Aging refrigerator
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Our French door countertop depth refrigerator is 18 years old. No problems, still running like a champ.
Because of where the frig is located, there is only style of unit that works for us. Whirlpool Corp owns a ton of brands. Our current unit is a Maytag and it is/was part of the Whirlpool family. We'd be looking at either KitchenAid or Whirlpool, which are the current brands they're putting on the unit we need. They are basiically identical to what we have. Any differences are purely cosmetic (door handle style, different color shelves, stuff like that). Oh, and the new units have LED lights instead of incandescent.
We can't do units from any other manufacturers without a major kitchen remodel, which ain't happenin'. Guess it's a good sign that they still make the same type of unit nearly 20 years later. Otherwise we'd be sunk.
Our favorite appliance store is having their customer appreciation sale. The unit we're interested in is one of the ones that's on sale, but I don't know how much it's really on sale. That is to say, not sure I couldn't get the same price three months from now if the frig broke down then. Shopping at Abt is a bit like buying car. You can negotiate price.
There's part of me that wonders if the units were more durably built back in 2006 and that this thing might chug along for a while longer. There's nothing worse than replacing something that works and then having issues with the replacement. We take care of our appliances and tend to get better-than-average lifespans out of them. Our 28 year old furnace was replaced four years ago and the last water heater lasted 15 years.
What say ye? Keep or replace the refrigerator?
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Newer ‘fridges use a different refrigerant than older ones did. They’re supposed to be more efficient.
The jury is out on reliability.
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We had the same situation when our KitchenAid went out. Whirlpool made exactly one model that fit in our space.
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Abt's Customer Appreciation Sale is the last weekend in October...I've been through this exercise for the last three years.
Our frig is located in a corner, with one side up against the wall. We have to have a zero-clearance hinge and then we can only open the door 90 degrees. A lot of units have a design where when the four inch thick door opens up it effectively makes the frig way wider than the space that the box part of the frig fits in. We would never be able to open the right hand door.
Here's the one we're looking at:
There's a KitchenAid version that's the same except that it has the towel bar handles and slightly different interior shelves.
We like the curved handles and the plain white in the interior of the Whirlpool. And that frig ain't getting any younger. Maybe it's time....
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Might want to do it while they still make one that fits.
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Both of the units I linked to above are new models, so it doesn't look like Whirlpool is walking away from this style any time soon. They've re-done the interior design, putting the veggie drawers on the bottom and moving up the pantry drawer. Otherwise all the same, and not much different from what we have.
We went over to Best Buy (Abt will be insane today and tomorrow) to actually look at the floor models to confirm that the hinge design will still work, and it does.
The thing that's weird is that the KA model that is being discontinued is $700 more than the new one. The interior of the old one had the pantry drawer on the bottom like ours does. Now the interior layout looks identical to the Whirlpool.
And caveat emptor...Abt's search didn't pull up the new cheaper model when I looked for French door KitchenAids. Only the old $2500 model came up. I actually saw the new model on Best Buy's website and when I did a search for that model number on Abt, lo and behold they have it. And in stock. They do this all the time. If you know which model you want, you're good. But if you rely on their internal search to show you all your choices based on your search criteria, you're at their mercy. Bastards.
Anyway, I may have some breathing room, but I agree, it might be time.
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Going for it. I reached out to a sales guy we've worked with before and he knocked another 80 bucks off the price and waived a couple of fees.
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Get a new one! You only live once.
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I see you took my advice before I even gave it. That was easy!
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Frig is being delivered next week. Since the old one is still running, I thought I'd test the waters on craigslist and see if there is any interest in a free, ancient, working frig.
Whoa boy, is there...I had to take the listing down after 15 minutes.
I have five names and I'll reach out to one of them next week after the new one is in and the old one is out in the garage and ready to go.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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@wtg said in Aging refrigerator:
I thought I'd test the waters on craigslist and see if there is any interest in a free, ancient, working frig.
Whoa boy, is there...I had to take the listing down after 15 minutes.
Wow! You’ll have to let us know if you’re successful selling the old one.
As an aside, I still have yet to buy or sell anything on Craigslist. My piano was listed on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp (although I can’t remember which listing I saw first), and I sold my digital piano through word of mouth.
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I’m giving it away.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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@wtg said in Aging refrigerator:
I’m giving it away.
Ahh, then of course it makes sense that you’d have a lot of interest. (For the recorded, I've never given anything away on Craigslist either)
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I’ve sold on both sites successfully, from household stuff to vehicles. You just have to be careful.
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I buy and sell on FB Marketplace and Craigslist fairly often.
I’ve never had a problem.
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Does your electric company have a rebate program for retiring old refrigerators and other appliances. MIne gives a $50 credit but I think you have to turn the refrigerator over to their scrap agency.
I did that several years ago with a very old refrigerator in my garage that still worked.
Big Al
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Com Ed used to have the "give us your old frig, working or not, and we'll give you $50" program. Now they have a broader appliance rebate program; the list of which appliances qualify changes periodically. You also don't have to turn in the old unit.. We got $45 when we bought a new dehumidifier at the beginning of the summer, but refrigerators aren't on the list right now.
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It's here!
Before:
It was always a tight fit on the right side, with that door so close to the wall. Earlier in the day I managed to cut the filler strip on the left side up at the top with my nifty little Japanese pull saw, and after the delivery guys got the old frig out, I was able to rock the filler strip out. So when the new frig went in it's farther to the left and the right door can open more than 90 degrees. Yay!
Talk about having this down to a science. We were the last delivery stop. They backed into our driveway. They saw that we have a new driveway, and they put down masonite so that when the lift gate came down it wouldn't bang up the asphalt.
Their truck has amazing LED lights that illuminate everything behind the truck. Eventually they lowered the new frig down to the driveway and unpacked it.
Masonite on the kitchen floor, and the two man crew got the old frig out and put it in the garage. Love those moving straps they use to move these pups. So much more control than the old appliance dollies. New frig came in, they leveled it and we were good to go!
Turns out the hinge redesign makes the unit a little bit shorter, and that allowed us to push the frig back into the opening further and makes that tight walkthrough feel a little roomier.
We didn't hook up the water for the ice maker. My Oxo ice cube trays are in the freezer making our first batch of ice.
Life is good! Or more accurately, Life is Whirlpool!
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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Whirlpool appliances get no love on the ‘net but I’ve always been happy with them.
Enjoy!
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Our Whirlpool front-loading washer was a total disaster.
Whirlpool Corp owns Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air. Plus a few others. Their French door refrigerators are made in Amana, IA in the same factory our 18 year old Maytag unit came from.
Who knows what the quality is of the parts they use. I doubt they're as good as the old frig.
This unit has the zero clearance hinge that we need because of the wall on the right side. It's basically the only unit that will work for us, as we are not fans of side-by-side units and can't do a basic frig with a single door/freezer drawer. Not enough space to open a wide door; it would hit the cabinet across from it.
I’ve always been happy with them.
Hope our experience mirrors yours!
