dvduser6

Okay. Time to toss out our existing fridge which is around 15 years old and upgrade. Looking to get a French Door type with in-door ice & water dispenser, energy-star ratings, etc. Budget is around $2k. Any recent experiences you otters can share? Thanks!

SkullOrchard

They keep shit cold.

Quatermass

They can protect you from an atomic bomb.

Sdallnct

If you have a smallish kitchen I'd recommend a counter depth model. Even if you don't, the counter depth models have more of a built in look.

Septemberbaby

We have a Kitchen Aid french door and we LOVE it. We don't have the water on the outside, it's on the inside.

Counter Depth: be careful, because they're less in depth, sometimes they're more in width. Be sure to measure before you buy.

dvduser6

True, but would a French Door configuration provide adequate space for a single adult? Guess I'll have to ask the salesman next time I stop in at Best Buy...

SkullOrchard

I remember something else. Old ones that have been disposed of make really terrible hiding places unless you enjoy being suffocated.

Sdallnct

Mine is counter depth and actually taller. So similar CF of a standard model. But your 100% correct. Measure twice. Mine was so close I got Lowes to agree that if it didn't fit when they installed they would just return it and I'd pick a different model.

It is super tight fit but work well....

Vibiana

Spend the money for a Maytag, KitchenAid, or other premium brand. In this case, the specifications you're wanting will pretty much consign you to the higher-end lines, but if you decide to get less fancy, still stick with something in the higher end.

Superboy

Before you buy a fridge, you should reconsider the germ theory of disease, and the scientific "consensus" behind it.

al_bundy

my favorite is still the classic freezer on top

in laws have the two big side by side doors and i don't like it

Jacoby Ellsbury

problem is freezer tops only get up to around 20 cubic feet. Most side by sides and french doors are in the 25 cubic foot range and I think they just came out with wider models that hold 30 cubic feet.

Nick Danger

http://www.applianceaid.com/purchase-help.html

Sears has a great site for customer reviews. They used to sell an awful LG french door refrigerator that would fry its expensive circuit board, and they left up all the negative feedback. That included feedback pointing out that Sears knew what the problem was, and continued to blame the customer.

Pistol Pete

Get one with the ice storage bin located in the door. It frees up a huge amount of space in the freezer.

Superman07

http://www.vikingrange.com/consumer/...id=cat12360055

Sweet Baby James

Got a great deal on a Kenmore Elite last October and have been very satisfied thus far.

chino77

freezers on the bottom suck if you have a lot of frozen stuff.

al_bundy

if you're going to buy an extended warranty check out Lowes

Troy Stiffler

Yup. You can get a sexy stainless steel one or whatever. For $2000, you can afford a higher-end, consumer-grade, standard-sized units (not one of the $7k Viking fridges, but a really nice fridge). Standard freezer-on-top. There's a reason why your last fridge lasted 15 years. Don't buy some trendy fridge that's going to have some stupid quirks.

I'd recommend staying with a proven legacy brand name (GE, Maytag), and then get their higher-end model.

French Door refrigerators are cool (get it?). But I get sick of technology that supposively outdoes the last style. The rail's bearings are going to go out or start screeching or some crap.

Bandoman

I was going to post "Refrigerators. How do they work?" But I see that this is covered already. Carry on.

al_bundy

i know someone that has the freezer on the bottom and half the space is lost to the shelves. they are better now, but still too much space lost. don't believe the cubic feet numbers

the inlaws' side by side is the same way. the big wall between the fridge and the freezer parts takes up too much space.

i'm on my second freezer on top model and it seems i always have more space than the larger side by side or bottom freezer ones

fishdude

We picked up this GE Profile last fall and absolutely love it.

The freezer space is much better than the side by side it replaced.

http://www.homedepot.com/GE-Profile/...atalogId=10053

Dave99

I have last years model of this one:
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/a...ail&returnurl=

Really like it, lots more room in the frig, but if you keep tons of stuff in the freezer, it gets a little disorganized. The water filters are kinda pricey also..

oh, and it keeps shit cold.

Troy Stiffler

Vapor-compression cycle - The vapor-compression cycle is used in most household refrigerators as well as in many large commercial and industrial refrigeration systems. Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram of the components of a typical vapor-compression refrigeration system.

Vapor compression refrigerationThe thermodynamics of the cycle can be analyzed on a diagram[11][12] as shown in Figure 2. In this cycle, a circulating refrigerant such as Freon enters the compressor as a vapor. From point 1 to point 2, the vapor is compressed at constant entropy and exits the compressor as a vapor at a higher temperature, but still below the vapor pressure at that temperature. From point 2 to point 3 and on to point 4, the vapor travels through the condenser which cools the vapor until it starts condensing, and then condenses the vapor into a liquid by removing additional heat at constant pressure and temperature. Between points 4 and 5, the liquid refrigerant goes through the expansion valve (also called a throttle valve) where its pressure abruptly decreases, causing flash evaporation and auto-refrigeration of, typically, less than half of the liquid.

Figure 2: Temperature–Entropy diagramThat results in a mixture of liquid and vapor at a lower temperature and pressure as shown at point 5. The cold liquid-vapor mixture then travels through the evaporator coil or tubes and is completely vaporized by cooling the warm air (from the space being refrigerated) being blown by a fan across the evaporator coil or tubes. The resulting refrigerant vapor returns to the compressor inlet at point 1 to complete the thermodynamic cycle.

The above discussion is based on the ideal vapor-compression refrigeration cycle, and does not take into account real-world effects like frictional pressure drop in the system, slight thermodynamic irreversibility during the compression of the refrigerant vapor, or non-ideal gas behavior (if any).

More information about the design and performance of vapor-compression refrigeration systems is available in the classic Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook.

Yea, muthufuckas.