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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

GE was bought by Haier (a Chinese company) about ten years ago. I have a bunch of them and so far they are all pretty good.

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Yes GE is owned by Haier, which worried me when I was researching fridges a couple years ago. But apparently most of the GE appliances are still manufactured in the U.S. and haven’t really changed much despite the change in ownership.

My GE fridge has been a disappointment. It is OK at its main function: cooling. However I've had to replace the main control board and the freezer defrost heater. The built-in water dispenser never really worked because the water line is routed too close to the freezer compartment and it freezes up. The ice maker is disconnected because its water line developed a leak and damaged my laminate floor before I noticed it. I don't think I'll be buying GE again.

The trick with fridges: Don't but ones with ice makers or water dispensers built in. There's a reason the rich install dedicated ice makers and filtered sinks.

Well, they do that because they have so much square footage that it makes sense. You need physical space to have your fridge and freezer and ice machine and cold/sparkling/filtered water dispenser separate. And of course money for lots of appliances.

I would say that it’s best to get a fridge that has a simple ice maker that’s in the freezer and water dispenser that is in the fridge interior with no weird rerouting like having the ice/water dispensed from the door (which also reduces efficiency because there’s essentially a hole in your fridge).

As an example the Sub-Zero refrigerator lineup has a simple ice maker in the freezer and then the water dispenser is optional, and it’s accessed from inside the refrigerator.

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