July 21, 2006 - Refrigerators always used to have just two doors. But that's changed. Now there are three-door, even four-door refrigerators. Consumer Reports tested to see if they're worth the extra cost.
The latest look in refrigerators is Samsung's new four-door refrigerator. Like a side-by-side, there's a freezer on the left and a refrigerator section on the right, plus two drawers on the bottom. Salespeople, like Barbara Tyler, say it gives you the ultimate in flexibility.
"You have refrigerator, freezer, or you can do freezer, freezer, or refrigerator, freezer. You can reverse the bottom drawer," said Tyler.
Consumer Reports just tested the four-door fridge, along with 22 others. Emilio Gonzalez directed the testing.
"In our test we use these thermocouples to measure the temperatures inside. We look to see how the refrigerator temperatures vary during different conditions. And here we use frozen spinach during our testing; we place the thermocouples inside," said Gonzalez.
Thermocouples are also placed in the drawers. The Samsung performed well, and Emilio says its flexibility is a big plus. But at three-thousand dollars, it's expensive.
Another refrigerator breakthrough is this 21-hundred dollar Maytag. It's one of the first French-door refrigerators with an ice and water dispenser on the door.
Most French-door refrigerators have the water dispenser inside, which isn't as handy.
And even this kind of French-door refrigerator is pricey, starting around 14-hundred dollars.
That's nearly three times more than a refrigerator with a top freezer. Consumer Reports says that type -- though not as fashionable -- is a far better deal. You can find a good one for around 500 dollars.
Whatever refrigerator you buy, you'll probably be offered an extended warranty. But Consumer Reports' survey data shows that most refrigerators don't fail during the extended-warranty period. So don't waste money on an extended warranty.
