19 Year Old GE Fridge

[Mr_Luke]

It was here when I moved in on Dec 27, 2003 and has worked well all that time and never needed one repair. Lately I scraped some frost off the back wall of the freezer, and it has not formed new frost. Also, I've found a small puddle of water on the floor under it in front about 3 times in the last 2 weeks, and I could not tell where the water came from. I cleaned that up a few days ago and it's still dry under there. One of my cats might have spilled their water bowl, possibly, but maybe not.

Then I got looking at the expected life span of a fridge and they say I should get a new one if it's over 10 years old, but I have doubts about that.
It still seems to cool my food well. I clean the coils under it regularly with a brush made to do that, to help keep the unit from working overtime.

Does it sound like I should replace it yet? It's probably at least 19 years old.
If and when I do it will be a GE or a Frigidaire.

Once it's gone, it's gone, and newer ones likely will not last as long as this one.
I think I'm going to try to keep running it.

 

[bullwinkle]

If you replace it, be ready to replace it again… And again… And AGAIN!! The newer ones are overpriced, weak junk. My Kenmore is now TWENTY-EIGHT years old! It’s had a few defrost termination thermostats, and a couple fans, and the ice maker died, but it still works as well as it ever did, otherwise. Cleaning the coils underneath with a long brush & Shop-Vac definitely helps.

 

[hemitom]

we have a magic chef thats 23 years old and never been touched , my wife for the last two years has been saying time for a new one, she is most likely right ! thing is it runs like a charm and hate to get rid of it.
No way in hell a new lasts this long.

 

[skyactiv]

They are working on refrigerators that have AI, cameras in the fridge that see what's in it and order food as it's getting low.
Until that time comes, you gotta settle for this:

 

[skyactiv]

I wouldn't own such a fridge but maybe someone here would.

 

[nwjones18]

I've never heard of replacing a fridge due to age. At my grandparents house there is a refrigerator and an upright deep freezer that they bought in the mid/late 60's and they're still running fine... Neither have received any work in the last 30 years that I know of. The fridge has been on a screen porch since 1995.. Pretty unbelievable. Also the Kenmore fridge they bought when they built the house in 1995 is still going strong on the inside.

 

[PandaBear]

I'm using a fridge that was build in 94. It still works very well (except one light bulb socket burnt out). I don't use the water tap / ice maker feature so I disconnected the water line to it, eliminating one leak source.

Until today's fridge get significantly more reliable than how bad they are now, I'll keep this one. If AC on car can last 20 years why can't our fridge?

 

[dishdude]

I'd probably start shopping for a new fridge, 20 years is a good run and you have the luxury of picking what you want and shopping around for a deal.

 

[MHartfield]

I replaced a 13 year old Frigidaire that was 12 years old when I moved in. Replaced it with the same model. Had no idea how it had been maintained. Pre-Pandemic, Lowes had crazy sales around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. As DishDude says, replace it now while you have time to shop. I'd go into Lowes and ask if they still have their sales.

 

[spackard]

Test the [click here] door seal It may be all it needs is a new door seal.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

My parents had a big old brown GE that was made in 1976 and I grew up with that refrigerator. It died in the early 2000s I think 2002. The refrigerator I have where I live now is about 15 years old and is a Whirlpool. I’ve replaced an evaporator fan, but besides that it’s running well.

I’d look for a basic top freezer refrigerator and avoid the fancy ones with giant Samsung tablets on them if you want it to last a long time.

 

[Lubener]

I would not replace it. The new ones are junk, doesn't matter which brand. The water puddle could be from accumulated ice or debris blocking the drainage plumbing for the periodic defrosting cycles for the freezer. You might have to give the fridge a short period of down time to allow any ice to melt which has accumulated over a long period of time or for a blockage.

When I sold my father's home in November, I left his 1975 Sears Kenmore refridgerator with the house. It still was working good. It used a lot of electricity but was built like a tank.

 

[doitmyself]

Learn to diagnose and replace parts until that becomes uneconomical. Last year I learned on the web how to add more refrigerant DIY (Less than $30, tools and juice) and it has been running fine since then. I had previously thought when they reach this point it is automatic replacement.

 

[Rat407]

Just curious as to how much do older appliances consume power over the newer models? We moved and the new home had newer but not brand new appliances so we left and sold our old ones. Maybe should have kept them??? One was an up right freezer that was 20ys old. The other was an up right freezer that I converted into a kegerator and it was over 40yrs old.

 

[Cujet]

You are not likely to see huge power savings with a new model. Despite wild claims of superior efficiency, the Carnot cycle is what it is, and it takes energy to move the heat. Period, end of story. When the door is opened and/or new stuff placed in, the compressor must perform work.

You will see claims that new fridges consume 30% less energy. Maybe... New refrigerants are not more efficient or more effective than R12 or R22. The insulation will probably be better.

I used a Kill-a-Watt on my old fridge and was surprised at just how little power it consumed. The compressor draw was about 250W, (the very fast defrost cycle was about 600W) and about 1.5Kwh per day (20c per day)

I'd keep an older conventional fridge over many of today's offerings.

 

[PandaBear]

Just curious as to how much do older appliances consume power over the newer models? We moved and the new home had newer but not brand new appliances so we left and sold our old ones. Maybe should have kept them??? One was an up right freezer that was 20ys old. The other was an up right freezer that I converted into a kegerator and it was over 40yrs old.

I forgot the exact number but my model's consumption vs new one is like about $50 a year difference back when I calculated on 13c/kwh. With the headache of fridge shopping and today's fridge price, it would probably take me 13 years to recoup the cost of a breakdown if they only last 13 years, no saving at all.

I did have to replace a few of the plastic rails holding the vegetable drawers, those plastic cracked and were only like $13 - 27 each on ebay new.

 

[PandaBear]

You are not likely to see huge power savings with a new model. Despite wild claims of superior efficiency, the Carnot cycle is what it is, and it takes energy to move the heat. Period, end of story. When the door is opened and/or new stuff placed in, the compressor must perform work.

You will see claims that new fridges consume 30% less energy. Maybe... New refrigerants are not more efficient or more effective than R12 or R22. The insulation will probably be better.

I used a Kill-a-Watt on my old fridge and was surprised at just how little power it consumed. The compressor draw was about 250W, (the very fast defrost cycle was about 600W) and about 1.5Kwh per day (20c per day)

I'd keep an older conventional fridge over many of today's offerings.

In theory if they build the inverter fridge correctly they should be as efficient as mini-split vs central AC. However the only inverter fridge in the US (LG) has some problem with their compressor or other nonsense and they end up breaking down way too early.

 

[gman2304]

I still have the owners manual for my basement Sears Kenmore upright freezer with 1986 hand written in ink on the front. Never a problem in 36 years.

 

[mk378]

What @spackard said. Dampness inside the fridge is caused by outside air leaking in. The humidity in that air condenses to form water or ice. Either the door seal is bad or someone in the household is not closing the door fully.

 

[Mr_Luke]

I would not replace it. The new ones are junk, doesn't matter which brand. The water puddle could be from accumulated ice or debris blocking the drainage plumbing for the periodic defrosting cycles for the freezer. You might have to give the fridge a short period of down time to allow any ice to melt which has accumulated over a long period of time or for a blockage.

When I sold my father's home in November, I left his 1975 Sears Kenmore refridgerator with the house. It still was working good. It used a lot of electricity but was built like a tank.

Good idea. It's supposed to be cold later this week, or maybe I'll just put the frozen foods in the main part of the fridge and unplug it for 12 hours or so.