Kenmore/Whirlpool.
No. Because simplicity:
Scotty: "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
A basic cold box; frost free freezer on top, condenser coils on the back cooled by convection. Rotary controls. Mature tech with little to fail. Easy to troubleshoot & service.
In response to OP, that's likely dependent somewhat on what part of the world you're in. In the U.S. I'd tend toward GE/Frigidaire/Whirlpool.
slmjim
Even though the average refrig. only lasts about 10 or so years, adjusted for inflation they are a deal compared to the older models that lasted much longer. Same with most appliances. Stay away from the whistles and bells as stated before and look for a brand with a good track record. Be careful, older brands may not be your grandfathers brand anymore. Maytag for instance.
I want my next fridge to have a strobe light go on every time I open it...or even better one that goes on with turbo...now that'll make me think twice about sneaking in some ice cream in the middle of the night!!
Kegerator brand when fully operational always gets good reviews.
That’s a pretty accurate rant/condemnation.
The ‘best’ fridge may be a really old fridge - non-digital, all analogue, no features.
Our previous fridge was a GE french door, bottom freezer. Looked very nice. In 3 years the plastic on drawers, sliders and door holders was breaking. We are an old couple without teen kids, so stuff does not get slammed around.
In 5 years the door latches (both) broke. WTF! the industry knew how to make an indestructible latch 50 years ago. I partially fixed it with bamboo skewers better than it was originally made. No latch repair option, only door replacement for ~50% the price of the fridge, PLUS installation.
Then the compressor fan went out. $400 replacement. I fixed it with a 120mm computer fan powered by a 12v wall wart.
Three more years and the damn thing went completely wonky.
(Note -there is a computer control unit on these things. Replacement cost $300-400. If a service guy comes out installation will be an extra $250. Takes about 5 minutes to replace. I fixed a neighbor’s that had the on/off contacts burn. Took 2 minutes with a soldering iron.)
I have done+ massive +amounts of research on fridge reliability. It’s a sad case. They ALL have issues, bad issues. They are now 10 year disposable junk. Some are better than others.
When you have to do it, avoid every single extra feature, like water dispenser and ice makers. They are expensive disasters waiting to happen.
Like Lightbringer I have a 45 year old Maytag washer that just keeps going. Nothing, absolutely nothing made now will come close to that.
I bought a large top freezer model LG about 5 years ago and it has been excellent. It is 50 percent bigger than my old fridge and uses half the electricity (tested with kill-a-watt meter). Saves me $5 a month. I paid about $700 for it on sale. It has an ice maker but not in the door.
The food keeps way longer in this one than in my old one, not sure why.
My only recommendation would be to avoid all the bells and whistles. You dont need a screen on the door and cameras inside. I would avoid even the water and ice on the door.
Be careful - my parents just bought a stainless-look LG and magnets don’t stick to the front (just the sides). Preposterous.
I have a Bosch, and while it’s too small everything else is amazing.
Ice-makers really need to be cleaned unless you want extra vitamins’n’minerals from the slime that starts growing inside (saw one taken apart, swore I’d NEVER have ice from one of those things). And having water feeding into the fridge through thin pipe is a recipe for a major leak should something go wrong.
Even at work, the automatic icemaker had something growing inside the water-bin that I took to calling “Leetle Creeture” (gotta say it in a Russian accent). Used to show off my MH20 by opening up the lid, shining it inside, and showing LC to people nearby.
And the water from the chilled-water section just had a stank to it, too. Tasted especially nasty as-is, but you could even taste the stank from it when making lemonade or anything else with that water as the base.
Yeah… no.
Isn’t it the Pelosi’s refrigerator ($24000)? It became very famous last year.
It’s funny that 100% of the people that have had a particular brand last 20 years would always recommend it. Also 100% is the people that have had problems early on with a brand would never recommend it.
The new ice makers located on the door are super problematic. If you don’t use the ice in a few days all the ice cubes melt together into one big ice mess.
Yeah, magnets wont stick to mine but I like it that way. Actually means that it’s higher quality stainless, not that it really matters for a refrigerator door. Some companies use regular steel and varnish to make them look stainless. Those are the ones to avoid.
I had the same Electrolux for 25 years. Still works.
Sub-Zero
I bought a Danby mini fridge in late 2014, for my bedroom.
It works very well, but I don't use it hardly at all.
I got one without a freezer because those are not reliable.
When I did my research, Danby was a good brand name for mini fridges.
Bingo it is the one Pelosi uses, costs $24000 and how good it is?
Sofirn?
Only the one that’s cold white.
Our Bosch dishwasher caught on fire. It was choking, acrid, smoke in the kitchen for a bit. Flipped the breaker off and it ceased. Turns out, a wire connection became loose, totally melted a wirenut and the insulation on the wires. Aluminum wires of mismatched (and one was undersized in my view) size - turns out that fires are not an uncommon thing with the Bosch Dishwashers. Which is why aluminum wireing ishn’t used in houses any more. Luckily they used a metal junction box for the connection and it was contained to that. I popped open the box, stripped off the burnt parts of the wire, tinned and soldered the wire tips together and put on an expensive brand new 3M wire nut…you know, the .15/cent one, not the .03/cent Chinese thinggy. Worked.
Now when I wash dishes, I make sure I’m home and lay out 2 fire extinguishers in handy locations. Which gives my wife all kinds of mirth. She notes with a smile: “What’s the matter, don’t you trust your work?” I respond: “If the Bosch designers and factory, all of whom are smarter and better looking than me, can’t make it so it doesn’t catch on fire, why should I think I’m any better than they are?”
Our overpriced Bosch washing machine broke down early as well. The part, it was like the main gear that held the drum on, cost almost as much as a new one. Which is what my wife did. That kind of thing (brand new Bosch washing machine) makes her happy.