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From: parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Refrigerator questions (summary of responses)
Message-ID: <654@ihu1h.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 00:18:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihu1h.654
Posted: Wed Aug 14 00:18:51 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 00:40:11 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 125

Here is a summary of responses received to my posting: "Refrigerator
questions (plastic vs steel, self-defrost, etc.)":

> From: ihnp4!ttrdc!levy
> 
> My father had a refrigerator with a plastic liner in the freezer compartment
> (I don't know about the refrigerator)--a Montgomery Ward unit.  It did have a
> propensity to be smelly, unless washed down fairly often with baking soda solu-
> tion (and a fairly new box of baking soda with open top kept in the freezer).
> The stuff the ice cube box was made of also was very bad about being smelly.
> The fridge in the apartment I am renting is an all-steel (except for door
> racks) lined unit, and there is apparently much less of an odor problem, even
> the couple of times the defrost timer failed and the inside warmed up.  Both
> were frost-free units.  Once my dad's fridge broke down and the stupid repair
> person left the heat-defrost gun blowing inside the freezer while making an
> errand to the truck, and a hole melted in the liner.  (This would not have
> been possible with steel.)  Getting a new liner was impossible--but my dad
> made enough of a stink to Montgomery Ward that they replaced the whole durn
> refrigerator (with a floor sample unit of the same kind).
> 
> As I have alluded to above, no-frost refrigerators have an Achilles' heel--
> the defrost timer.  When this goes on the fritz, which in my limited exper-
> ience seems to be fairly often, your fridge ignominiously dies, leaving you
> with lots of thawing and spoiling food.  (It would behoove one who has such
> a unit to have a temperature alarm inside and to have a replacement timer
> handy and know how to put it in.  For some reason they like to die on Sat-
> urday night.)  Maybe certain units are better than others in this regard--
> I'm not sure.  Of course I do like the overall idea of keeping all the food
> cold all the time while the defrosting takes place under normal operation--
> obviously with the frosty kind of refigerator you must put the food in the
> sink or someplace while defrosting, and if you don't have another refrigerator
> in the house or an obliging neighbor, this is not good for the food either.
> 
> With the cost of electric power as high as it is, it would seem to be smartest
> to buy the most energy-stingy refrigerator (given your choice of frost free
> or not already being made) that you can possibly afford.  I'm sure you already
> know how ridiculously high Commonwealth Edison's rates are, and how ridiculously
> higher they get in summer for electric fan and air-conditioner users alike.
> And keep the condensing (external) coils fairly clean--they can gather dust like
> mad.  I think I cut my monthly power use by $10.00 after using a vacuum cleaner
> to blow several years' worth of dust off of the enclosed condensing coils of the
> fridge in my apartment.
> 
> Perchance I have shed a smidgen more light on the subject--or maybe not.
========== 

> From: packard!harvard!talcott!sesame!slerner
> 
> I don't know about ABS lined units, although I must admit that I would
> be very leary of them (I have 3 kids who are tough on everything...)
> 
> I lived for years with a manual defrost, and hated every moment of it.
> I got an auto-defrost and my elec. bill didn't show any change.  (The
> overall effeciency of the compresser matters SO much more than the tad
> of elec used to defrost, it is false economy to chose man def for operating
> cost savings.  The only real difference is in purchase cost, and you know
> what you can afford...

========== 
> From: bonnie!dnc
> Full-Name: Don Corey

> We've had an awful time with Sears. When they delivered our refrigerator, they
> dropped it off of the truck an crushed the bottom so the door wouldn't close.
> We needed a refrigerator so we accepted it, but asked for a replacement. Sears's
> said they couldn't replace it, so we bought a GE and asked them to take their
> refrigerator back. After a couple of months they showed up with a new
> refrigerator which they tried to leave. We didn't accept it and made them take
> the damaged refrigerator back. They then proceeded to bill us fo two
> refrigerators. We eventually got the charge taken off our account, but five
> years later we failed a TRW credit check because we owed Sears for two
> refrigerators.
> 
> Being slow learners, we ordered a stove from Sears this summer. My wife took
> a day off from work to accept it, but they never showed up. Now they are billing
> us for the undelivered stove.
> 
> Obviously, a lot of people have better luck with Sears then we do, and
> you probably won't have any trouble. However, it made me feel good to be able
> to tell this story to someone. Thanks for listening.
========

> From: ihnp4!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher
> 
> Consumer's Reports did a report on refrigerators maybe a year ago.  Based
> on it, I bought a Ward's, which keeps completely as cold as I would like it
> to (with plenty of spare cooling power; it cycles itself off) in spite of
> temperatures in excess of 100F in my house.
> 
> Cheers,
> Topher Eliot                Cyb Systems, Austin, TX         (512) 458-3224
========

> From: ihnp4!tektronix!tektools!barbaraz
> 
> In article <651@ihu1h.UUCP> you write:
> > 
> >   Should I get a fully	automatic  self-defrosting  freezer?
> >   Never	owned one, and I know they require more	electricity,
> >   but I'm tired	of removing the	ice.
> 
> I have a GE, but I think it still applies.  You can get "energy-saving"
> refrigerators which have a dual setting.  I've never had to put mine
> on the higher-powered setting.
> 
> I think the automatic defrost is definitely worth it to avoid the pain
> of defrosting.  The only thing I've noticed is that my ice cubes tend
> to sublimate and disappear - it defrosts them too, down to nothing.  I
> guess you could keep ice in a bag, but it isn't a problem if you use
> ice regularly.
> Barbara Zanzig
==========

> From: ihnp4!ut-sally!cyb-eng!topher
> 
> Yes, my fridge is self-defrosting.  It is 18.?? cubic feet, freezer on top.
> I considered the side-by-side models, but unless you get a truly HUGE one,
> the narowness of the shelves makes them unappealing (at least to me).  The
> Ward's has a nice full-width shelf in the freezer; very handy.
> 
> Cheers,
> Topher Eliot                Cyb Systems, Austin, TX         (512) 458-3224
-- 
===============================================================================
Bob Parnass,  Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414