Buying A New Refrigerator Doesn't Have To Be That Difficult
To continue the conversation about remodeling a new kitchen, I would like to talk about appliances and specifically new refrigerators. I wrote a post called How to Choose and Buy a New Refrigerator that looked at features and some of the deciding factors when buying a new refrigerator. Now I'd like to tell you about the very cool brand I decided on for our kitchen renovation.
LG Electronics New 4-Door French Door Refrigerator
One of the coolest innovations in refrigerators these days is the French door refrigerator: the kind that has side-by-side doors that open up onto one refrigerator compartment as wide as the appliance. This is great because not only do you need less clearance for the doors to swing, but you can also put large party trays or even pizza boxes in the refrigerator without having to shove them in diagonally.
Right out of the gate, we knew we wanted the French door feature, and so that's how we focused our search. And then we saw that very cool commercial on television for the new LG Electronics French four-door model and my kids decided it was the one for us. Check out their commercial at the end of this post if you haven't already seen it.
Wait a second, did I say four-doors? Yes! Two doors for the refrigerator section and two stacked freezer drawers on the bottom. Let me describe what I like about the new LG refrigerator.
Hands-Free Door Opening
How many times have you come in from shopping, grab a bunch of stuff that has to go into the freezer only to realize you don't have a free hand to open the door? It happens to me all the time but with the LG refrigerator you just touch a button with a knee or foot, and the freezer drawers open by themselves. Very, very cool. They are also self-closing, so all we need to do is nudge them to start them off, and they close all the way.
No More Playing Tetris in the Freezer
Stocking the freezer is like Tetris in our house, a great game for the iPhone, but not for a freezer. Frozen goods seem to get tossed in with no rhyme or reason so it is impossible to find anything. And if you have baskets in your freezer, they always seem to get stuck on some item, especially the kids' ice cream containers.
The LG refrigerator has 2 separate freezer drawers so you can store the items you use every day in one compartment and the longer-term freezer items in the other. Now the kids have a place to keep their ice cream containers without disrupting the rest of the frozen leftovers and vegetables.
Easy Access H2O
We drink a lot of water in our house. In fact, I even installed a reverse osmosis water filtering system for our ice and drinking water so I can stop buying bottles of water at the supermarket.
The kids like drinking water from those refillable plastic sports water bottles that don't fit in a standard refrigerator water dispenser. So the folks at LG designed this new refrigerator to accommodate water bottles up to 13 inches tall. This is also great for filling up the nightly water pitcher for the dinner table.
No More Leaving The Fridge Door Open
Or how many times have you found yourself closing the refrigerator door only to find out that the next time you go to open it, you didn't close it all the way the first time, and all the cold air is streaming out into the kitchen, and the ice cream is melting and soft.
The LG refrigerator has an alarm that warns you if a door is ajar! Now I can't blame the kids when I accidentally leave the freezer door open.
Big With Space Age Looking Controls
Did I mention how big it is? It's 28 cubic feet! It's huge. In the refrigerator, there are three crisper bins, four split shelves (three of which slide in and out), and it has LED lights that make it very bright and easy to see everything inside. Both freezer drawers are deep, there's an ice maker and bin, and the freezers have LED lights, too.
On the doors, there are many LED lights that look like space ship controls and are really useful. Just by checking the display, I can see and adjust the temperature in the refrigerator and the freezer. It even tells me when to change the water filter.
There is also a child lock, a nice safety feature to have. All the controls"” even for ice and water"” are smooth. No buttons sticking out makes it easy to clean and modern.
Good Looking
Aside from all these features, this refrigerator also looks good. The hidden hinges give it a finished and more "built-in" look, and the contoured doors are more aesthetically pleasing than plain flat doors. Plus, we like the stainless steel exterior because it matches the other appliances in our new kitchen.
As if all of that weren't enough, my kids are excited because they think it is cool. Hey, that's good enough for me.
Barbara
I absolutely HATE side-by-side refrigerators because of how narrow the shelves are, and when french door refrigerators first came out I was in love with them! I recently saw an article on one of the LG models, similar to the one you show, and what I loved about it was the TWO freezer drawers. since we're only 2, the model I saw is the one I want - it's smaller than yours, but it's also COUNTER DEPTH - how cool is that?! Now all we have to do is sell our house in Italy so I can buy a new house in the states - and a new fridge!
Hi Barbara, very cool idea to have a counter depth refrigerator. - RG
Debbie
I'm "bummin" now. I got an LG with the two doors and freezer below. The only complaint I have is where the ice maker is in the freezer. And Now I See This One! Why couldn't my old fridge just waited one more year.....just one more year....
Yeah, but next year it will be something else. Who ever thought buying a refrigerator would be like buying a computer. - RG
Debbie
I must say, I do love those alarms when the doors or drawer isn't shut. I think we know now for sure who does that now:)
In my house, it's usually me. - RG
Patrick
Could you provide updates (e.g. what you like most?, did anything break?, etc) I'm in need of a new unit and considering this product.
Hi Patrick, nothing broke so that's a plus. I was a little worried with push button drawers that open and close but they work fine. I love the two separate freezer compartments and the ice maker on the door. I'll write a follow up article about the unit after I own it a year. - RG
Liz
It's been almost a year. How is this fridge working out for your family?
Hi Liz, thanks for asking. My LG 4-door is working fine. I was a little worried at first with all the push buttons to make the freezer doors open and close that there might be a problem especially with the kids but so far everything is working fine. We did have a milk container leak and make a mess but the shelves were easy to remove to clean so no problem. - RG
Susan
Hi RG,
Thanks for your posts. We are considering this or the 4 Door Kenmore Elite. I like 4 door better than 3 door as we can be more organized but it seems to me more people buy the 3 door than the 4 door. I wonder why. I know one slight disadvantage of the 4 door is that the freezer has smaller compartments and less total space inside. But other than that I'm wondering if there are any disadvantages that make people less interested in it than in the 3 door one. Do you have any ideas? Thanks!
Hi Susan, I do not. To be honest, I have no idea of the numbers when it comes to preference of 3 doors vs 2 doors. Maybe some people who own a three door refrigerator will read this and comment. As much as I enjoy our 4 door LG, be aware that if you want to open the vegetable drawer inside you have to open both doors. This can be a problem if you have something in one hand. Not a big deal but something to be aware of. - RG
Joan W
I am very interested in the French Door LG. I want an ice and water dispenser but saw how small the ice dispenser is that is in the door. We use a lot of ice and I don't think that ice maker would meet our needs. Any suggestions aside from buying bags of ice.
Hi Joan, one great feature on the LG is an option to make ice faster. I have no idea how it does this but it does work. Saying that, we also added an ice maker to our pantry because we use a lot of ice too especially in the summer. It's great to supplement the LG ice maker. Hope this helps. - RG