American fridge/freezers

[jeral Profile]

Does anyone have an American fridge freezer?

I'm doing a rethink as to whether they are an unnecessary extravagance or are actually a good option, especially as a lot of opened jars are supposed to be refrigerated now which take half the fridge space! OK an exaggeration.

Aside from elec usage, what aspects should one look out for when comparing models?

Also it occurs to me that the best time to buy might be winter when no-one's interested in cold (like heating boiler offers in summer).

Any comments appreciated, positive or negative. Ta.

[Otterspocket Profile]

We have one and today it is getting cleared out as - exactly as you say two full shelves are taken up with condiments and things like large jars of ginger and garlic. We cook everything from scratch and I am a total confinement addict and that does lead to a lot of jars but it’s got silly recently !

Ours has a water dispenser and is rarely used , we did once use it at a party filled with white wine which proved popular.

Once it dies we will replace it with a similar model though , it was a bargain at the time as bought when Dixon’s closed down

[Binky Profile]

We have a Samsung American-style fridge/freezer and are very happy with it. We've not had a minutes trouble with it.

We like the convenience of having an upright freezer right next to the fridge.

The only downside is that you need a largish space in your kitchen, which not everyone has.

[jeral Profile]

Thanks - I'm learning already

Do they not all have ice makers? That would be a bonus for me.

[Alexandria Profile]

We have two. One in Barcelona our primary residence and one in Cadaqués. The one in Cadaqués is a Whirlpool Spain, refrigerator, which we purchased at El Corte Inglés Department Store.

The one in Barcelona is a Miele, a German Brand. And purchased from Miele Spain ..


THE WHRLPOOL .. Fabricated in Spain ..

The top is a refrigerator and the lower part is a freezer with 4 draws ..

The guarantee and the warranty excelled other brands.

The Whirlpool is self defrosting, and tall and on Slim side as the kitchen is rectangle in shape and narrow verses wide and square.

The Miele is a 2 door, on wide side, and has 1 side, refrigerator and 1 side is the freezer part .. It does have an ice maker on 1 of the doors ..

The refrigerators are also black as I prefer high tech modernity to rustic or country style ..

[Binky Profile]

It depends. Ours doesn't make ice, butours isn't plumbed in. Friends with an automatic ice maker have their appliance plumbed.

We have the usual ice cube facility which is fine for us (two person household, ice needed for G&Ts only). We also have the chilled water facility, but that stopped being used shortly after purchase (bottled water or Sodastream suits us better).

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I don’t have an American style fridge (for non UK readers that means a fridge freezer with the compartments side by side and two tall doors, like a wardrobe)

I don’t have space for one

But based on my experience with my current fridge freezer I will be looking for 2 features in any new one regardless of style

1. Flexible space with shelves that can be put in different positions (many can only be put back where they came from)

2. Replaceable door seals. The door seals on my Hotpoint are permanently merged into the door, no repair possible

I sometimes find it useful to read the reviews on ao.com even if I’ve no intention of buying from them - it may be the simplest way of finding out things like if a fridge is particularly tricky to plumb in

[Suffs Profile]

I don’t have room for one in my kitchen ... we have a fridge freezer in the garage and an under counter fridge (which is the most impractical fridge in the world) in the kitchen. When I win the lottery I will replace it with the under-counter fridge I saw when I visited a smart architect’s townhouse kitchen. Instead of a door and shelves it had two deep drawers. It was wonderful. You could see everything without bending/squatting. Love it.

https://www.remodelista.com/posts/10-ea ... r-drawers/

[Binky Profile]

I'm pretty sure that FisherPaykel do a drawer freezer. At least they used to, about 15 years ago.

edit: ignore me. I've looked at their website and the fridge and freezers with drawers are no longer available.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

We have a seven year old Samsung American FF and it’s been a disappointment. The freezer inside is nothing like as big as it looks because of all the electrics behind the back wall. The water dispenser is so-so but not used as much as hoped - we think the water tastes stale and of course we’re forever replacing the Britax things. The fridge, as others have said, tends to get filled up with sauce and pickle bottles and the back of the 2 bottom shelves are hard to reach. I have an ordinary Beko FF in the shed which is far more practical and a third of the price. I would not replace the Samsung with another American.

Sorry to cast a downer.

[Otterspocket Profile]

Got home from our little trip via getting groceries and ruthlessly cleated the fridge - now it looks so bare we feel like we need to go grocery shopping again ! Mainly tired veg that were disposed of and a few aged jars from food festivals - my husband is now officially banned from buying chilli sauces !

[Joanbunting Profile]

American style fridge freezers are not for me either. I have 2 friends who have had very poor experiences with them. One friend who has a second house here had a flood because they have to be connected to the mains and the connection failed. Another who had a similar porblem but this time the freezer bit packed up and it was going to cost and arm and a leg to fix it.

I keep a fridge and my seperate upright freezer in the cellar and my big Seimens larder fridge in the kitchen. As for chilled water, we have a filter jug in each fridge because our drinking water tap - which bypasses the softner is in the veranda

[Otterspocket Profile]

American style fridge freezers are not for me either. I have 2 friends who have had very poor experiences with them. One friend who has a second house here had a flood because they have to be connected to the mains and the connection failed. Another who had a similar porblem but this time the freezer bit packed up and it was going to cost and arm and a leg to fix it.

I keep a fridge and my seperate upright freezer in the cellar and my big Seimens larder fridge in the kitchen. As for chilled water, we have a filter jug in each fridge because our drinking water tap - which bypasses the softner is in the veranda

They don’t have to be connected to mains water , some models do but ours doesn’t - our tap water is lovely so no real need though

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’d quite like an ice dispenser as I find ice a bit of a faff, but as I get London tap water I have a filter tap by the sink and don’t really want to duplicate it in an appliance.

[Otterspocket Profile]

I’d quite like an ice dispenser as I find ice a bit of a faff, but as I get London tap water I have a filter tap by the sink and don’t really want to duplicate it in an appliance.

I’d love one too but not keen on the building work to plumb in - we make do with bags of ice in the warmer weather and ice cube bags rest of the year

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Ours isn’t plumbed in, hence the water dispenser but if you want ice then they have to be I think. The cost here was prohibitive and other users reckoned it was gimmicky if you had another ice box elsewhere as we do.

For what it’s worth I don’t think they’ve come of age yet.

[Mrs Vee Profile Website]

There was an American FF here when we bought this house and I replaced it with another one when we had the kitchen redone. I wouldn't have any other kind of FF now.

It's a Samsung without ice-making or water dispenser so no plumbing required and it gives more freezer space. Like Binky said, I like the convenience of having the freezer in the kitchen right next to the fridge.

A couple of points though... there's only two of us - I don't think the capacity would be big enough if you do lots of entertaining or if you have a couple of hungry teenagers who eat you out of house and home! Also, look for one with plenty of shelf positions - the Samsung allows me to store 4-pint milk bottles on an inner shelf rather than taking up door space, this wasn't the case with some of the others we looked at.

[wargarden Profile]

if the brands and feature are same as the models sold in USA you can look at "consumer reports magazine"
for reviews.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Tell me.
If you need to get to a freezer drawer at the top of the upright American fridge, is it awkward?

[Binky Profile]

Gill, this is the fridge bit (note the waste of space water cooler)

ibc bank atm

will take a photo of the freezer section. Ours doesn't have shelves at the top