Refrigerator Shopping

Go with the Sub-Zero. You won’t regret it. They do a lot of professional-grade stuff which means that you’ll be getting professional-grade components in the innards of your consumer product.

WHAT !!!??? No LCD screen or Ethernet connections!!!???

I have a friend with a Sub-Zero. They don’t like it and it’s needed repairs several times.

Absolutely Sub-Zero. Being a Madison, WI native, I’m completely and utterly biased of course. However, even in Madison, Sub-Zeros are the most sought after refrigerator — the Cadillac of ‘em all, really. Someone in Madison remodels their kitchen, they ALWAYS try to get a Sub-Zero.

My parents remodeled their kitchen recently but they didn’t get a Sub-Zero. Instead, they got an Amana. The company that makes Amana? Maytag. The company that makes JennAir? Maytag. The refrigerator that’s on its third compressor in a five year period? Amana, by Maytag.

We went stainless steel and realized, after the fact, that the doors are not magnetic — so no fridge postings — big duh on our part and the one thing we’d do over — especially with a 1 and 3 year old ;)

Do whay I do; go have a look at what is reccomended by Consumer Reports, Then you can make a better-informed decision.

With those three brands you listed… you better get out your wallet. I just need something to keep my OJ cool.

It doesn’t appear you are interested in efficiency or, perhaps reliability. But you should be, I think. Especially on the efficiency bit since, even if it doesn’t need a repair after a few years, you’ll be paying that monthly energy bill anyway. Look seriously at those efficiency ratings and pick yourself up an old copy of Consumer Reports on fridges.

For me, freezer on bottom makes some sense and the water/ice thingies always break down anyway. Wide is better than deep but wide and deep is nice too. But, unless you keep that baby filled, you’ll be paying more in electricity than otherwise. And unless you have two kids, you probably won’t have a need to keep it filled. Things to consider.

We have a built-in Sub-zero and I highly recommend the brand. The fridge does a great job of standing up to the wear and tear of a growing family – the kids love to toss the door all over the place and it’s still solid. Two thumbs up for Sub-zero.

– Cale http://www.palmit.com

We have the kind with the freezer on bottom, and it’s much better. You don’t go into the freezer nearly as much as the fridge (this is true for me, and I eat a *lot* of ice cream), so it saves a lot of bending over. I don’t like side-by-sides because they are too narrow. Decapitated heads don’t fit in as well which can be a major issue.

YMMV.

Good luck with those choices, they are the least reliable brands on the market. (I know: Who cares? It’s a Sub-Zero!)

If you haven’t already, check out consumer reports on Sub-Zero and the others. They have the worse reliability ratings and are very expensive to repair. Not sure what the angst is against Kenmore, but GE makes some very good appliances. My recently remodeled kitchen (past three months) is almost all Kenmore with some GE thrown in.

Good Luck on your move and new place!

My suggestions: Look at Consumer Reports. They give honest ratings for appliances, and they have everything on their website (for a small fee). She might find a refrigerator that gives better performance than Viking or SubZero. Also e-pinion, even though the “ratings” are not “scientific” she would still get an idea of how these appliances work in the real world. I’m sure you have a high-end version of Home Depot or some other store which has the brands that Ponzi is interested in. Ideally, it would have all 3 brands and she could look at them and make side-by-side comparisons. She can also download info from the manufacturer’s websites & at least have spec sheets. For many years SubZero was the stndard by which all high-end refrigerators and freezers werejudged. If I could have anything I wanted, I would probably go with the SubZero myself.

Go to Conumer Reports website to get their unbiased ratings. Also, even though their ratings are unscientific, e-pinion will at least give Ponzi an idea of how these appliances work in the real world. Ideally, there will be a high-end version of Home Depot or some other store that will have all 3 brands and Ponzi can make side-by-side comparisons. Also, she can download specs & Photos from manufacturer’s websites. My opinion: for many years SubZero was the standard by which all high-end refrigerators and freezers were measured; I would go for the SubZero myself. And definitely a bottom-freezer. Back in the day we had a refrigerator with a bottom-freezer, the door of which had a foot-operated pedal so you could open the door with your hands full. Today, we live in a custom house from the 1950s with everything built in and short of a total remodel, there is only 1 place for a refrigerator and we can’t get a bottom-freezer model that will fit in that place.

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who’s sold a fridge, at least not a working one. If you get a nice one, why wouldn’t you keep it for a decade or two?

Chris, I’ve read your blog faithfully over time and I have never commented on a post, but I just could not resist this time.

I’m 48 and have owned several homes. Some for investment and some as my personal residence. I’ve owned homes from 59K to 2.5M and I can tell you that every time I have had to deal with a home with a Sub-Zero, it has been a nightmare.

