Current Refrigerators, what's best?

wilson1

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2010
104
0
401
Pleasanton, CA
My 48" built in frig just died..
What's the current recommendations?

SubZeros still not worth the $?
Thermador?

Suggestions?
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
GE profile series??
 

Phelonious Ponk

New Member
Jun 30, 2010
8,677
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Believe it or not, the Samsungs are pretty awesome.

Tim
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
have to look into that, reliable?




Tim, Do they have it in 48"? How's the warranty?



Wow, yours are nice!
How long have you had it, any issues?

My evaporator in the fridge portion went after 10 years. The main parts are warrantied for 12 years. The freezer portion never seems to have an issue according to my sub zero tech.
 

Greg_R

New Member
Jan 25, 2012
95
0
0
My 48" built in frig just died..
What's the current recommendations?

SubZeros still not worth the $?
Thermador?

Suggestions?

Take a look at Liebherr. I have a few friends who picked this brand when they remodeled and they don't miss their SubZeros at all.
 

Garth

Member Sponsor
Feb 23, 2014
299
0
0
Take a look at Liebherr. I have a few friends who picked this brand when they remodeled and they don't miss their SubZeros at all.

I have found my Liebherr better than my last sub zero both have problems with ice makers the sub was broke down a lot the Liebherr one half died after 2 years they replaced it . Since then it has been ok.
 

asiufy

Industry Expert/VIP Donor
Jul 8, 2011
3,711
723
1,200
San Diego, CA
almaaudio.com
I like my Viking. It's big, has water filtration, etc.
And it looks like a frig, which I like :)
We don't have Sub-Zero here, though, but I heard it's great stuff.


alexandre
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,376
2,497
1,398
Believe it or not, the Samsungs are pretty awesome.

Tim

Agree...they are one of the few who use separate chilling machinery for fridge vs freezer, so if only one cooling mechanism breaks...the other continues to operate perfectly.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,376
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1,398

zztop7

Member Sponsor
Dec 12, 2012
750
3
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Edmonds, WA
50 -200% longer

Refrigeration will last 50 - 200% longer if the coils, condensers, etc. are cleaned of all dust [and grease if you fry a lot] at least twice a year.
The energy efficiency goes down the tubes when the components are dirty.
The manufacturers & distributors will not inform you of that for obvious reasons [who reads the manual?].
zz.
 

Mosin

[Industry Expert]
Mar 11, 2012
895
13
930
I represented several high-end appliance lines for several years. Among them were Viking and Sub Zero. My personal choice is Sub Zero because it is not only a fantastic refrigerator, but if you ever have problems, the factory will go to the end of the Earth to make sure you are satisfied.

Some things that happened in my territory:

Complaint: A guy complained about moisture around the door on his discontinued model that was fourteen years old. It was out of warranty, of course.
Solution: Sub Zero replaced the refrigerator with the current model, and covered all associated costs, which included installation labor and freight.

Complaint: An old lady had problems opening the door on her ancient model.
Solution: The factory sent weaker door magnets, and paid her local dealer to install them. There was no charge to the lady, even on a 25-30 year-old unit. It was so old that no one I worked with was familiar with the model.

Complaint: Not one, but two model 501 freezer units died at a customer's house. All the contents were ruined, of course.
Solution: Another brand freezer was purchased by Sub Zero, and it was immediately delivered to the customer's house as a stop gap fix. Then, a Sub Zero engineer personally walked down the line while a replacement was being made. Then, he and the rest of his team personally tested the unit. Next, the freezer was loaded onto a pickup truck, and the same engineer drove it from Madison, Wisconsin to Nashville, Tennessee. Then, he supervised its installation. After that, he gave the customer a check for all the food that was lost along with the company's most sincere apologies. The stop gap freezer of a different brand was also given to the customer. Now, he had a freezer in his garage for free. (The original problems were sabotage that happened to a few units during a labor dispute, by the way.)

At a National Kitchen and Bath Show I overheard two GE engineers talking while they were inspecting a Sub Zero Model 550. "This is what we could do, if we worked for a company that specialized in refrigeration." one said. The other guy agreed.

To me, it is a no-brainer.


Refrigeration will last 50 - 200% longer if the coils, condensers, etc. are cleaned of all dust [and grease if you fry a lot] at least twice a year.
The energy efficiency goes down the tubes when the components are dirty.
The manufacturers & distributors will not inform you of that for obvious reasons [who reads the manual?].
zz.

Sub Zero does, and many maid services have it on their "to do" lists.
 

Blizzard

Banned
Sep 30, 2015
3,049
3
0
Miele all the way!
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,303
1,420
1,820
Manila, Philippines
GE Monogram here. I end up calling for cleaning twice a year. I didn't know cooking a lot had anything to do with it. I just thought they were not that well built. Now I know. Thanks ZZ.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
6,774
1,198
580
Boston, MA
I represented several high-end appliance lines for several years. Among them were Viking and Sub Zero. My personal choice is Sub Zero because it is not only a fantastic refrigerator, but if you ever have problems, the factory will go to the end of the Earth to make sure you are satisfied.

