Fisher & Paykel Refrigerators

[baroness]

I'm in the market for a new refrigerator that measures 32.5 by 67 inches, or as close as possible. The 67" height is the maximum available, which knocks out most bottom-freezer and french door designs.

I definitely do not want a side by side and/or water and ice through the door. Yes, I could get another Whirlpool top-freezer (21 cubic feet)...but I spotted Fisher & Paykel bottom-freezers F & P page at the store that are very appealing, particularly in terms of drawers to organize the freezer. Its capacity, however, is stated at only 17.6 cubic feet--and it costs 47% more!

As I ponder whether 17+ cubic feet of well organized space and better ergonomics is worth the extra money and 17% less room -- does anyone have experience with F & P products to offer?

[cwyc]

I bought a Fisher and Paykel fridge last year. It is the 17ish cubic feet, with bottom freezer drawers. There were several things that sold me on it:

1) the freezer drawer set up allows me to compartmentalize everything. Frozen meals in the top right hand drawer; breads in the top left drawer, smallish flat items like my stack of banana leaves for the narrow, middle drawer; frozen meats, seafood, vegetables for deep, bottom drawer.

2)fridge with the multiple wide, sliding shelf adjustments allows me to insert large party trays

3) glass shelves just sturdier and nicer than the standard plastic ones available everywhere else

4)"book ends" on the fridge door prevents glass bottles from shifting around when opening and closing

5) one dozen egg carton fits perfectly into one of the cubbies on the fridge door

6) no fingerprints show up on the fridge doors

We are a family of two, so space is not an issue. However, I can see that if you are a larger family or shop bulk, you may run out of room; unless you have a separate freezer chest.

Other than, I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

Although, I did read a review somehwere (Consumers Report??) that didn't rate it well because of the freezer drawers. For me, however, the compartments in the freezer was the biggest draw and deciding factor in the purchase.

Edited June 3, 2008 by cwyc (log)

[helenjp]

Old-established New Zealand brand, very likely the most common manufacturer there. In recent years they have made a point of marketing "sturdy and simple" standard design fridges to countries which specialize in higher-end fridges - I've even seen them in Japan, for example.

Those sold in the US are likely manufactured at F&P's plant(s) there, so I don't know whether quality is any different from Australasian-manufactured F&P fridges.

[baroness]

CWYC,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Their freezer design is very appealing to me as well. Most of what migrates to the back of my current top freezer ends up being discarded.

I'm not as happy with ALL of the shelves being full width, but that's something I can't change--are the shelves fairly easy to remove if one needs extra height sometimes?

Do you like the wine rack?

Helenjp,

Thank you as well. I first became aware of F & P about 8 years ago due to their drawer-style dishwashers (I don't have one).

One thing that does concern me is reliability. The few refrigerator reviews I've found fall almost into the same pattern as the reviews of their dishwashers -- love 'em/no problems OR hate 'em/defective/many service calls. The split is about 69% good for refrigerators and maybe 31% good on the dishwasher. Granted, it's human nature to complain rather than praise...

[cwyc]

Shelves are very easy to adjust and remove. That was another big feature for me because when we entertain, I invariablly will have a large tray of something. My second shelf is fit narrowly below the top shelf, so I can easily insert a tray on it without having to lose space above or below.

The wine rack is great, but I have removed it because I don't drink a whole lot of alcohol. Although, I do find it handy when you are entertaining, and you have trays and plates in the fridge, and need space for the vino.

I'm not sure about the reliability part as I have had it for less than a year, but so far so good. The salesperson told us (I live in Canada) that the same manufacturer produces all the big name fridges...Whirpool, Amana, Kenmore, etc. So you are not really getting a competitive advantage one fridge over another. Unless that is, you are going high end like or industrial like SubZero.

The down side of the glass shelves is that it may scratch, or so the salesperson told us. I have yet to have that problem. I figured its tempered, and plastic shelves are just as likely to scratch as well.

As for where it is manufactured, my understanding was that it was shipped from NZ. That's what the salesperson told me because he said the only problems they have encountered sometimes is that it may get dented in-transit. We did not have that problem. They would replace the door or whatever anyway.

I also like the fact that you can choose the rounded edge finish or the straight, boxy edge finish of the doors. I chose the boxy, 90 degree finish.