Which Refrigerator to Buy?

[MadAxe]

My 10 year old LG double door refrigerator (this) has been giving me issues pertaining to cooling. The top mounted freezer section gets ice buildup but the bottom refrigerator section has no cooling. I have got it repaired twice by LG technicians but the issue keeps reoccurring after every 3 months.
I'm looking to buy a new refrigerator but cannot decide which one to buy.
My budget is 75k.

• As per the above table explaining the rule of thumb for selecting a refrigerator, a double door refrigerator would be sufficient for me.
• A good double door bottom mounted freezer one from Bosch is costing around 75k offline (this)
• At the same price, Samsung, LG (this) and other brands are offering Side by Side and French Door ones but imo their freezer section takes too much space of the refrigerator as a whole (40% of total capacity) and an Indian household does not require that much freezer space. But they do look more premium and have more space than a similarly priced double door one.
• But most side by side and french doors do not have any BEE Star Ratings.
• Between a similarly priced Side by Side and French Door, the side by side has more capacity and also more features (for instance convertible freezer). Does the convertible function really work or is it a gimmick? I won't be able to utilize much of the freezer area so can I control the temperature of just the upper half of the freezer portion and convert into refrigerator while keeping the lower half of freezer portion as it is?
• Also is a bottom mounted freezer one better than the top mounted one in the long run? Wouldn't it take longer to cool since the cold air would travel from top to bottom part of refrigerator?
• I would also like to know your brand preferences and why. ( For me, Bosch > LG > Samsung)
• At the moment, I'm inclined towards this LG model as it is the only side by side I could find with 3 star BEE rating and is convertible as well. (Not sure about the convertibility of just upper or lower part of freezer as mentioned above)

Apologies if my thoughts are all over the place. I'm confused which one to buy and need your valuable insights and advice. Feel free to recommend better alternative products or any other suggestions or tips related to refrigerator.

 

[MadAxe]

LG does have bottom mounted freezer but they come under French door category (this)
@Sushubh The one you have bought is the one that I had shortlisted and linked in the OP. It is costing around 70k offline after cashback.
But now I am confused between these as these look more attractive but demand 20k more premium than the normal stainless steel ones.

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[Sushubh]

Yeah this model was on display iirc. no partition in middle means there was a panel support on left door or something. Looked fragile. So didn't go for it.

Doesn't appear on photos so might be wrong.

Do look at models in person at LG showroom or some multi brand outlet before deciding though.

Samsung bespoke was also on display at Vijay Sales. It has replaceable glass panels in front that you can change to get different color of your choice. Not really important for regular households me thinks.

Check the lg models. And see if you are comfortable with no partition in middle model. Check the left door. See if it has a flexible hatch to seal the right door. See if you think it is good to survive for ten years and decide I guess

 

[MadAxe]

The French door one looked fragile?

I did look at couple of LG models at their showroom. The glossy white did look more appealing to me but it isn't worth 20k more. Without the quote option I'm not getting which part are you replying to.

The bespoke panel can be changed after say 5 years. That would change the look of the refrigerator. Why wouldn't it be useful?

Not sure what you're referring to the partition in the middle model and the flexible hatch.

 

[Sushubh]

basically the LG model without a central partition. it is still a double door model. so doors need some support in center for sealing right? from what i remember, the left door has a flexible hatch on which the right door lands to seal the fridge. which is a movable part that looked fragile to me. i cannot seem to find any pictures of it online. and it is hard to explain otherwise. just saying, if you go for the french door model, do check it out once again locally and see if it is something you can manage with.

Ok you can sort of see it here...


Source

this steel plate basically flats out when door is closed. and the right door ends up resting on it. it is a movable part that looked delicate.

check the part where he closes the fridge. you would notice that the left door closed first. and the right one then snapped on the latch. there is a very distinctive noise here. when the panel flats out and the right door than lands on it. I might be wrong but I do not think you can open the left door without opening the right door with such a system I don't remember testing it out at their showroom. So, definitely worth checking out if you do plan to get this model.

 

[Sushubh]

I personally hate the idea of bottom fridge. I hated when i saw how much i would need to bend to just get ice or ice cream out of there lol. mom was interested coz of course, vegetables and other stuff is usually placed in the bottom box in fridge so she has to suffer with top freezer model. vertical units are a nice compromise in the end. you can still use freezer to keep dry stuff that stays in the fridge compartment. you can place it in the bottom compartments that probably get less cooling compared to top in the end. and in winters, you can use the entire fridge as fridge after using the convertible option.

 

[MadAxe]

I'm anyway not going to buy a French door one due to multiple reasons:

• The models whose bottom freezer portion are convertible into fridge, have drawers in the freezer.
• The models which have shelves in the bottom freezer portion are not convertible.
• There is no LG or Samsung model which would meet both the above criteria except some model north of 2 lacs.
• Also between a similarly priced Side by Side and French Door, the side by side has around 100 littes more capacity.

What is your thought regarding the water/ice dispenser. I'm avoiding models that have it as I'm sure it would fail in the long run.

Also I'm leaning towards Samsung side by side as it has 2 separate individual evaporator coils for the refrigerator and freezer section which makes the 5 in 1 convertible modes possible.

 

[Sushubh]

previous model that was replaced had a water dispenser. it was completely manual so was not used for long. i mean the whole concept of putting water in a compartment and using it was pretty stupid back then. and the cleaning it required. too much work when using bottles is just easier and probably a lot more hygenic.

not sure how current models work. if they still are manual or they can be connected to ro supply or something lol. completely clueless about how ice dispensers work on these models as well. in the end, had no plans for any of these features so didn't bother looking at these models.

 

[anmolbhard004]

convertible works have this link from samsung and it works perfectly.

do ask if you want to know something specific or any photos.

have been using the freezer section to store fruits .
you should go ahead with this model

water dispenser ones are a complete waste of money its not practical to use them.

 

[Sushubh]

god both models look so same. i was confused with the ice tray placement on samsung listing lol.

 

[anmolbhard004]

@Sushubh they gave me a movable ice tray I can place it anywhere in freezer section.

dont know the logic behind this maybe be more space?

@MadAxe the dual cooling of samsung ones are a big plus point.