We have an old Sears side by side fridge that's on it's last legs and we are searching for a excellent quality fridge/freezer with an ice maker that will last for years and years along with being easy on the electric bill.

Since we also have 2 munchkins who drink lots of water & ice, is the in door ice/water despencers any good & are they cost effective.

Of the above mentioned styles what's the pro's and cons & what style is better than the others.

Since I work for Lowe's we get a small discount from them & since every bit helps make ends meet we more than likely will get one from them & these are the brands they offer: Frigidaire, GE, Hotpoint, Jenn-Air, Maytag, Roper, Whirlpool and Samsung fridges.

So, what's the hive mind have to say

Im looking at buying one for my first home and am kinda diggin the top/fridge, lower/freezer variety.  It just makes sense to me, I hate squatting to see into my fridge (I'm 6'1)

The next unit I buy will have a bottom freezer.

Quoted: The next unit I buy will have a bottom freezer.

That's what I thought until my friend got one. They are very annoying if you are going to the freezer often. (Don't forget, you gotta stack everything down there.)

I did my side-by-side. I understand that they are not the most efficient or the most efficient use of space, but it's hard to beat the convenience.

One other question:

more than likely we will also be getting a new matching range/oven as the curent one is an anchent electric with a built in microwave that's broke.

Gas or electric range & why???????????????

Oh and we are sort of leaning toward both Whirlpool fridge and range/oven, but that's about as firm as jello

I would rather have a gas range for cooking.  Electric is probably more convienent.

Quoted: One other question: more than likely we will also be getting a new matching range/oven as the curent one is an anchent electric with a built in microwave that's broke. Gas or electric range & why???????????????

Gas range with electric convection oven.  Very precise/timely control of heat on the range top.  Electric convection, I am told, is the best for baking.  I don't bake much, but I love having a gas stove top.

My current oven/stove is gas.  I did have a convection oven/gas range when I lived in Italy.  Nice.

I hate bottom mount freezers because the door is so much smaller you have to bend in half to get to your frozen pizzas.

Get a gas range. It's hot right now. no waiting to heat up. Electric if you don't want to run gas line. Don't get a flat top electric with the glass  looking top. If you spill sugar on it, when the sugar gets hot it will etch the top.

Well we have one of those POS Lowes GE side-by-side Refrigerators.  Of course, the water and ice quit working.  My mom bought the same one, and her ice/water has never worked.  I'm not sure why she didn't get it fixed.  I will fix mine soon I hope.

The next one will be over/under, but with kids the side-by-side will probably be better.  It's much easier for them to get to the ice cream.

Quoted: Well we have one of those POS Lowes GE side-by-side Refrigerators.  Of course, the water and ice quit working.  My mom bought the same one, and her ice/water has never worked.  I'm not sure why she didn't get it fixed.  I will fix mine soon I hope. The next one will be over/under, but with kids the side-by-side will probably be better.  It's much easier for them to get to the ice cream.

Hummm, so GE is out of the picture since both you & you're mom have had problems with the water & ice and that's one feature we think we want

Thanks for the excellent input, keep it coming

Quoted: We have an old Sears side by side fridge that's on it's last legs and we are searching for a excellent quality fridge/freezer with an ice maker that will last for years and years along with being easy on the electric bill.

Personally, I would fix the old box, these newers boxes aren't as good as the old. You didn't state what is the problem; but first, if there is a problem I would change the defrost timer($50 fix, and all you have do is loosen some screws and unplug and plug in another), and vacuum out the condenser coils for starters. And get yourself a little thermometer to monitor the inside temps. If the temps are between 34-40 or so, you're good.

I would get a GE/Whirlpool. I've bought one when I moved into my house, and the only thing I did was vac out the condenser coils and clean the drain plug in the back because it was plugged, that is almost 20 years.

The ice maker is inop & so is the water dispenser & the door seal is shot. Not to mention it's not keeping food all that cold & running more than it's not.

Figgure it's time to replace it & get a upgraded one that will use less energy & save on the power bill. Plus the stove is shot and needs replacing as we looked into getting it fixed & it's not fixable.

You can boil water faster on an electric range.

Makes no sense to me...

Shrike9: I would make an effort to get one of those home repair manuals and fix it yourself. Those old boxes are built like a tank, the newer ones are made much cheaper in terms of materials. I bet it is just a bunch of seals and washers. Over the years junk from the water supply gets into them. And again I would vac out the condenser, that has a big bearing on the inside temps(and electrical power bill).

But if you're aimming(no pun intended) for a new box, I would trudge down to the local library, I remember Consumer Report did a thing on refrigerators, you may find some useful suggestions there.

Quoted: You can boil water faster on an electric range. Makes no sense to me...

Gas seems to radiate more heat out into the room instead of into the pot/pan.  Our electric doesn't heat up the kitchen as badly as our gas stove did.  I like gas for the instant on/off and better contol, but electric seems to waste less heat.

We love our Amana bottom-freezer unit.  The fridge is nice and wide and up at eye level so we don't have to bend over to see what's on the top shelves or bend to the floor to get to the crisper bins.  I'll never have another kind of fridge, unless it's a refrigerator-only model with no freezer at all.  We have a separate upright freezer, so we probably don't use the bottom freezer unit as much as other people might, but when we do, it's not that bad at all.

Bottom-freezer units are also the most energy efficient.  I don't have concrete numbers, but I imagine new models, especially Energy-Star ones, are much more energy efficient than old units.