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Comment by 01100011 | Hacker News Reader

Speaking of refrigerators, are there any consumer level brands now that don't completely suck? It seems like longevity and reliability of refrigerators has fallen off a cliff lately. Major mfgs like Samsung and LG have serious issues with compressors dying early and it seems every fridge is loaded with features that mostly just shorten their lifetime.

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A comment section on HN is probably the worst place to get this sort of answer. People buy relatively few fridges so you'd need hundreds of replies to get enough statistical power. This is on top of the problems that reviews have, like non-response bias.

edit: you can see this in action right now. There's one glowing review of whirlpool and one scathing review. I'm sure they're both honest, but what conclusion are you going to draw from that?

On the one hand you're right that this is a terrible place to get a good answer for this.

On the other I don't know of a better one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://www.consumerreports.org/refrigerators/most-and-least...

n=80,300, but paywalled. However, one interesting tidbit that isn't paywalled is how bad fridge reliability is

>Our results reveal that about a third of all refrigerators require repairs by the end of their fifth year of ownership, making them one of the least reliable appliances we analyze in our member surveys.

Your local library might offer free access to Consumer Reports -- Seattle does: https://www.spl.org/online-resources/consumer-and-diy

Buy a refrigerator without an ice maker or any "features." Most refrigerator reliability issues stem from these extra features. Compressors (the core component actually responsible for cooling the freezer and fridge) are going to fail at about the same rate across brands and models, from a bottom of the line whirlpool to top of the line Miele or kitchen aid. Compressor failure is not common.

A basic fridge like this will last you a long time: https://www.costco.com/whirlpool-20-cu.-ft.-top-freezer-refr...

If you really want all the reliability money can buy, buy a subzero fridge. But you're paying 10x for the same functionality (unless you really need extremely stable temperatures).

Most reliable is a fridge with no electronics, just a motor clock defrost timer, mica ptc relay, metallic strip thermostats.

Reliable after 40+ years of refinement and dead easy to troubleshiot.

Whirlpool has worked out well for us. Had one for 10+ years in the last house and 3 years in this one, both without any issues.

Miele has a good reputation, and Bosch/Thermador seems to be working on building a solid brand after outsourcing their refrigeration for a long time (they're also getting into HVAC heat pumps).

I'm probably trading my piece of crap KitchenAid (Whirlpool) for a Bosch 800 pretty soon. Never get a french door fridge from Whirlpool.

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