Finding the right fridge

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mattwnz

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#3350502 5-Mar-2025 16:51

The thing with the ice makers is that you have to make sure you regularly take out the ice drawer and remove big chunks of ice so make sure all the ice is loose. Otherwise the ice can fuse together and can jam and break the mechanisim. Especially if you are in an area that gets lots of power cuts.

Goosey

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#3350590 6-Mar-2025 06:50

mattwnz:

The thing with the ice makers is that you have to make sure you regularly take out the ice drawer and remove big chunks of ice so make sure all the ice is loose. Otherwise the ice can fuse together and can jam and break the mechanisim. Especially if you are in an area that gets lots of power cuts.

don’t forget the periodic sanitary cleaning of the ice holder, the water lines and filter.

nothing worse than tasting water from a fridge where you know the filter ain’t been cleaned or replaced for awhile….you end up drinking more…then get sick from the dodgy ice.

johno1234

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#3350592 6-Mar-2025 07:42

Not sure there’s anything you can so for ’sanitary cleaning of the water lines and filter’ other than just change the filter?

It’s true though that many people just ignore the little red ‘replace filter’ warning light for the life of the appliance!

trig42

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#3350598 6-Mar-2025 08:26

johno1234:

Not sure there’s anything you can so for ’sanitary cleaning of the water lines and filter’ other than just change the filter?

It’s true though that many people just ignore the little red ‘replace filter’ warning light for the life of the appliance!

Yep I'm guilty of that. Not 'life of appliance' guilty, but I did go 6 months over. The water pressure got pretty low in the water dispenser so I forked out for a new filter. Got a spare at the same time, so will replace it sooner next time.

David321

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#3350962 7-Mar-2025 11:13

I have managed to narrow it down to two models (subject to change!)

The LG GS-D600MBLC - Much cheaper than the fisher and paykal, and a few more features, but will stick out about 50mm, this will be fine if the doors are 50mm or thicker as the doors need to protrude the cabinetry to be able to open, if the doors are less than 50mm thick there will be the thickness of the doors sticking out plus some of the side panel of the fridge which could look funny. I cant find the thickness of the doors online so ill have to go and measure in store.

The F&P 538L range - More expensive, but much less depth than the LG at 688mm, this would only stick out about 5mm, so basically it would appear flush with the cabinetry, but there would be a 32.5mm gap down each side of the fridge and I would need to make sure this would be enough to allow the doors to open without hitting the sides of the cabinetry. As mentioned by a user in this thread already, some fridges do have special hinges which means the doors to not end up wider than the body of the fridge when opening which is what I would need on this fisher and paykel model if it were to sit within my cavity and not stick out, problem is I have no idea if this model has those hinges, I will have to go in store to find out.

This weekends to do list, find out depth of lg fridge doors, find out if the F&P 538L fridges have those special hinges (no idea what they are called).

_David_

Stu1

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#3351006 7-Mar-2025 14:16

I wouldn’t go LG had nothing but issues with the condenser even the inside freezer draw runner disintegrated. We got just got 4 years out of it . They wouldn’t replace it under the CGA but sold the newer model to us for $600 (retail price $1800) which was better than nothing. I wouldn’t buy the brand again

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David321

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#3351011 7-Mar-2025 14:22

Stu1:

I wouldn’t go LG had nothing but issues with the condenser even the inside freezer draw runner disintegrated. We got just got 4 years out of it . They wouldn’t replace it under the CGA but sold the newer model to us for $600 (retail price $1800) which was better than nothing. I wouldn’t buy the brand again

@Stu1 when was that? LG had big condenser issues a few years ago and had a class action launched against them in the US, pretty sure they got the condenser issues sorted after that.

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alasta

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#3351024 7-Mar-2025 15:18

I have owned two LG fridges, two microwaves, two TVs, a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner. The TV developed a faulty HDMI interface at around ten years of age, while all the others have been free of faults throughout their service lives to date.

