Fridge Freezer Recommendation

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Shanemc

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Topic # 245575 11-Feb-2019 15:33

Hi all,

Our 15 year OLD F&P is acting up, waking us up with an alarm in the middle of the night. Thinking it might be time to move onto something new. I like the look of the 'french door' fridge/freezers. But slightly horrified by the prices. I see a Samsung around $1800, but don't have access to consumer magazine, so am wondering if samsung is a reliable fridge brand. what they are recommending for brands.

Does anyone have experience of these french door fridges, and knowledge of reliability of brands?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Shane

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Reply # 2176544 11-Feb-2019 15:39

Consumer has a one week digital pass. Used to be $7 but have just checked and looks like they've doubled that to $15. I usually subscribe to this one when a major purchase is in the works. It is worthwhile checking their latest reviews and what to look for. IIRC, the double french door style fridges were less energy efficient than the equivalent upright side by side? But can't remember the reason for that.

In terms of fridges, we used to have a Samsung that was good. Looked stainless steel but was actually anodised plastic which looked the same, was much cheaper, and didn't pick up the fingerprints. Current fridge is a Westinghouse that came with the house. Works fine as a fridge freezer combo but the handle broke and it was super expensive getting replacement parts. My mum also has a Westinghouse of similar vintage and has also had the handle break. Don't know about more modern ones though.

jonathan18

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Reply # 2176582 11-Feb-2019 16:12

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More of a suggested 'avoid': we've made a decision to avoid F&P fridges and freezes for the foreseeable future, as every one we've had has had various issues - notably parts above the top shelf that are so cold nearly everything freezes, and this while other parts of the fridge are at the right temperature. Also, the quality of some of the parts of our current fridge/freezer is really poor, eg door handles, the cheap-as plastic sheet that sits over the vege drawers...

While I'm sure these problems may not be present in their expensive products, it's now not a brand I trust.

As for recommendations - not a bad word to say against our upright Samsung freezer; certainly would be looking at this brand when we need a new fridge/freezer.

dacraka

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Reply # 2176622 11-Feb-2019 16:35

F&P used to be good until they started using Haier fridges and re-badged them as F&P/use Haier parts in F&P fridges. Lost count on how many times I had to get my 2.5 year old fridge repaired. One repair was just out of warranty, had to fight to get them to repair the problem for free!

trig42

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Reply # 2176625 11-Feb-2019 16:36

jonathan18:

More of a suggested 'avoid': we've made a decision to avoid F&P fridges and freezes for the foreseeable future, as every one we've had has had various issues - notably parts above the top shelf that are so cold nearly everything freezes, and this while other parts of the fridge are at the right temperature. Also, the quality of some of the parts of our current fridge/freezer is really poor, eg door handles, the cheap-as plastic sheet that sits over the vege drawers...

While I'm sure these problems may not be present in their expensive products, it's now not a brand I trust.

As for recommendations - not a bad word to say against our upright Samsung freezer; certainly would be looking at this brand when we need a new fridge/freezer.

The problem with avoiding F&P for a lot of people, is that the pre-built kitchens will generally have a fridge gap designed for an F&P fridge (usually about 650-660 wide and 1800 tall, which is the perfect size for the F&P E402 fridge freezer).

Getting another brand to fit these holes can be a mission.

wratterus

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Reply # 2176630 11-Feb-2019 16:44

We purchased a F&P Fridge/Freezer a year or two ago - not sure on the exact model but pretty sure it was a 403L, like this one. Been extremely happy with it - shelves are robust and look good, LED lighting is great. Ice tray in freezer very handy. Only slight annoyances are there is no light in the freezer, and the vege bins are slightly awkardly sized - for example empty ice cream containers don't fit in there really well, but it wouldn't take much to find some cheap containers that do fit well if that's your thing.

rscole86

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Reply # 2176732 11-Feb-2019 19:52

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We have a Mitsubishi French door multi draw 743L, they are designed to go in your traditional 800mm wide slot.
I like it, the vege draw doubles as a beer draw for me. The ice maker is great in summer.

