Not sure where to post this question,/ request for consumer appliances recomendations, so in the 'general topics' it will go, hopefully not to get lost in all the important political rants.

In 10 yrs, i've gone thru too many refridgerators to count......most last 3-4 yrs at most and now my Whirlpool's door is starting to fall off. I've had Samsung.......compressor went kaput after a year.

Mitsubitchi had a bad door and mucho frost. none lasting more than 3 or 4 yrs.

Can anyone make any recomendations for my next refridgerator brand??

I want a 2 door [freezer/fridge], frost free, 7-8 cu ft. no cold water dispensor or fancy stuff.....just solidly built and reliable.

I remember when fridges used to last 10-20 yrs.....in the good old days.

Like this.

My mate in UK has a fridge bought the same year his older brother was born and that brother's now 56. The fridge is still going strong & keeps just the right temperature for his beer .

Hitachi seems to be well made - have both a fridge and washer and both holding up very well to extreme usage (ten persons).

The Hitachi fridge replaced a crap door Whirlpool.

As they are made in Thailand parts should be available - unlike Samsung who took over a week to replace a door switch as part had to come from Singapore.

i bought a double door (side by side) Samsung and we are pretty happy with it

it is working fine and has a double cooling circuit (no double compressor I think).

no thrills but no ice, no smell and just sitting there doing its work

the cost was about 28 000 baht

So, lopburi....you got one of those krap Whirlpool 15cu mt that had a falling door?? that makes 4 that I know of personally. Had the authorised service jerks come out and they just told me that it was unfixable [at any price].

I can see the poor design in hanging the weight of a water dispensor on the door and it was too late before I realized.

lessons learned .....never get a door water dispensor, never get a whirlpool, don't overload the door shelves!!

the compressor still works, so plan is to use the big whirlpool for long term storage and get a smaller 'everyday' fridge that will take the wear and tear of kids and all of us opening at least 80 times a day.

panasonic with glass shelves works good for us many year now

How many years?? As stated in my OP, I've never had one last more than 3-4 yrs. Same same with the local made ovens, fans, microwaves, etc etc.

Samsung.....never again after compressor went in less than a year.

Seems Thai made is a little better than China made??

so much wasted plastic that china dumps on us.

Had a little Panasonic 9-10cu (Freezer on the bottom) for over 6 years - absolutely no problems with it at all. Changed for a bigger Mitsubishi one recently 16-17cu and so far this one is great.

Went through a Toshiba and Whirlpool...both crap, unstable temperature control, cheap plastic shelves. Now we have a Hitachi, tempered glass shelves, extremely stable temperature control.

Sharp no frost still going strong after 5+ years.

So, the only recomendations are Panasonic,Mitsubitchi and Sharp??

Samsung did me wrong before, so i won't consider it.

Maybe should have mentioned a top price of 10kthb.

i bought a double door (side by side) Samsung and we are pretty happy with it

it is working fine and has a double cooling circuit (no double compressor I think).

no thrills but no ice, no smell and just sitting there doing its work

the cost was about 28 000 baht

I once heard it said that you know you've been in Thailand too long when you start leaving the stickers on your appliances.

I can't suggest a brand but I can suggest some other things to look out for:

1] Try to avoid anything made in China (I think most people are aware of this).

2] Avoid appliances that rely on electronics or appear to be 'fancy' in any way.

Many people fall for "over engineered" products when in reality, all that is required is something simple.

At the end of the day, a fridge needs to do one thing...keep things at a certain temperature (between 1 & 4 degrees Celsius). The freezer part should at least be able to keep things at -10 degrees Celsius...-15 to -25 is better but usually these temps can only be achieved in a deep freeze.

It must also be noted that many Thai people have no idea about using a fridge. These are the people who turn the temperature control knob to a much higher setting than needed. All this does is waste electricity & wear-out the fridge.

I've recently had this problem at work. One person in particular kept turning the knob to the highest setting (the lowest temperature) & I kept turning it back. One day, I saw this person doing this & after some discussion, she realised that what she was doing was not effective.

To correctly set the thermostat of your fridge, buy a 'mercury' thermometer & place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (midway on a central shelf). Do not open the fridge door until 30 minutes has expired. The ideal maximum temperature should be no more than 4 degrees Celcius (dairy products).

Edited May 22, 201016 yr by elkangorito

So, lopburi....you got one of those krap Whirlpool 15cu mt that had a falling door?? that makes 4 that I know of personally. Had the authorised service jerks come out and they just told me that it was unfixable [at any price].

I can see the poor design in hanging the weight of a water dispensor on the door and it was too late before I realized.

lessons learned .....never get a door water dispensor, never get a whirlpool, don't overload the door shelves!!

the compressor still works, so plan is to use the big whirlpool for long term storage and get a smaller 'everyday' fridge that will take the wear and tear of kids and all of us opening at least 80 times a day.

I to have a whirlpool, does not have a water dispenser and the door on it is dodgy, wont close properly unless forced closed.

Sounds like it's on the way out spoonman. That's why i'm looking for a replacement before the door falls off and we loose 1000's of thb in food.

As it is now, i am the only one in the family that can properly close the fridge.....it's a bit tricky and takes some shoulder to get it totally closed and kids and wife haven't mastered it.

my last chore in the evening before going to bed is to sholder butt the whirlpool.

Sounds like it's on the way out spoonman. That's why i'm looking for a replacement before the door falls off and we loose 1000's of thb in food.

As it is now, i am the only one in the family that can properly close the fridge.....it's a bit tricky and takes some shoulder to get it totally closed and kids and wife haven't mastered it.

my last chore in the evening before going to bed is to sholder butt the whirlpool.

we have a Toshiba fridge/freezer, no water dispenser, but it makes ice internally and drops into the ice bucket in the freezer

had it since 2005 and still works ok, no dodgy doors or compressors as noted above

only thing that looks like its wearing is the door seals, theyre looking a bit flat

where can i buy some, and is it DIY-able? Cant be that hard surely.

Edited May 22, 201016 yr by Donnyboy

I have a Hitachi (made in Japan) with Japanese manual and Japanese writing inside the fridge.

Best thing I ever bought in Thailand. 23,000 Baht. Homepro.