I need a new fridge

[jasper]

Anyone got any recomendations?
Or brands to avoid?
The last one I bought was a Candy and it is pants.
Help me out ladies.
Thanks

tinyfeet, are you familiar with the size of the average English kitchen (or the average English fridge)?

I am, as I visit my friend in East London frequently. It still makes me chuckle to read this thread. I don't know why. We really like all the European brands (Bosch, etc) since they are considered stylish here, but they cost a lot more than the American brands (Maytag, etc). So it really just goes to show you that the grass is always greener on the other side.

soupie, you need to do a House Doctor makeover - paint the blue panelling and the wood doors in one of her "neutral" colours, stick fake laminate on the floor and voila! you can have a white one! (Or you could sell your house and move to one already neutralised.)

I used to have a stainless steel hob and sink and they were always streaky too. Very lowering when you've tried. Who mentioned fake stainless steel? That might be a way to go! Or could you get one of those retro ones, in cream, to match your lovely walls?

By the way, I am partial to the minimalist white, but Soupdragon, if you need something to match, what we have here are these custom panels. Don't know if you do them in the UK. They're not expensive at all. Basically they are panels that go on the door of the fridge to match whatever you want them to - the cabinets, the walls, etc. They don't look bad since the fridge is essentially hidden - sometimes the fridge just looks like more cabinets. Just an idea.

tinyfeet, we have friends in Detroit, visited them in 1981 and I spent half the visit playing with and admiring the gigantic fridge with all mod cons. (Sad or what!) You are so good at these things over there! (And the gigantic washers that take about a 25lb load and you can lift the lid and fling in odd socks you've missed. And they are so simple - hot/warm/cold, easy care/normal. When we have US visitors they don't have a clue what to do with our dials.)

Electronics not so good - TVs much more stylish here I think. Can't have everything!

tinyfeet, you can get custom panels for the tiny British appliances but I don't know about the big ones.

Janh, You're still making me laugh. I don't know why I find this so funny!! Maybe it's my pregnancy hormones making me a bit crazy lately. Anyway, my advice to anyone who is seriously thinking about to buy a new fridge is to hold off for as long as you can. I really do believe that within a matter of months (possibly one year), everyone will want a fridge which dispenses filtered water (and also filtered ice, by the way - the ice is made of filtered water). I imagine that these are pretty expensive in the UK now, but should get cheaper as everyone starts making them. If you buy one now that doesn't have this, then chances are you will want it in just a few years.

Janh, we moved last year, we're not doing it again!

PPH - the steel will match our Dualit toaster too.

well soupy, of course I can see that you will need to spend £3000 on a fridge to match the toaster. or (just a wild thought) you could spend £80 on a new dualit toaster in white to match your minimalist new fridge!

with a harvest mouse on it - in beige

Cant talk really our kitchen need doing over

3000 pounds here could buy you the nicest trendiest stainless steel Sub-Zero fridge- the creme de la creme of refrigerators. Their HUGE!

Ok, I confess soupdragon, I have just bought the £3000 Maytag (zigzag) for my lovely new kitchen! I actually paid slightly less for it (got it trade...if you do decide to get one let me know and I'll help you get a good price). However, you can get an american style in stainless for quite a bit less if you are willing to go for a slightly smaller one.
Jasper, I completely agree with spacemonkey and everyone else... my stepkids (9,10,14) BEG me to let them drink water, just so they can fill it up themselves from the dispenser. And it is so nice to get ice without having to pull out one of those horrid trays and run it under the tap and remember to refill it....

well you are all giving me lots to think about re. the water/ice thing which was not really what I was after buit I will definately consider it. Not sure though how easily it could be plumbed into my kitchen as it would need to stand quite far away from the sink, with the kitchen door in between.
Not sure about the benefits of cold filtered water here either - our tap water is always freezing and pretty delicious too.

Codswallop are the safety glass shelves REALLY strong? Lots of the new fridges seeem to have them and I was worried they would not withstand heavy bowls and jars being whacked down on them.

Incidentally AGA have started manufacturing fridges and are very cagey about the price which is not mentioned on adverts or the website so i phoned the local store ...they start at nearly £3000!
Sofiaames, please tell us more about your new fridge and what makes it so good! thanks.

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jasper, I've got a (small) Bosch fridge (cheapest at time I need one) with glass shelves. No problem with heavy bowls, beer etc. Just remember to unpick the rotten food off them every now and then.

Tinker does it withstand the big heavy pickle jars from Lidl??

jasper

Mine old one (not the new maytag) withstood a very large pickle jars from a middle eastern store. (I was pregnant and desperate for a proper dill pickle and they only had super super large jars....went off pickles a day after I bought them).

My Maytag Zigzag has Z shaped doors. It means that the freezer has a nice wide bit at the bottom and the fridge has a nice wide bit at the top. It's total capacity is 26 cu ft. This is particularly useful in the freezer as I often cook lots of something and then freeze it for when I'm too busy. My current american style fridge/freezer (whirlpool) is 20 cu.ft. and I find that the freezer is just too small. (It's still a million times bigger than the traditional british fridge/freezer).
By the way, plumbing them in is super easy. You could probably even do it yourself. They only need a small tube (looks like an iv tube) and it can be a flexible one.

Costco stock the big American stainless steel (or white) fridges with ice makers. Not sure about the price but it is likely to be 30-40% less than other retailers.

But white plastic looks so cheap, PPH! (my how I love the frivolity of this discussion).

SofiaAmes, I don't think "my" Maytag had the ZigZag doors but I do know the one you mean. I liked the way the freezer had a wide bit at the bottom but I didn't like the corresponding narrow bit of the fridge. We don't need much freezer space as we have 2 in the garage. (When/if we get our fancy new fridge/freezer one of them will be retired).

I wonder if I can get one by Saturday...

Soupdragon, oh no my dear, it is stainless steel - the 'trendy' finish of the masses - which looks cheap nowadays. Plain white plastic is classic

Also American fridges usually have poor energy efficiency and cost a fortune to run.

noooooo soupy, it doesn't. chic and classic, as the lady says.

stainless steel is a bit footballers wives

ducks as soupy throws a dragon at her head

Oh, I wouldn't know PPH. I'm too posh to watch Footballer's Wives...

cant believe you are all still rattling on about fridges

Bet jasper has bought one and sold it on on the small ads by now.