Should I Get a Refrigerator With an Internal or External Water Dispenser?
- Buyers can choose appliances with water dispensers built into the exterior portion of a door, placed inside the refrigerator compartment or left out completely. Those in the freezer door offer easy access to fill your glass, while you get a more sleek exterior appearance on appliances that hide the dispenser inside. Some French-door models dispense only water through the refrigerator door. Consumers still get an automatic icemaker, but they'll have to reach into the bottom-drawer freezer to access their cubes. Internal water dispensers appear most commonly on French-door and top-freezer models; factory-installed icemakers are often part of these designs. You won't find external dispensers on most top-freezer models or bottom-freezer styles that have a single refrigerator door.
- Consumer Reports warns that refrigerators with water and ice dispensers require "considerably more repairs" than those that lack dispensers. The government's Energy Star program notes that refrigerators with icemakers and dispensers can use up to 20 percent more energy than those without them. Models that include dispensers also cost more.
- Storage bins large enough to hold gallon-sized containers make it easy for you to access milk jugs and orange juice cartons in the refrigerator door. Adjustable shelves help you organize food efficiently and create space for tall items. Shelves that contain spills make cleanup easier, and those that slide out fully allow easy access to foods in the rear of the appliance.
- J.D. Power and Associates, a marketing services firm, contacts appliance owners annually to gauge their satisfaction with refrigerators they acquired within the previous 24 months. Its 2010 Kitchen Appliance Satisfaction Study found Samsung scored highest in customer satisfaction for refrigerators, followed by LG and Kenmore Elite. Coming in fourth, fifth and sixth were GE Profile, Whirlpool Gold and Electrolux, respectively.