Some things that happened in my territory:

Complaint: A guy complained about moisture around the door on his discontinued model that was fourteen years old. It was out of warranty, of course.
Solution: Sub Zero replaced the refrigerator with the current model, and covered all associated costs, which included installation labor and freight.

Complaint: An old lady had problems opening the door on her ancient model.
Solution: The factory sent weaker door magnets, and paid her local dealer to install them. There was no charge to the lady, even on a 25-30 year-old unit. It was so old that no one I worked with was familiar with the model.

Complaint: Not one, but two model 501 freezer units died at a customer's house. All the contents were ruined, of course.
Solution: Another brand freezer was purchased by Sub Zero, and it was immediately delivered to the customer's house as a stop gap fix. Then, a Sub Zero engineer personally walked down the line while a replacement was being made. Then, he and the rest of his team personally tested the unit. Next, the freezer was loaded onto a pickup truck, and the same engineer drove it from Madison, Wisconsin to Nashville, Tennessee. Then, he supervised its installation. After that, he gave the customer a check for all the food that was lost along with the company's most sincere apologies. The stop gap freezer of a different brand was also given to the customer. Now, he had a freezer in his garage for free. (The original problems were sabotage that happened to a few units during a labor dispute, by the way.)

At a National Kitchen and Bath Show I overheard two GE engineers talking while they were inspecting a Sub Zero Model 550. "This is what we could do, if we worked for a company that specialized in refrigeration." one said. The other guy agreed.

To me, it is a no-brainer.




Sub Zero does, and many maid services have it on their "to do" lists.

Impressive! We are on a our second SubZero, by choice, not because the first are ever failed - I have never seen anything like this in consumer appliances or electronics, save for my Revox, and now my Magnum Dynalab Etude is about to turn 20, with zero problems.
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
I represented several high-end appliance lines for several years. Among them were Viking and Sub Zero. My personal choice is Sub Zero because it is not only a fantastic refrigerator, but if you ever have problems, the factory will go to the end of the Earth to make sure you are satisfied.

Some things that happened in my territory:

Complaint: A guy complained about moisture around the door on his discontinued model that was fourteen years old. It was out of warranty, of course.
Solution: Sub Zero replaced the refrigerator with the current model, and covered all associated costs, which included installation labor and freight.

Complaint: An old lady had problems opening the door on her ancient model.
Solution: The factory sent weaker door magnets, and paid her local dealer to install them. There was no charge to the lady, even on a 25-30 year-old unit. It was so old that no one I worked with was familiar with the model.

Complaint: Not one, but two model 501 freezer units died at a customer's house. All the contents were ruined, of course.
Solution: Another brand freezer was purchased by Sub Zero, and it was immediately delivered to the customer's house as a stop gap fix. Then, a Sub Zero engineer personally walked down the line while a replacement was being made. Then, he and the rest of his team personally tested the unit. Next, the freezer was loaded onto a pickup truck, and the same engineer drove it from Madison, Wisconsin to Nashville, Tennessee. Then, he supervised its installation. After that, he gave the customer a check for all the food that was lost along with the company's most sincere apologies. The stop gap freezer of a different brand was also given to the customer. Now, he had a freezer in his garage for free. (The original problems were sabotage that happened to a few units during a labor dispute, by the way.)

At a National Kitchen and Bath Show I overheard two GE engineers talking while they were inspecting a Sub Zero Model 550. "This is what we could do, if we worked for a company that specialized in refrigeration." one said. The other guy agreed.

To me, it is a no-brainer.




Sub Zero does, and many maid services have it on their "to do" lists.

Wow...that's fantastic! :D
Does this policy of product and customer support remain intact, today :confused:
We have Thermador kitchen appliances with a GE Monogram side-by-side.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Impressive! We are on a our second SubZero, by choice, not because the first are ever failed - I have never seen anything like this in consumer appliances or electronics, save for my Revox, and now my Magnum Dynalab Etude is about to turn 20, with zero problems.
We had at least three failures in our subzero 48 inch. I fixed one (switch going bad that turned off the lights, causing the fridge to not cool), but the other two each cost us a few hundred dollars. Which was nothing compared to aggravation of throwing out everything that was in there. We have a 35 year old GE fridge in the garage which is still running with zero failure.

In our new house we got the Gaggenau (Bosch) units and after 5 years, it has yet to need a repair (separate freezer and fridge). Unfortunately from usability point of view, it is not as good so not sure we would buy them again.
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
6,774
1,198
580
Boston, MA
Interesting. I would not be exaggerating if I told you I didn't even replace a bulb in the first SubZ, in 25 years.
 

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