[whirlcool]

How DO you get the crystal clear ice cubes you see in bars? I'd prefer those.

As Ralph noted, crescent cubes are just the right shape to fit alongside the shape of a glass. When you tilt the glass to drink from it, all the ice moves over to just the right place where you want to drink from. Hmph! A upperlip full of cold ice and no beverage. Or even worse a upperlip full of ice and the beverage spilling over the ice dam and down your neck and shirt!

 

[spankomatic]

How DO you get the crystal clear ice cubes you see in bars?

Good question! I have wondered that myself...... There IS a difference. I wonder if the ice cubes are froozen at a slower rate?

 

[mayguy]

Clear Ice.

There are two ways to get clear ice.

-Moving water.. Most commercial grade ice maker has moving water, with this you get clear ice.

-R.O. Filter.

When we brought our house, we had an RO system, and the fridge was hooked up to it. The cubes were clear, but I end up having the RO taken out since I did not like it!

 

[danmantn]

My new Samsung French Door has crescents (bought in November).  Has two icemakers (one in door, other in bottom).  Trusted salesman I know at Lowe's said that the only probs they've had with newer Samsung's was bad ice maker.  I bought the 5 year warranty...seems almost mandatory these days.  Being my first Samsung product (away from Whirlpool--didn't think that would ever happen), I felt the need.

 

[magic clean]

Whirlpool

small crescent ice fit into drinkware nicely. They float in your beverage and don't cause dribble. Of course it can be crushed if you prefer.

 

[magic clean]

Side by sides

with the In-door-ice bucket equipped with the small cube ice-maker have the blue ice-stripper