Skip to content. Facebook page opens in new window Linkedin page opens in new window Twitter page opens in new window Pinterest page opens in new window Yelp page opens in new window Blogger page opens in new window YouTube page opens in new window Instagram page opens in new window. When buying a fridge, there are several types to choose from: Top Freezer — Least expensive and has the most storage relative to their size.
Bottom Freezer — Freezer is on the bottom and fridge usually has 2 doors. French Door style — Also a bottom freezer but usually has doors. Bosch Best known for their dishwashers, but has moved into refrigerators and stoves. Used to be excellent quality, but has fallen far in the past few years GE Also known as Hotpoint.
Samsung The Samsung suffers from many issues but the most common is ice buildup in the ducts on the fridge side, if you search Google or YouTube for Samsung refrigerator problems. It might be worth spending more money for an energy-efficient fridge upfront instead of getting a less expensive model that consumes more power.
You will cut back on your long-term costs that way, which will ultimately end up making up for the extra you spent on the purchase. Lastly, you should also think about aesthetics. While not as important as practical considerations, the appearance of your refrigerator does matter. Indeed, all things being equal, if it is between two products that both have the features and reliability you are looking for, the difference in looks between them might be the factor that settles you on one fridge and not the other.
A: There are four main door styles of fridges. You can get one with the freezer on the top or on the bottom. French door refrigerators feature a pair of doors for the fridge rather than a single door. Finally, one more option is a side by side model. With this type of fridge, instead of the freezer going above or below the fridge, the configuration places them next to each other, one on the left, and one on the right.
There is a good chance you grew up with a top freezer model, and may prefer it because of its familiarity. But the majority of buyers nowadays are leaning toward French door models. Who should consider getting a side by side model? These types of refrigerators dedicate more space to the freezer.
So, they make the most sense if frozen food is a large part of your diet. Otherwise, you probably will prefer one of the three other configurations. Ultimately, you will need to decide what configuration you like best. Now you have had a chance to check out some of the data on different brands that manufacture refrigerators. We hope that you find this overview helpful when making decisions about what products to consider for your own home use.
Remember, even the companies listed here as brands to potentially avoid may have some high-quality products. Likewise, even the more reliable brands can sometimes produce some duds. So, it is wise to do your research before you settle on a brand and a model for your next refrigerator and freezer. If you'd like to know which refrigerators to buy then, read our Best Undercounter Refrigerator Reviews or read our reviews about Nugget Ice Makers if you're into that.
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Start Designing. Last Updated: October 25, Jump to Section. If you don't have time you can easily jump to the following two sections : BAD Refrigerators Brands BEST Refrigerators Brands In this article, we are going to tell you about the least reliable refrigerator brands out there. Low quality construction and materials. Short or limited warranties. Pricey parts. Long wait times. Bad service.
Top Refrigerator Brands to Avoid Now that we have gone over a list of things to be on the lookout for when evaluating possible fridge and freezer brands and products, let's go over a list of some of the least reliable brands that are out there. Viking Refrigerators If you are in the market for a luxury appliance, one brand you might be considering is Viking Refrigerators. KitchenAid Refrigerators The next brand on our list to consider avoiding when shopping for your next refrigerator or freezer model is KitchenAid.
Maytag Refrigerators One more brand you might want to avoid when shopping for refrigerators is Maytag. Consider These Reliable Refrigerator Brands Instead Now you know what brands you might want to steer clear of when you are choosing something to put in your home kitchen. GE General Electric GE is another of the best companies when it comes to manufacturing reliable refrigerators.
Dino Paccino. Related Articles. Browse by Topic. Get Kitchen Newsletter. Subscribe Now. Follow Us. Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Pinterest. Short on style and features, this traditional configuration offers the best value.
Become a member to read the full article and get access to digital ratings. We investigate, research, and test so you can choose with confidence. We respect your privacy. All email addresses you provide will be used just for sending this story. Most and Least Reliable Refrigerator Brands Consumer Reports' latest survey results can help you avoid aggravating repairs. Pros: Top-freezer models are affordable, available in a wide range of sizes, and efficient.
No bending required to reach frozen items. These fridges are also more reliable than other types, according to some sources, though we found that they might be more prone to minor, nuisance-type problems. Cons: Owner satisfaction is low. Fresh foods sit below waist height for most people, and the full-width doors may be hard to open completely in some kitchens. We point toward a few notable top-freezer models in our section on budget-friendly fridges. Bottom-freezer refrigerators are a bit of a hidden gem.
But from what we can tell, owners tend to be really happy with them. They offer some of the same practical advantages as basic French-door models, for significantly lower prices. Size range: A inch width and standard depth is the most popular size in the US for affordable freestanding models, though they get as narrow as 22 inches and as wide as 33 inches.
There are plenty of counter-depth models, as well, though these tend to be on the thinner side. Built-in models are 24 inches to 36 inches wide. Pros: High owner satisfaction, especially relative to the price. All fresh foods stay near eye level for most people, and wide-item storage pizza, deli trays is easy.