In contrast I inherited a Fisher & Paykel kitchen package when I moved into my place and I don't really like these appliances.

If it were me then I would definitely choose LG over F&P.

Stu1

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#3351029 7-Mar-2025 15:35

David321:

Stu1:

I wouldn’t go LG had nothing but issues with the condenser even the inside freezer draw runner disintegrated. We got just got 4 years out of it . They wouldn’t replace it under the CGA but sold the newer model to us for $600 (retail price $1800) which was better than nothing. I wouldn’t buy the brand again

@Stu1 when was that? LG had big condenser issues a few years ago and had a class action launched against them in the US, pretty sure they got the condenser issues sorted after that.

It was a 2022 fridge , I paid for new one Q4 last year

mattwnz

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#3351030 7-Mar-2025 15:37

alasta:

In contrast I inherited a Fisher & Paykel kitchen package when I moved into my place and I don't really like these appliances.

Depends on the appliances IMO. Their dishwashers suck I found, don't even dry. Their old smart drive washing machines were very reliable (at least the ones made in NZ) and still got one. Some models of fridge also seem to rank well in Consumer NZs rankings and the ones I have had lasted 30 years

Stu1

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#3351032 7-Mar-2025 15:40

alasta:

I have owned two LG fridges, two microwaves, two TVs, a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner. The TV developed a faulty HDMI interface at around ten years of age, while all the others have been free of faults throughout their service lives to date.

In contrast I inherited a Fisher & Paykel kitchen package when I moved into my place and I don't really like these appliances.

If it were me then I would definitely choose LG over F&P.

its crazy the difference experiences we all get . I’ve gone back to F and P for washing machines and will be my next fridge option

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alasta

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#3351038 7-Mar-2025 16:06

Stu1:

its crazy the difference experiences we all get . I’ve gone back to F and P for washing machines and will be my next fridge option

It's funny you say that. Recently I was thinking that I personally have consistently good or bad experiences with any particular manufacturer, yet my experiences are often different from other peoples' experience of any given brand. For that reason I tend to ignore recommendations and buy based on personal experience.

Perhaps it reflects different manufacturers optimising their respective products for different environments and usage patterns.

mattwnz

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#3351040 7-Mar-2025 16:14

Some brands make some good products and terrible other products. IMO that is why I wouldn't buy a kitchen that is all the same brand just because it matches. It is more of a sign that the developer got a good package deal. Looking at consumer for fridges, their top fridges seem to be mainly from 3 brands, Mitsubishi, LG and F&P.

johno1234

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#3351120 7-Mar-2025 17:56

I am biased by my business connections with F&P but... I really do believe that they have the best spare parts and service capability in NZ. The design and engineering expertise is right here in NZ unlike all other brands. I can't comment on the design and build quality vs the other brands as I have only ever had F&P (and recently, Haier) products - Haier being the 100% owner of F&P Appliances and F&P Appliances being the NZ distributor for Haier appliances.

They do have to compete so like all the others exist in a perpetual trade-off of price to quality and support. Not like the good old days when F&P were able to avoid competition through exclusive dealership restrictions on the retailers.

Handle9

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#3351156 7-Mar-2025 20:53

johno1234:

I am biased by my business connections with F&P but... I really do believe that they have the best spare parts and service capability in NZ. The design and engineering expertise is right here in NZ unlike all other brands. I can't comment on the design and build quality vs the other brands as I have only ever had F&P (and recently, Haier) products - Haier being the 100% owner of F&P Appliances and F&P Appliances being the NZ distributor for Haier appliances.

They do have to compete so like all the others exist in a perpetual trade-off of price to quality and support. Not like the good old days when F&P were able to avoid competition through exclusive dealership restrictions on the retailers.

F&P have always had good to great design capability but never had the volume to get the quality control really right. The design philosophy was to get the product in the market as "good enough" and then iterate once the problems were found.

The service network is big because of the installed base. There's plenty of appliances to work on in NZ.

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