Fridge/freezer recommendations please

MrMrMr

Looking to replace our ancient fridge/freezer. Popped into Currys and fancy a American Style one, possibly with a drinks dispenser on front. Only popped in to have an initial look, not bothered where buy from, online etc though.

They were a bit more than thought, but still will go for one think. Any recommendations? Are the front water dispensers really any good, or just a fad, that once used a few times never get used?

Measured my current fridge/freezer though, and it looks like the depth of the new one is going to be the most problem, its 610mm deep, and is flush with the front of the workbench now, so any bigger and its going to stick out in the kitchen where it will be place, no other place for it.

I think an American style maybe too wide for our current house so may be ruled out after looking online at dimensions.

So fire away please...

MrMrMr

No recommendations, or even ones to avoid please?

Also where to/not to buy from
Cheers

scottishminnie

I recently bought a Samsung from John Lewis - this model. At the time Samsung were offering £75 cashback and a 5 year guarantee (although I'm still fighting to get my money so I wouldn't set any store on that).

It's not as wide as an American style however it does give you a water dispenser without the need to plumb it in and the ice maker feature has been very well used since we got it.

I'm very impressed with it - looks good, holds plenty and fits well in my utility room (I use it as an extra to the undercounter fridge in the kitchen).

It was pricey however I feel the quality makes the price justifiable and I'm happy with it.

It is quite deep and the handles, which are very sturdy, protrude quite a bit so may make it a non starter for you if the depth is a real contraint

Worth noting that the colour is more of a graphite grey than silver if that matters to you.

Doc_N

Avoid any refrigeration equipment with a John Lewis label on it.

Made (unless they've now changed supplier, which they said they were considering) by Electrolux to a pretty low standard, as evidenced by 3 failures we had on 2 appliances over a pretty short period of time.

Poorly made, unreliable - the only thing in their favour was the 3 year warranty, which was certainly needed.

Never again. Up until the time we bought these (now replaced by other brands) I thought JL took great care over their own label goods. To be fair, JL were very good about sorting the problems out, but they should never have allowed stuff of this quality to be let loose on their customers.

Titanium

I have been researching for an American-style one for sometime.

Decent one is a Bosch; according to Which?. But it doesn't come cheap: almost £1150 or so.

The issue with many ASFF ones are that they do not chill the food as quickly as they should; which means some food can lose their freshness by the time the fridge drops their temperature. Bad ones take as much as 48 hours!

littleminx_2

We bought this one a few weeks back http://www.tesco.com/direct/samsung-rsh7unmh-side-by-side-fridge-freezer-energy-rating-a-width-912cm-manhattan-grey/743-1099.prd?pageLevel=sku&skuId=743-1099&sc_cmp=aff_1018132&sc_cmp=aff_1018132

So pleased with it, there's tons of space in it, and with all the hot weather recently, the ice dispenser has been very handy!

AngelsMadv

My honest opinnon - don't buy an American Style one.

The space in them is dramatically limited due to the styling and what's more, if something goes wrong you have to buy both again.

The drinks and ice dispensers are notorious for going wrong.

Now I got mine from eBay, at a steal of £60 for the fridge and £127 for the freezer, second hand of course. That was 4 years ago (I've not had a single issue with them) The storage in them is exceptional. What am I talking about?

Side-by-side larder style ones. Here's the type:

HERE

With 5 kids, I'd never look at anything else.

sillygoose

They are becoming very common but I detest drinks dispensers, they rob the door of a huge amount of space and in the colder month of which we get plenty you may not want chilled drinks but cant reclaim the lost space, that time of year the tap water is plenty cold enough! During the summer months just stick a bottle in the fridge.

American fridges are not really suited to UK houses unless your pretty well off to have a very spacious kitchen, bulky, difficult to even get into a lot of homes undamaged and in our smaller kitchens can look a real overbearing lump, like Dr Who parking the Tardis next to the dishwasher.

Brands I would avoid are Hotpoint, Electrolux, AEG, Beko, LEC. Having been a poor brand, indesit have pulled their socks up are making some decent fridges and freezers now.

Bosch/Siemens for high efficiency and long life but the interior designs leave something to be desired to me, very poor bottle/door storage layout and costly to buy.

Samsung and LG are making some very competitive products now. Having helped with research I recently helped someone put in a large LG Fridge/Freezer and was impressed with the quality and design. It seems highly efficient keeping good temperature with the cooling system hardly ever running (good insulation) and with the black high gloss finish and illuminated lcd display on the front it looks far, far more expensive than it was.

MrMrMr

scottishminnie wrote: »

I recently bought a Samsung from John Lewis - this model. At the time Samsung were offering £75 cashback and a 5 year guarantee (although I'm still fighting to get my money so I wouldn't set any store on that).

It's not as wide as an American style however it does give you a water dispenser without the need to plumb it in and the ice maker feature has been very well used since we got it.

I'm very impressed with it - looks good, holds plenty and fits well in my utility room (I use it as an extra to the undercounter fridge in the kitchen).

It was pricey however I feel the quality makes the price justifiable and I'm happy with it.

It is quite deep and the handles, which are very sturdy, protrude quite a bit so may make it a non starter for you if the depth is a real contraint

Worth noting that the colour is more of a graphite grey than silver if that matters to you.

Thanks for some feedback, the link above isn't working, can you repair and tell me the model it sounds perfect! Although as you say depth is an issue in the current kitchen we have.

sillygoose wrote: »

Brands I would avoid are Hotpoint, Electrolux, AEG, Beko, LEC. Having been a poor brand, indesit have pulled their socks up are making some decent fridges and freezers now.

I thought AEG were a good brand?

sillygoose

MrMrMr wrote: »

I thought AEG were a good brand?

Many years ago yes, then they sold the brand name rights to Electrolux who sell some dire rubbish with the AEG brand on.

A while back I helped shift an 'AEG' Santo fridge freezer, it was the worst bit of rubbish ever. The controls had all failed, the electronics played up so it beeped regularly for no reason before resetting itself and it drank electricity like a Toyota factory. The 'stainless steel' (fraud!) was so thin it dented if you looked at it.

Doc_N

sillygoose wrote: »

Many years ago yes, then they sold the brand name rights to Electrolux who sell some dire rubbish with the AEG brand on.

A while back I helped shift an 'AEG' Santo fridge freezer, it was the worst bit of rubbish ever. The controls had all failed, the electronics played up so it beeped regularly for no reason before resetting itself and it drank electricity like a Toyota factory. The 'stainless steel' (fraud!) was so thin it dented if you looked at it.

That would account for the poor quality of the John Lewis refrigeration products I mentioned above, which were made for JL by Eletrolux/AEG.