How to buy a bottom drawer freezer refrigerator, single or double

Our old refrigerator died after 13 years of chilling performance. The old unit was an Amana side by side refrigerator which had served us well. It was time to go into the marketplace and buy a new refrigerator.

Maybe it was just time for a design change, but we had grown to feel that the side by side model was a little hard to keep organized, especially in the freezer area. The Amana refrigerator shelves were good. The narrow freezer spaces meant that things could get buried behind other things, or under other things in the bins. We were always unloading the freezer contents on to the counter in search of this package or that bag of goodies.

Stainless steel is the popular finish these days and out numbers colors on the showroom floors. Despite that. we knew we wanted white, to match our other appliances. We liked the water and ice dispenser in the front door of old Amana. I had installed a refrigerator water filter in the line from the water supply to the back of the refrigerator, but it was awkward to replace the filter, so I sometimes let that chore slide.

We wanted french doors for the refrigerator. We thought we preferred the two drawer freezer over the one drawer models. The two drawer models carried a higher price tag, and which design was more efficient anyhow?

Speaking of price, this was not a planned expense so we were anxious to keep the cost down! Browsing on the Internet we found models we liked, but at $3,000, which was double what we had paid 13 years ago.

We were undecided on an extended warranty. There is always the feeling that you are being ripped off! On the other hand we were spending a lot of money, and warranties were shorter these days.

So we had our beginning refrigerator shopping list.

Our shopping list of specifications looked like this:

• White.
  
• French doors on top.
• Bottom freezer
• One or two freezer drawers - undecided.
• Water and ice dispenser in door.
• Built in refrigerator water filter.
• Extended warranty - undecided.
  
• Price - we knew we had to be flexible, but our target was the $2,000 US range.
  

The Internet is often a good place to shop, but it is always a good place to do shopping research. The search results pushed store and sales sites at us, but that was OK. We used these links to make a preliminary manufacturer and model list. We also used these sites to dig out user comments, ratings and feedback. Just like HubPage comments, these are a mixture of short comments like "great" or "terrible", but often there is good information in the comments. This helped us make a chart of makes and models and what to look for. We also refined our store list down to Sears, Best Buy and Spencer's Appliances.

Armed with our research information, we made the tour of the stores. I'm a firm believer in the power of three when it comes to making decisions like this - you need to look at three models minimum, shop at three stores minimum, and get three quotes minimum.

Then you are in a position to make good choices and negotiate your best price.

We ended up with the LGLMX25984SW which met all of our specifications, and came in at our desired budget, including installation, extended warranty and tax. It is now humming away (very quietly) in our kitchen.