New fridge/freezer - is the extra money for an ice dispenser worth it? Are non-plumbed models OK?

Bigphil1474

It might be worth looking at the energy ratings as well. A bit confusing since they all changed again, but I'd be surprised if one with an ice maker isn't lower rated than one without, or at least use more energy. I might be a bit old school, but I'd rather stick an ice cube tray in the freezer than have the fridge use extra energy making ice cubes in a dispenser. From a microbiological point of view, I'd be concerned about hygiene with in the reservoir myself, so I'd definitely want one you can remove.

ChasingtheWelshdream

All the ones I have been looking at are E rated-  with and without dispensers -  except for a plumbed-in one (C), but that is out of my budget. The reservoir sitting with standing water is why I wouldn't get just a water dispenser, as the water would be sitting for too long before we used it. 

I need to make a decision soon as our freezer is on its last legs and barely keeping things frozen. Someone mentioned second hand, but for this I will be buying new. Pretty much every appliance I've bought for years is second hand, including the last 3 fridges so I have no problem with that. But I have been saving so that I am finally in a position to choose one that suits me exactly, so for this I am paying for luxury.

MysteryMe

I guess the advantage of buying a 2nd hand appliance is you can get to assess whether you actually need and use an ice maker and worth paying a premium for, or whether it is far less faff to just go buy a bag of ice cubes for a couple of quid or get a delivery. Earlier in the year I changed my fridge freezer and was convinced that a water dispenser was a must have so only looked at models with that feature. I've not filled up the tank or used it. Maybe next summer I will but you only really know what works best when you've got it in your kitchen and using it every day. 

ChasingtheWelshdream

We definitely didn’t use the water dispenser in the 2nd hand one we had, is only really the ice I’m interested in. I think I am edging towards saving the money and depth and getting a standard version .

andy1886

ChasingtheWelshdream said:

andy1886 said:

We’ve an lg non plumbed model and you fill a water tank in the fridge , either remove it and use tap or fill it in the fridge with a jug , this transfers to the freezer section where ice cubes are stored on the back of the door . You then have the option of chilled water , crushed shards of ice or ice cubes dispensed from the freezer . Just have to turn the ice maker on as and when needed . Brilliant to be honest 

This is the kind I was wondering about. 

Do you find you are constantly filling the tank up?  

When you have dispensed ice, does it automatically refill the ice maker from the tank in the fridge?

Does the ice dispenser clog up at all?

Water tank holds 4 litres so obviously depends on usage , the ice maker needs switching on which means it then makes ice and holds them below and once full switch off until it needs to be used again so easy to keep a ready supply of ice , and the only time it has clogged is when we have made ice but not used it in a good while which results in the ice freezing together . Basically you fill water up switch ice maker on , once it has made enough switch off until needing to use again . Highly recommend 

ChasingtheWelshdream

Thank you, that is very helpful. I am going to look at another shop this week to check out some more models and look in more detail.

frogglet

We have a Haier fridge freezer with pull out drawers which have extra plastic drawers for putting icecube trays on.
We had a plumbed in F/F at our other house and it just made people lazy at making icecubes, it also used to bung up in the dispenser, when it all froze together.

rach_k

We have a HiSense non-plumbed American style FF and really like it.  We didn't get a plumbed one as it wasn't practical and went for HiSense as the dimensions were perfect, plus we've had various brands over the years and a previous one from them was the most reliable.

We don't really use it for water as the flow is quite slow and our tap water is fine, but we use it for crushed and cubed ice all the time.  The tank holds 4.5L so I tend to refill it once or twice a week, maybe more in summer.  I leave the ice maker switched on - it stops making more when the storage is full anyway.  It's all automatic, other than refilling the water. 

We got it in January and haven't had any problems with ice sticking together or anything.  I don't feel like the water container takes up too much space as it sits on one of the fridge shelves and goes from top to bottom and front to back of a shelf, so it's quite narrow.  The ice maker/storage takes up some space in the freezer door but there's still plenty of space (we do have a separate chest freezer, but I think we'd be fine with just the FF).  

ChasingtheWelshdream

Thank you, I did look at a Hisense one and it did turn out to be my favourite, but in the end I just couldn't justify the extra money and ordered one without a dispenser. At the time, it was £300 more.

I have now done what I shouldn't though, and just looked and found the model I liked reduced to only an extra £170, so I am now wishing it was there when I was looking! But, c'est la vie, I would lose money if I cancelled the order now.  I am happy with the model we chose, I spent a very long time checking everything out so I have to put dispensers to the back of my mind!