cellio | rebellious appliances

On Sunday Dani and I had approximately the following conversation:

Me: I think we should start paying attention to fridge ads, and when we see something reasonable at an acceptable price we should buy it.

Dani: Why?

Me: Well, our current fridge has already died once and been fixed, and it's 40 years old, and that can't be a good sign.

Dani: But it could last another five or ten years if it's lasted 40.

Me: Or five or ten days. We don't know, and fridges aren't that expensive.

That's where the conversation ended.

I would not be making this entry if that's where things really ended :-( (Hello. I wasn't trying to be prophetic, ok?!)

Unfortunately, since I really do need to be involved in a choice of replacement, there's not much we can do before I return from out of town. (No time to shop before I leave.) Maybe the putzing around I did tonight will fix it, much like the repairman's putzing around fixed it last time. Or maybe not. The fridge part seems to be ok; it's the freezer that's, shall we say, tending toward the soft and squishy.

I predict a meat dinner tomorrow night...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry to hear that!

I would not be making this entry if that's where things really ended

They can hear you, you know. :)

A new one will have to be much more efficient than one that is 40 years old. I saved a bunch on electric bills just by replacing one that was 20 years old. When i bought mine, I choose the most efficient one i could get. The only feature I wish it had was the crushed ice dispenser in the door. Some members of my family have refrigerators that have those and they are pretty cool.

I will be seeing repairmen for the 3rd time to try to get mine to stop leaking. The 1st one made it worse and ripped out my basement ceiling looking for a valve. Without asking or telling. I knew it wasn't there, but he wouldn't listen. I thought he was done destroying it, went upstairs, and he kept going.

The next set (different company) fixed it, but it only lasted 1-2 wks. For $275, I want to not have to keep squeezing out towels 4x/day.

They are wonderful when they work, and hell when they break.

Ouch. It sounds like you've spent half the cost of a new one on repairs. I hope the third time works for you (and that you're able to recover some costs from the guy who made it worse).

Yeah, a new one ought to do much better on energy consumption. After all, after the furnace, the fridge is probably the single biggest power draw in the house.

We probably won't get water/ice dispensing with a new fridge just because the fridge isn't very close to the water lines in the room. We could run plumbing, of course, but I don't think we care enough. We don't tend to use ice in drinks ourselves if the drinks are cold, and when we're planning a party we just buy a couple bags of ice.

First two things we did when we bought the house; replace the furnace, replace the fridge. Electric bills plummeted. Forty year old stuff is a *huge* power draw compared to the new stuff that's out. And we're replacing our stove this weekend.

If you need a stopgap for a couple of days, is there a place near you that sells dry ice? You could put dry ice in the freezer, and that should keep the whole area cold for a day or two.

Thanks; I didn't think of that. I'm currently on the "I was going to cook this soon anyway" and "hey, I have neighbors..." paths. :-) (If we were looking at a shopping trip in the next few days, I'd definitely go hunting for dry ice now that you've mentioned it.)

Oh, what a nuisance for timing.

New ones are more efficient, and frequently have more space (or more useful space) inside as well. I hope you find something you like.

I'm hoping for more efficient and better space, yeah. The space in ours isn't bad, but it could be better.

Conveniently enough, this month's CR has reviews of refrigerators, just in time to help you get a new one.

There was a blurb in there about how new fridges are much more efficient than fridges from the mid-1980s. I don't have the issue in front of me but I think they said running a current fridge should cost 30-60 dollars a year. So if you've been trying to save money by coddling along your antique fridge, you may find that a new fridge pays for itself within a year or two.

Reading that issue was actually what prompted the conversation. Hey, at least the timing was good in one way! :-)

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Consumer Reports reviews kitchen appliances this month

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