Which Refrigerator to Buy?

M

MadAxe

Forerunner
My 10 year old LG double door refrigerator (this) has been giving me issues pertaining to cooling. The top mounted freezer section gets ice buildup but the bottom refrigerator section has no cooling. I have got it repaired twice by LG technicians but the issue keeps reoccurring after every 3 months.
I'm looking to buy a new refrigerator but cannot decide which one to buy.
My budget is 75k.

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  • As per the above table explaining the rule of thumb for selecting a refrigerator, a double door refrigerator would be sufficient for me.
  • A good double door bottom mounted freezer one from Bosch is costing around 75k offline (this)
  • At the same price, Samsung, LG (this) and other brands are offering Side by Side and French Door ones but imo their freezer section takes too much space of the refrigerator as a whole (40% of total capacity) and an Indian household does not require that much freezer space. But they do look more premium and have more space than a similarly priced double door one.
  • But most side by side and french doors do not have any BEE Star Ratings.
  • Between a similarly priced Side by Side and French Door, the side by side has more capacity and also more features (for instance convertible freezer). Does the convertible function really work or is it a gimmick? I won't be able to utilize much of the freezer area so can I control the temperature of just the upper half of the freezer portion and convert into refrigerator while keeping the lower half of freezer portion as it is?
  • Also is a bottom mounted freezer one better than the top mounted one in the long run? Wouldn't it take longer to cool since the cold air would travel from top to bottom part of refrigerator?
  • I would also like to know your brand preferences and why. ( For me, Bosch > LG > Samsung)
  • At the moment, I'm inclined towards this LG model as it is the only side by side I could find with 3 star BEE rating and is convertible as well. (Not sure about the convertibility of just upper or lower part of freezer as mentioned above)
Apologies if my thoughts are all over the place. I'm confused which one to buy and need your valuable insights and advice. Feel free to recommend better alternative products or any other suggestions or tips related to refrigerator.
 

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MadAxe said:
  • Also is a bottom mounted freezer one better than the top mounted one in the long run? Wouldn't it take longer to cool since the cold air would travel from top to bottom part of refrigerator?
Click to expand...
I can answer only this part.

Bottom mounted freezer is convenient in the long run as you'd need to bend less on a daily basis. Air needs to be pumped from the bottom to the upper section, unless you get a fridge with separate evaporators. These are advertised as "No Odour Mixing" refrigerators. Some people from other countries report that pumping air from the bottom causes clogs due to ice build-up. Shouldn't be a problem in newer models with zero-frost feature.
 
I just bought a new fridge, so I'm going to share my findings, and hope that helps you.

Our double door Whirlpool fridge began giving problems in January. It was close to 10 years old. I got it fixed (refilled gas), but wasn't happy with the way it was running after the repairs, so we bought a new fridge.
Our old fridge was ~ 350l, we upgraded to a Samsung 530l double door.
We looked at French door fridges, but ruled them out because the freezers have drawers, which isn't very convenient.
We preferred the conventional double door to side by side fridges because the fridge area was a larger percentage of the total space. That said, we'd have probably bought a side by side (just for the looks), but it was a couple of inches too wide for the space we had.
But according to quite a few buying guides, conventional 2 door fridges, with a top mounted freezer are the least likely to give you any problems.
Our new fridge, which is 1 star rated consumes about half the power of our old fridge (1.2 units a day vs 2.2 units).
It's almost much quieter, and you have to struggle to hear its compressor running.

I saw the Bosch fridge you mentioned, but preferred the Samsung, as it was wider, had slightly higher capacity, was almost 20 thousand bucks cheaper.

