We separate fact from fiction as we bust seven common fridge myths, including:
Find out how we reached our conclusions:
I have to disagree with your expert’s comments as regards ice makers in refrigerators. We have an LG 2 door fridge with ice maker and we wouldn’t be without it. The fridge is about 6 years old now and has never given us a moment’s trouble, and the ice maker has performed flawlessly. We are not part of the cocktail set, but use the ice mainly for cold water, especially during the summer months. The ice maker does occupy space but, as far as we’re concerned, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. As for running costs, we have solar panels and our power usage is well below the average for a household of comparable size, according to our energy supplier - and we have a swimming pool.
I agree with you, and totally disagree with the Choice opinion in this case. And it is an opinion, NOT a test result.
The only real argument seems to be that the icemaker takes up space. So do ice cube trays! And, generally speaking, you can’t stack anything on top of them before the water freezes, so - plenty of wasted space. You also need another container to hold the finished ice blocks, so more space used - unless you use the ice cubes one at a time from the tray and only fill it when it’s empty.
Another quite important factor with the ice cube trays is that every time you want one or two ice cubes, you (or the kids!) open the freezer, admitting hot humid air which will increase the load on the system and so increase running costs.
An icemaker is a “cool feature”, but perhaps if space is super critical, don’t get one - or maybe compensate by getting a fridge with a bigger freezer.
Just my opinion…
Well said Harps. I respect Choice’s tests but, as you rightly pointed out, this was a subjective opinion, not an objective evaluation. Perhaps Choice should restrict itself to real tests in future.
This is what Choice indicated that that for most consumers, the loss of space won’t necessarily justify the additional cost or benefit of having readily available ice 24/7.
The other disadvantage is if one is buying a new icemaking fridge for the first time, it will need to be plumbed in. This may not be possible in all circumstances or could be quite expensive.
While some consumers value their icemakers, Choice has indicated that they believe that in balance, for the average consumer, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
I personally wouldn’t buy a fridge with an icemaker for the reasons outlined by Choice, as well as we now live in a climate and have a lifestyle where ice is rarely needed to be used.
For clarity there are a number of ice making fridges that have manual fill reservoirs that must be topped up.
I feel I could have written this but our fridge is 12 years old and we’ve had no issues. We live in Qld and our ice-maker gets used year round, a lot . Also a lot of people live here. We do have an old fridge in the garage as well but we would anyway as we have a large family.
