Well, my old fridge woes came back. The “old” GE fridge started to form icicles inside the freezer, and the main compartment would only drop temperature to 56°F1. I fixed it last year as my attempt to “save the environment”. My effort, albeit an expensive one, turned out in vain. I ended up scrapping the GE, and got myself a brand new fridge.
I went with a simple Maytag side-by-side model, and decided not to attach the water line to prevent the hard water from ruining the freezer again2. I got it in black because it matches the rest of my kitchen appliances. I’m hoping to get at least 10 years out of this one, without the benefit of extended warranties. Meanwhile, I took advantage of Home Depot’s 12 months no interest payment plan and free delivery. Plus, this model is Energy Star compliant, so I’m eligible to Anaheim Public Utilities’ rebate program for a $50 credit. It turns out to be a good buy, overall.
Getting a new fridge and all of this paperwork are not something I look forward to any time soon. But owning any electronic and mechanical equipment requires replacement once in a while. It’s a necessary hassle these days, as nothing is built to last any more.
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Good for you for trying to conserve and save money by fixing the previous fridge! When appliances go out and new ones have to be bought, it can definitely put a big dent in the budget. Those no interest payment plans for twelve months or so are great, and we’ve taken advantage of those ourselves on occasion when necessary.
We’re looking at a big expense now, since my hubby went through the ceiling last night while working in the attic and missed a plank. He’s fine thankfully, other than a big scrap on the back of his leg. We won’t know until Monday how much the repairs are going to cost us. Ugh….right before Christmas too. I don’t think he’d be too happy if I did a post about that though. 😉
Hi Lin,
Whoa, that must’ve been a scary moment seeing your hubby fell off like that. Thank God he’s ok. If my wife sees me do that, she’ll freak out for sure. That’s why I don’t go to the attic. 🙂
Thats a nice fridge. I really like the color, mines white
Farzan´s last blog post..Planet of the Apes Prequel in the Works?
Congrats on the fridge. I didn’t know you have hard water issues over in your neck of the woods also.
Periapex´s last blog post..Push, Baby, Push.
@Farzan: I like the color too. I would get stainless steel if my other appliances are the same.
@Periapex: the water is actually not too bad, but there are a lot of minerals. Forgetting to change the filter at least a couple of times will put the entire ice maker into danger, like we did with the previous GE one.
hey Rudy,
I just read your “old fridge woes” post and left a comment there as well. It’s a painful story, but it’s funny too.
I’m thinking of replacing my fridge as it occasionally sounds a bit like a jet engine warming up. A new fridge with the energy star rating can use significantly less electricity, plus if you ever end up in the second (or higher!) tier electricity pricing, the energy savings are even more (SCE has tiered pricing, I’m not sure if you do. The more one uses, the higher the rate per kilowatt on the incremental use).
So do you know what was the failure mode on the GE fridge, and was it the same thing again this time? Was it the hard water do you think?
~ Steve, aka “trade show displays”
Hey Steve,
Everything from water to electricity is considered a premium here in SoCal. Summer we get dinged for air conditioning electricity use. The city will find ways to charge us for everything we use. I won’t be surprised if there’s a “smog free air” tax soon.
When we were shopping online for a new fridge, the reviews on GE have been pretty negative. I get half/half with Maytag or Whirlpool. I knew the problem would be the moving parts, especially with the electronics and the hard water. So I try my best to avoid using them in my new fridge. Maybe the simple GE fridges would last longer. Who knows.
[…] TV yet, and if we’d just replace our older refrigerator with an energy efficient energy star new fridge, what with all our CFL light bulbs and now our LED outdoor Christmas lights, I think we’d […]