Manny's Appliance Blog #4
Refrigeration
Picture this scenario: It's 7:15 on a Wednesday morning. You reach into the freezer portion of your kitchen refrigerator to grab some food for your family's various lunches, and you notice the carton of ice cream is soft. You examine further, and discover the steaks and ice cubes aren't completely frozen.
Your freezer is failing. You mutter an expletive or three under your breath. Now what do you do?
Service options
If your refrigerator is less than a year old, which means your fridge is still under manufacturer's warranty (usually one year parts and labor), then the solution is simple: You need a service tech. You can call the manufacturer's toll free number, or go onto their website. You can also call Manny's service department (855-862-6697), and we can schedule one of our qualified service technicians to come to your house, diagnose, and ultimately repair your appliance.
If your refrigerator is between one and five years old, your options vary. Perhaps you had the foresight to purchase an extended warranty, either through the fridge's manufacturer or a third party. If you bought your fridge from Manny's, you might have also purchased one of our extended service plans. In either of these cases, once again your plan is simple: Take advantage of the service contract, and get a technician out to your house at no charge to address the fridge's problem!
But... if your refrigerator is out of warranty, the alternatives aren't as easy. You can call a service tech and pay their diagnostic trip charge (usually $125-$200), and hope the repair is both simple and inexpensive. If you have an older unit, you might decide replacement might be a better option.
Replacement options
If you do decide to replace, Manny's can certainly help you out!
Now, if this happened a couple of years ago, when appliance availability was crippled by both the pandemic and all the well-known supply chain issues, you might have had a more difficult problem, as the fridge you want might well have been unavailable. I had customers waiting as long as a year, in a few isloated cases even longer, for certain hard-to-find sizes. Fortunately, choices are much more plentiful than in 2021-22, and in most cases Manny's can get a new, functioning, energy efficient fridge in your home within 3 business days or less!
So.... what do you need to know in order to properly buy the right refrigerator for you home? Below are the questions your Manny's sales professional will be asking you:
1) Size - Unlike other appliances such as ranges and dishwashers, refrigerators vary in width, height, and even depth! If you're looking for one of the more "contemporary" styles such as a French Door style fridge, most models are built for the modern kitchen opening of 69-70" high, 36" wide. If your kitchen doesn't have that space, your choices become more limited. Single door models, top or bottom freezer style, will max out at 32 7/8" wide, and are built to fit the older 33" space.
Whichever style you are thinking about, you definitely want to measure before you buy - a lot of homes in New England have kitchens built for 33" fridges!
2) Style - Refrigerator styles are classified by the location of the freezer: top freezer, side-by-side, single door bottom freezer, or French door bottom freezer. If you're on a budget, or if this is just a basic fridge for an apartment or the basement, you'll find a traditional top freezer style is the least expensive (and generally the smallest size-wise.) French door fridges, currently the most popular from a design standpoint, tend to be the most expensive.
One more thing: if you are considering a full-width refrigerator, there are shallower, "counter-depth" models available. Expect to pay a small "style premium" to have your fridge not extend as far into your kitchen.
3) Ice - Almost all styles except for top-freezer models come with a pre-installed ice device. Side-by-side models have an external ice and water dispenser in all except for two models. Single door bottom freezers will normally have an internal icemaker. French door models are available with a choice of an internal icemaker, or an external ice-and-water dispenser. You can expect to pay an upcharge for an external dispenser. Top freezers for the most part do not automatically ship with icemakers, but one is normally available as an add-on.
4) Color - Stainless steel, often coated to cut down on fingerprints, is still the most popular color. What I call the "stainless alternatives", such as black stainless, slate, black slate, etc., have become more popular the past few years, but are still not as popular as stainless. White and black are still usually available, but these colors normally sell as single-piece replacements rather than in a new kitchen suite.
Are you looking for off-white? Ouch! Bisque is essentially extinct, while the older almond color went the way of the dinosaur and the passenger pigeon almost two decades ago.
A couple of notes regarding today's refrigerators:
Every fridge on the market is dramatically more efficient than a generation ago. Units that are "energy star" qualified exceed the DOE standard by an additional 15%. While that may only be $7-10 per year, the Energy Star designation may qualify you for a rebate through your utility company.
Lighting on the majority of units is LED, which is both whiter and more energy efficient.
In most cases, the fridge you buy today will be a little deeper than the unit you're replacing. Be aware of this! Also, check your doorways and any 90 degree turns into your kitchen. No one, neither you or we, want to deliver a fridge that doesn't fit!
(If you have any questions, we'll be glad to help! Contact a sales professional at your nearest Manny's, or reach out to us online.)