Forget the re-sale issue. It’s a rounding error, and you can easily spend several times that amount doing repairs and the increased cost in inefficiency over other brands. You never impressed me as someone all that concerned about the ‘name brand’ game. But, if Ponzi is simply looking for the cachet of owning a Sub-Zero, than just go for it. But if you are truly looking for a balance between initial cost and long term maintenance cost, you would NOT get a Sub-Zero.

After all is said and done, I have always been most happy with a top of the line GE unit. The initial cost is competitive, parts and repair are easily obtained and frankly, a savvy home buyer will value the GE over the Sub-Zero.

Save your money for other things. Trust me, from a man that has enough money to buy any brand, go with a work horse like a GE and if you have disposable income to put into the house, choose something like upgrading the countertops, or flooring or update the bathroom with the very best fixtures. Maybe install an indoor grill and custom exhaust hood, etc. These will bring you more daily enjoyment and pay for themselves at re-sale.

Hope this helps.

Trust me…you will regret a side by side. It looks nice but the storage space is awful and it is very difficult to organize food. Many of my friends wished they never purchased a side by side fridge. Go for the “old” style.

Definitely check consumer report there might be something new worth a look. As far as repair no matter the brand you can get one that has issues, hopefully not. That said have had friends with Viking and Jenn Aire who have regretted their choices more than not. (Definitely do NOT get a Viking stove top. Nightmare, very poor service, limited warranty unless have changed.) If you do any party trays you might want to consider if they will fit the one you choose, Stainless if good, you will have more to clean, always thought it was worth it if that look works with the rest of appliances. Bottom freezer is great. Fretting about using the same one for years is probably not a real consideration for you. Moving seems to be in your cards, next time you will know what did and did not work for you with this choice. Pick what you like and learn as you go, nary a one has it all. Energy efficient is good. You might be surprised at the percentage of your utility bill is due to refrigeration/appliances.

I have moved so often, remodeled and built, have always seem to end up choosing the Sub Zero. Personally have never had any problems, they work well, no service calls yet. Normally choose to buy a refrigerator for the kitchen with separate freezer unit same size. If you have lots of company you will find you need more refrigeration than you might think going forward. Freezer can be located out of the work/cabinet area in kitchen as most people don’t use that nearly as often as the refrigerator, yes it does depend on the family along with space option in the kitchen proper. You might consider freezer drawers, they are awesome, has an ice maker and can be located in bar or away from prep station. It is worth the loss of cabinet space.

We bought an All Refrigerator, that’s right NO FREEZER at all. And a little upright freezer. The average person uses the fridge about 10 times as often as a freezer, so buy them separately and stick the freezer in the garage. Cost for both is about the same as one side by side, with over double the capacity for both sides.

Chris, good luck! Sub Zero like BMW’s and Rolls are nice to have and top of the line but expect repair costs to be commensurate to the price range Higher. Reliability for the cost should be lower, and in many cases is not.

Use Consumers Reports as a GUIDE, the favorable comments on the features you both like may out number any negative comments. Don’t just look at repair history but try and find out what and why.

Repair history varies from brand to brand, and you probably have recommended something to 2 or 3 of your friends only for them to have problems.

The biggest advantage to a freezer on the bottom is the width in the refrigerator and freezer compartments. My personal choice though if buying a freezer on the bottom would be a drawer for convenience ( not needing to squat to see what was in the back ).
In looking at your specs a counter depth or built in “28″ will be what you will be looking for.

In the past freezers on the bottom for most of the leading consumer brands where made by Amana, then Maytag and now Whirlpool. A Kitchen Aid bottom freezer 6-7 years ago was made by Amana, I think so was GE. Today LG has entered the consumer market and also provides it for several brands. I think the bottom GE unit might be made by LG.

Oh not sure but when Maytag took over Amana, I was told that most of the plant moved to Mexico. Whirlpool plans on moving it back to Amana Iowa.

Just did a check of the Sears web site to see what was offered in counter depth. There was a Maytag and Jen Air single door, with drawer, internal water and ice, with pantry shelf and a must for me a chill compartment for Cold Beverages.

Kitchen Aid had a few side by side with compressor on top. (not sure who makes it for Kitchen Aid, but it is delivered and installed ONLY by contractors working for Kitchen Aid, )

There are several side by sides listed. But one new feature has some what drawn me away from the bottom freezer. I enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. The fresh and ready been brings the grapes oranges and apples up so I could easily have access to them. And a chill Zone above to keep the beverages 5 degrees cooler than inside (not has cool and the chill keeper though), The ice caddy in the freezer also is a favorite. In most stores you will find the shorter 22 cu ft model but I would prefer the taller 24.5 model

But the interior width in a bottom mount is something that is hard to pass up!

Its not counter depth but there is a new retro look. The Sears stores have it in a white imitation porcelain finish (the style of the 50’s.)
Not sure what stainless steel will look like ?