And now, a couple of months after our purchase, my biggest issue with the fridge is keeping it full. It's almost double the capacity of our old fridge, so it's practically empty, which doesn't make for optimal cooling.
 
we bought a fridge about a year ago, due to space congestion in the older fridge we upgraded from a 320 l to a side-by-side [650 l] [ both were Samsung], the compressor is silent you won't notice when it's running, but you won't get any ratings on the fridge .
you won't go wrong ever with a side by side refrigerator the convertible is a charm we used to convert whole freezer into a fridge and store mangoes for 2 months

will suggest you go with Samsung as it has reliable customer support , bosch is generally known for its washing machines in India.
never used LG .
SAMSUNG MODEL
 
anmolbhard004 said:
we bought a fridge about a year ago, due to space congestion in the older fridge we upgraded from a 320 l to a side-by-side [650 l] [ both were Samsung], the compressor is silent you won't notice when it's running, but you won't get any ratings on the fridge .
you won't go wrong ever with a side by side refrigerator the convertible is a charm we used to convert whole freezer into a fridge and store mangoes for 2 months

will suggest you go with Samsung as it has reliable customer support , bosch is generally known for its washing machines in India.
never used LG .
SAMSUNG MODEL
Click to expand...
I won't be able to utilize much of the freezer area so can I control the temperature of just the upper half of the freezer portion and convert it into refrigerator while keeping the lower half of freezer portion as it is?
 
ch@ts said:
I just bought a new fridge, so I'm going to share my findings, and hope that helps you.

Our double door Whirlpool fridge began giving problems in January. It was close to 10 years old. I got it fixed (refilled gas), but wasn't happy with the way it was running after the repairs, so we bought a new fridge.
Our old fridge was ~ 350l, we upgraded to a Samsung 530l double door.
We looked at French door fridges, but ruled them out because the freezers have drawers, which isn't very convenient.
We preferred the conventional double door to side by side fridges because the fridge area was a larger percentage of the total space. That said, we'd have probably bought a side by side (just for the looks), but it was a couple of inches too wide for the space we had.
But according to quite a few buying guides, conventional 2 door fridges, with a top mounted freezer are the least likely to give you any problems.
Our new fridge, which is 1 star rated consumes about half the power of our old fridge (1.2 units a day vs 2.2 units).
It's almost much quieter, and you have to struggle to hear its compressor running.

I saw the Bosch fridge you mentioned, but preferred the Samsung, as it was wider, had slightly higher capacity, was almost 20 thousand bucks cheaper.

And now, a couple of months after our purchase, my biggest issue with the fridge is keeping it full. It's almost double the capacity of our old fridge, so it's practically empty, which doesn't make for optimal cooling.
Click to expand...
You never mentioned the Samsung model. Please share it, along with the price and mode of purchase (online or offline).
 
Nah whirlpool service has gone down the drain now. You may get one between samsung and LG .

I won't be able to utilize much of the freezer area so can I control the temperature of just the upper half of the freezer portion and convert it into refrigerator while keeping the lower half of freezer portion as it is?
Click to expand...
for this you need a french door one side by side you can't control the temp of upper half and lower half either it will be full freezer or full refrigerator.
 
I vote for Samsung. We have a 14-year-old Samsung fridge, and other than gas refilling, the old timer has been working like a charm. Although the magnets on the lower door have started to get weak.
 
anmolbhard004 said:
@blr_p I have a bosch front loading and its working perfectly , bought last year feb .
Click to expand...
Oh it works great. It's when you need to fix anything inside the plastic tub that things become more expensive. You can't do it because the tub is sealed. So either you get the whole drum assembly at close to half the buying price or you get a new machine.

Yeah just saw you join date. Had you been here earlier.....
MadAxe said:
Any recommendations? Would appreciate your insights.
Click to expand...
I got a 471L double door LG back in 2019.

You can see my thought process if you read from here

Check the model in a shop and ensure the ergonomics works for you. I like the almost nine inch gap (see last photo) between shelves of mine. I also like the big freezer. And that freezer light. Never had one with that before
 
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@blr_p nah not here this is my 1st time and I am loving it here but I have been a member of other forums for a long time.

I took extended warranty for bosch for 3 years I was well aware of this fact but coming from a samsung top load this was a huge jump for me.
lets hope for the best.
 
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