View Full Version : Fridge Is Broken; Now What? Repair or New?
My fridge, a five year old frgidaire is broken. It is not making things cold although i hear it run every so often. The side of it by the freezer is extremely hot.
Anyways, it is labor day weekend.
If I called for repair, i bet it would be killer over time.
Should I just buy a new one?
Or try to repair it?
Our did that a few years ago and we ended up replacing it as it was at least 10 years old, of undetermined age since it was here when we bought our house (and I hated the side-by-side design with water/ice in the door - so inefficient for both energy and space usage).
I was discussing refrigerators with a friend who is very handy and he reported that the lifetime of these costly-to-manufacture appliances seems to be around 10-12 years now. Amazing how our consumption-oriented society has replaced appliances that used to last for decades with even larger ones that need to be recycled every 10 years. My grandmother's 1950 fridge wa still running strong in 2004 when my parents moved to a new home and opted not to take the fridge.
Anyway, you can probably find a trouble-shooting guide online to help you determine what it is, and then look up the parts to find cost.
I would have it repaired. Sometimes its something as simple as a defrost timer.
I second the idea of having it repaired.
You are absolutely right, Rosemary, Re: new modern appliances, and how they just don't last like appliances made years ago.
I know people who still run late 60's/early 70's washing machines in their homes.
try2bfrugal
9-1-12, 10:00am
How expensive was it new? In my area service calls are around $100 just for someone to come out. Then it would cost more if you need parts or additional labor.
The manuals for many appliances are online these days. My husband fixed our mini-fridge himself by following the troubleshooting Q & As online. You could also try calling the manufacturer to see if they can offer any help. I have occasionally gotten advice and parts for free that way just by asking.
You might also do an online search to see if other people had the same problem with your refrigerator. I had a problem with my dryer that seemed to be a design flaw. There were tons of posts about it in various forums. No one had ever achieved a long term solution so after I read the posts I knew it would be a waste of money to try to fix it.
Recently, our dishwasher stopped cleaning the dishes. I went online and found the manual for our model and DH took it all apart and fixed it himself. It's worth a try...
awakenedsoul
9-1-12, 4:00pm
I have a Frigidaire. It's 15 years old, and is marked Kenmore. It's been a perfect appliance. Mine's very simple. I just ordered a new crisper drawer and plastic cover for the drawers. That will cost me $173.00. The refrigerator was only $400.00, brand new. I looked it up on appliance 411. You can read the model number and look for reviews on line. Kenmore buys different brands.
I would have it fixed. I know it's Labor Day weekend, but maybe you can use a cooler until Tues. I hope you have an emergency fund in place. That's makes it a lot easier. Good luck.
Heydude, like another person suggested...I would also recommend going online to troubleshoot the issue and perhaps you can fix it yourself. Whenever I have something broken, I google the issue and at times have been able to resolve the issue myself. Here is just one site that may help you. http://www.fixya.com/support/browse/refrigerators I fixed my disposal one time by watching a youtube video. :)
turns out it was only plugged in half way.
wow!
i must have knocked it out a bit when vacuuming a few weeks ago back there.
it looked plugged in.
but it was only half way in.
works great now!
Great!! What an easy fix!! :)
My Dad always said check the simplest things first when something quits working. Has happened to me a few times that it was something simple...
This might also be a good time to vaccuum around the coils and make sure there aren't any ice bits clogging things up. Those are the two things I was going to suggest you check when you first reported the problem.
Glad it was a simple fix -- hope you didn't lose too much food.
lhamo
turns out it was only plugged in half way.
wow!
i must have knocked it out a bit when vacuuming a few weeks ago back there.
it looked plugged in.
but it was only half way in.
works great now!
Oh that's funny! I'm glad it turned out to be an easy fix!
Aren't you happy to not have called the service people? Lucky it was a holiday! My sister did that- bought the new refrigerator and discovered the plug issue as they were putting the new one in. Of course, theirs was 10-15 years old, not just 5. I will remember this! Check the plug!
awakenedsoul
9-14-12, 7:27pm
How funny! That's good news. It all worked out for the best, and the cheapest.
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