Cons: The full-width doors on wider models may be hard to open completely in some kitchens. These fridges also have fewer premium features than other styles. Bucket-style freezers on some models can be hard to organize, and swing-open freezers on other models are very low to the ground. Retrieving frozen items requires bending. Four-door: Some brands sell upscale fridges with four equal-size doors. Not to be confused with two-drawer French-door fridges, these models have a full-width refrigerator compartment on top and two half-width compartments on the bottom.
Counter-depth, in the strictest sense, means that a refrigerator is shallow enough to sit flush with typical cabinets or countertops, so roughly 24 inches from the front edge to the back wall. You can find tons of these models for sale at any typical big-box appliance retailer, from every major brand, in most door configurations, at a range of prices.
Others genuinely prefer having a shallower fridge because they find it easier to keep organized. Mainstream brands often sell standard-depth and counter-depth variants of similar fridges, and the models tend to have a lot in common, apart from the shallower dimensions and smaller storage of the counter-depth versions.
Complaints about lack of space were equally uncommon for counter-depth and standard-depth fridges, with low single-digit percentages of owners complaining about that on average. We think most counter-depth models from the brands we highlight above should work well for most people.
Any prediction about reliability is based on data about older fridges. But even then, the gap between the most-reliable and least-reliable brands looks pretty narrow. And any company can sell you a dud and drag its heels on customer service, even if it has the best reputation. That said, we analyzed more than 28, customer reviews for 34 fridges, and we were able to pick out a few models that seemed especially prone to major malfunctions within the first few years of ownership.
Similarly, in our reader survey, just 2. Side-by-sides and top-freezer models were somewhat more prone to minor, nuisance-type problems like noise, broken shelves or handles, and flickering lights than French-door or bottom-freezer models. The first, simplest step toward picking a more sustainable fridge is to make sure it uses climate-friendly Ra refrigerant, as many current models do.
Ra is a huge improvement over Ra, which is 1, times as strong a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide and was the most common refrigerant for household refrigerators through some popular models still use it. If your top priority is to use as little energy as possible, check out the Energy Star Most Efficient list. The models there are the most energy-miserly fridges you can buy in the US. Judging by this list, the most efficient style of fridge in terms of energy use per cubic foot of storage tends to be a large top-freezer model, which should have plenty of storage for a couple but might feel cramped for a household of four.
But the list has plenty of other efficient models in other styles, as well. We have to note that the Energy Star Most Efficient list feels a little incomplete, or maybe built around questionable criteria. When you do the math on energy use per cubic foot of storage, there are plenty of big, stylish French-door models for example that beat out some of the smaller, more homely top-freezer models.
Large fridges can also mean fewer trips to the store, which might mean less driving and almost always energy and emissions savings as a result. Then again, huge fridges also have a way of turning into graveyards for lost, wasted food.
The standard Energy Star list—not the Most Efficient list—is basically useless. Finally, a long-lasting fridge tends to have less environmental impact than a fridge that breaks quickly, assuming that the energy use is similar. And longevity isn't everything: A reliable, decades-old fridge uses a lot more energy than a new one, and sticking with it could potentially have a bigger environmental impact than replacing it. In the bigger picture of your overall household energy use and emissions, choosing a low-energy fridge has a small impact compared with other upgrades such as choosing a highly efficient electric heating and cooling system, or an electric car, or a source of clean energy like rooftop solar panels.
Liam McCabe is a senior staff writer for Wirecutter, and has covered the wild world of appliances since After testing dozens of robot vacuums, he is neither worried about AI nor holding his breath for self-driving cars. He enjoys visiting factories and learning about regulatory loopholes, and has flooded our testing area only three times.
How we researched Reader survey. Why you should trust us How to pick a fridge LG: The major brand with the highest satisfaction GE: Somewhat better customer service Whirlpool: Fewer bells and whistles, fewer complaints about bad reliability Other major brands What about a budget pick?
What do you get when you pay more for a fridge? Why are so many fridges out of stock? Door styles: French-doors lead in popularity and satisfaction What about counter-depth fridges? Reliability: Hope for the best Efficiency and sustainability: Much better than they used to be. Why you should trust us. How to pick a fridge. Take multiple measurements of your space rather than the existing fridge to find the maximum width, depth, and height.
Seriously—take multiple measurements of each dimension in case your floors turn out to be crooked. Remember to measure any baseboards or trim. Build in some buffer space for ventilation. Make it about 1 inch on the top and sides and at least 2 inches at the back. Think about measuring the rest of your kitchen. The layout of the rest of your kitchen matters, too. If you have a kitchen island, measure the distance from the wall to the edge of that counter to account for the door swing.
In this situation, a counter-depth model, or one with half-width doors like a French-door or side-by-side model might make the most sense. If your fridge will sit close to a wall, think about whether the door will be able to swing open wide enough for you to pull out crisper drawers or deli trays.
A single-door fridge like a top-freezer or bottom-freezer model , with the hinge on the opposite side from the wall, might be your best bet. Measure your doorways. You can take the doors off the fridge to get a few extra inches, but there are some fridges that you just cannot get inside of certain kitchens.
LG: The major brand with the highest satisfaction. But on balance, LG as a brand stands out a bit from the other major manufacturers.
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