parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (08/10/85)
x
I've been comparing refrigerators, and am leaning towards
buying at Sears. The lower priced units seem to have ABS
plastic linings on the inside, as opposed to porcelain on
steel.
Having always owned steel lined refrigerators, I'm trying
to determine possible disadvantages of the plastic ones:
1. The plastic may absorb and retain food odors.
2. The plastic interior walls may crack.
Anyone have experience with plastic interiors?
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.
The Sears units are supposed to be made by Whirlpool. My
present Whirpool refrigerator works fine. Any caveats or
recommendations?
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (08/14/85)
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
slerner@sesame.UUCP (Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner) (08/18/85)
[feed me]
Re: the summary:
My parents have had a self-defrost unit for ~20 yrs, and NEVER has
the timer failed. I don't know why one of your respondants has had
so much trouble, but I think it is unusual.
In reagards to the ice cubes subliming: How long do you keep your
ice cubes? [ :-) ] I haven't noticed such a thing in my unit, maybe
you have an overly hot defrost cycle.
--
Opinions expressed are public domain, and do not belong to Lotus
Development Corp.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner
{genrad|ihnp4|ima}!wjh12!talcott!sesame!slerner
{cbosgd|harvard}!talcott!sesame!slerner
slerner%sesame@harvard.ARPA