I like the flush paddles, and all the above features mentioned above, plus one sensor that checks every 3 minutes for temperature change and brings back cold air to keep the food fresher with surround cool. And a little thing Kitchen Aid had on many of its refrigerators roller guide drawers. Most have plastic on plastic guide drawers.

Oh if either of you do a lot of cooking measured water in either ounces or metric.

Many refrigerator brands,for convenience provide internal water filters, check the filter specifications and plan on changing the filter every 6 months to a year.

Or you could add a osmosis system for the refrig and drinking water at the sink (check you will either need to tanks or a pump for the extra supply) With an osmosis system you should not need the filter.

Good luck and who is going to do the stainless polishing ?

UncleDoug

Fyi. My Jenn air bottom freezer refriderator is on its second compressor in 18 months. The repairmen are great, but the on phone service department is decidedly unhelpful. They can not tell you when your back ordered part (in this case a compressor) will be available. So, you can sit with an empty refriderator for weeks – not knowing when they will call you.

I do not recommend this product and am very down on the accompanying service company – Maytag.

Eileen

Uh, can you say ‘high maintenance’. While ironically it does apply to the brands in question, im talking about the chick. I married a woman like this once, and buyer beware. as they say “Nobody ever got rich by marrying a poor girl, but plenty of men have gone poor by marrying a rich girl”

Fyi – I just purchased a new stove over Thanksgiving weekend and my Sears guy informed me that Kenmore, formerly made by Whirlpool, is now made by Frigidaire. Kenmore used to be made by GE a number of years ago. Kenmore just won the award for the best range, so I guess Frigidaire must be ok. Personally, I have all Kitchenaid appliances in both my homes in California and Hawaii, and they have never let me down. I have never had to have any service on any one of them which includes regrigerators, ranges, and dishwashers. Kitchenaid is Whirlpool’s high-end brand. I too looked at Sub-Zero because both my husband and I are wanna-be gourmet chefs and love to entertain, but we ran the other way when we found out their track record(which is shocking when they command such a high price!) I have a friend that is a Sub-Zero repair person and he said “run, don’t walk!”

Consumer reports rates the sub-zero as having the highest average repair rate of any models tested with Maytag and Jenn-Aire finishing just in front of sub-zero. My wife and I have been looking for anew fridge for several weeks now and are buying a GE this week. We picked a specific model BEFORE I just read in consumer reports that the model we picked out is rated as the #1 CR pick for a side-by-side.

I just had my GE fridge repair (owned for 14 years and started to get warm) and the tech said that Sub Zero has an awful record on repairs. Be advised that Whrilpool makes Jenn Air (was Maytag they got bought out.) and they make Sub Zero too. Just sayin. I am going with a new GE i have had good luck with GE.

We purchased a top of the line Amana side by side in Stainless steel and it has been the biggest Piece of Junk I ever owned… In my opinion Consumer reports is steered by the almighty dollar and whoever pays the most gets the most If consumer reports was a reliable source they would base thier reliability ratings from years past of how the actual consumers who shelled out thier hard earned money on these products and then got stuck with costly repair bills from a company that is living on a what was once a great brand until they purchased it and ran the name in the ground, specifically Amana once was the top of the heap when it was a small independent company in Amana, Iowa but it like so many other great names was swallowed up by corporate giants and the product was cheapened and corners cut wherever possible (such as undersized foriegn built compressors in the Amana now having been sold twice) and currently owned by Whirlpool-Maytag. But instead they are manipulated by men in the sunglasses and the briefcases full of payoff money. I have had to put two compressors in my Amana in 4 years and it is bad again and now Whilpool/Amana is saying to me that they will no longer stand behind the 10 year sealed system warranty even though the unit is only 7 years old!!! And this is the unit that is considered the “most reliable” and a “C R Best buy”? Again the dollars buy the ratings…. I also have three close friends in my immediate area and all bolut Amana and as God is my witness all have had to have the compressor replaced and I have had two and now it is bad again. Another reference is any and all of the blogs about refrigerators, not just one or two but eachand every one of them I have read , no one has any thing good to say about the Maytag/Amana refrigerator line each and every one stat exactly what I am stating here go and read for yourselves. Unfortunately there are millions of sheeple that will continue to depend upon Consumer Reports and get raped by the Amana/Maytag family of Products and I truly sympathize with them

We’ve owned a Subzero for 4+ years and haven’t had 1 issue with it. It was a side by side, basically the same as the BI-36S unit out now (36″) but with an ice/water unit on the outside. The temperature control, ice/water and storage was amazing. I’m shocked to see some complaints here. We didn’t spend a nickel on service. Cleaning out the vent on the top of the unit behind the grill every once in a while is the only requirement, you can do that with a vacuum. The storage is great but if your a chef or feed a family of 10 then you might want something bigger than a 36″ model.