Out With The Old - In With The New

After twenty three years, our faithful GE refrigerator decided it had been in service long enough and sent us a cryptic diagnostic message - indicating the end was near. So... we immediately started a world-wide search for a new refrigerator that we could live with for many years to come (it is not unlikely that the new machine could outlive it's consumers). We always favored the rather unique "snack tray" that our GE model featured (see pictures), this was a real innovation back in the day, but GE doesn't build them like that any more. Alas, the new one would have to have some other unique feature to meet our purchase criteria. In my opinion, refrigerators are basically rather boring appliances. Even though they typically last for double digit years, the after purchase is rather routine and uneventful (sort of like rotating a car's tires, only at considerably more cost). You usually buy one and forget about it, so long as it functions properly.

After web searching and looking at newspaper advertisements for refrigerators, we zoned in on a Samsung model and a LG model. The LG won out, I liked the posted reviews better, but the kicker was a unique feature regarding the freezer drawers ( we decided on a French door layout with split freezer doors). The LG freezer drawers are motorized and open with the push of a button. Very cool! Yeah, we get it, the drawers will stop working the day after the warranty expires, but we'll have fun with it until that happens.

It was quite a process for the delivery people to maneuver the new refrigerator into the kitchen, but they managed with maybe a millimeter to spare. The LG is working well, nice and quite, and the ice maker is great. The motorized drawers are a real conversation piece. We get lots of comments, both pro and con. I'll update you as to it's reliability, if I'm still around in twenty three years.