The only minus for me is I don't think the freezer is big enough if you like to make large portions and freeze the excess, or larger families.

billgates

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Reply # 2176739 11-Feb-2019 19:59

We have the plumbed version of the below fridge. It is a side by side so might not be your taste. I saw it for $1850 on special in December with further $100 cash back from LG. The plumbed version good with no issues. IMO worth going and negotiating.

https://www.heathcotes.co.nz/products/gs-l668pnl-lg-668l-side-by-side-with-non-plumbed-ice-water-dispenser

Do whatever you want to do man.

networkn

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Reply # 2176741 11-Feb-2019 20:04

I really like our 4 door Electrolux, it has lots of space, etc etc. We had a fault which could not be fixed after 8 years and they offered us a chance to "upgrade" for $2500 we told them no. In the end we paid $1000 and got the brand new version of the same. It's really good, lighting etc. It had a fault when it arrived with the thermostat which caused our vegetables to freeze solid. We lodged a call and it took 3 weeks for the parts. Since then it's been excellent.

It sounds like a crappy fridge, but I don't think it is. 3 faults in 10 years, but they did stand by their product. I really like the layout and it serves our 4 person family well in that regard.

Money no object I'd buy one of those samsungs with a big screen on the outside so I could look inside from the supermarket etc etc.

Fred99

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Reply # 2176743 11-Feb-2019 20:14

I have a F&P "french door" style fridge. Purchased about 2 years ago. The models before (prior to about 2015) did have issues with electronics. My neighbour has one - it's been a PITA. This one has been fine - it's similar but electronics are completely different - but as they say "we'll see" - it's only 2 years old. I know other people with the same fridge - also happy / no issues.

FWIW, "retail price" was about $4,000. HN discounted it to about $2850 IIRC. You need to haggle hard with retailers.

It's a very good fridge. The door seal mechanism (with flap) is a better design than anything else I've seen (most or all of the others, the seal between the two doors is a failure point). The finish is good - seems mar resistant. The interior seems to use quality materials, well thought out design. The icemaker works well, I didn't particularly want that as a feature, but the same model without water/ice cost more - go figure.

LG fridges rate quite highly on Consumer. The F&P fridges as above do too - and have good owner reviews. Scores well in all categories.

Shanemc

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Reply # 2176761 11-Feb-2019 20:44

billgates: We have the plumbed version of the below fridge. It is a side by side so might not be your taste. I saw it for $1850 on special in December with further $100 cash back from LG. The plumbed version good with no issues. IMO worth going and negotiating.

https://www.heathcotes.co.nz/products/gs-l668pnl-lg-668l-side-by-side-with-non-plumbed-ice-water-dispenser

I think this is similar to what i'm after. Not sure about the space in the side by side, think I prefer the french door, with the big freezer bins. I'll have to check them out in store and get a feel for it. I have heard good things about LG. But wow there really is some movement in the prices.

Cheers

Fred99

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Reply # 2176769 11-Feb-2019 20:58

The main advantage of the french door style is that they fit wide trays etc in a shelf in the fridge compartment, which side by side won't do.

MadEngineer

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Reply # 2176792 11-Feb-2019 22:33

+1 for Mitsi, our still going strong fridge/freezer has lasted 10+ years and parts are available online.

Aredwood

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Reply # 2176827 12-Feb-2019 02:33

If you get a plumbed in fridge, check what kind of filter it uses. Some of them use a special filter that is specific to that fridge, that only lasts 6 months and is expensive to buy.

Compared to the type that uses an external filter. Which allows you to use an underbench type water filter that will last for 3 years.

driller2000

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Reply # 2176874 12-Feb-2019 08:16

10 year old F&P 403 - no issues - works really well - nice and big - will buy again.

tdgeek

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Reply # 2176912 12-Feb-2019 09:11

My Samsung side by side failed https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=243481&page_no=2

There are 3 issues these have, and each is expensive, so went LG

"Called one repair guy, cant come out till Monday, Samsung side by sides are a problem. The other guy cant come till Tuesday, but he was nice, upfront, and told me in detail the three things that go wrong with them. Gas leak in the coil, compressor, or the back insulated panels ice up internally and stop airflow. Cost for these was $700 to $900. He said Samsung are fine, but NOT for side by side fridges, they get so many calls about them. So we will go shopping tomorrow

Thanks very much for the replies"

On reflection it was Samsung fridge freezers not just side by sides

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