Chilling out in Europe

March 4, 2023 10:02 PM

I live in Spain. My sketch-brand, year-old fridge is not cooling as it should. Europe-dwellers: which brands do you recommend?

My apartment fridge is a year old. It's a furnished apartment, and the brand is not one I've ever heard of.

As of about 6 weeks ago, It is not cooling as it should. I tried checking out the condensor coils in the back (not dirty) and defrosting the fridge. Neither method worked.

I'll let my landlady know and she'll send a tech over. But I suspect the sketch brand is to blame.

Europe-dwellers: what are your favorite brands of fridge? I suspect that I'll have to spring for it if it's quality, since landlady is more oriented toward price. Bonus points for 24V or other energy savers, although that option would require a step-down transformer.

posted by rabia.elizabeth to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

The Samsung we have in the office in Italy is hella cold.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 12:28 AM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

In continental Europe it is ingrained in the older generation that German products are pricey but dependable. For my kitchen I have invested in Siemens (fridge) and Liebherr (freezer).
posted by bluedora at 12:58 AM on March 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

We’re a couple of years into ownership of an LG fridge and are happy with it. The condenser - which is the main part you don’t want to die- has a 10 year guarantee. Wirecutter - albeit with an emphasis on American apartment sized fridges - also seems to like LG.
posted by rongorongo at 3:58 AM on March 5, 2023

From the Which ( Consumer Association, UK) magazine's survey, the top-rated brands were:

Miele
Liebherr
Bosch
Samsung
Neff

The UK market is similar enough to the continental European market that it makes sense there too, I think.
posted by vincebowdren at 4:13 AM on March 5, 2023

I mean those are all nice suggestions but for those of us who are not made of money, my Beko dishwasher is great and my Flavel fridge has been fridging for about 15 years.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:48 AM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

My experience with Gorenje is very good, i have had both fridge freezer and fridge from Gorenje for literally decades. And a washing machine. In my current appartment i have a refurbed Miele washing machine, and Gorenje fridge and am very happy with both.
posted by 15L06 at 6:44 AM on March 5, 2023

Beko has a very good reputation with appliance technicians, if you're looking for something affordable rather than top of the line. Samsung has a terrible reputation.
posted by Rhedyn at 7:47 AM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

when we have needed to replace any appliance we have bought Miele. When I went to a respected appliance store and asked for “reliability first, luxury/frills second” they did not hesitate to recommend Miele.
posted by alchemist at 7:55 AM on March 5, 2023

I had a very bad experience with a cheap Samsung.
When I was reading reviews looking for a replacement, the impression I got was that model matters at least as much as brand, at least at the lower end of the price range. Either that, or quality control is one of the areas where cheap models cut corners.
posted by trig at 9:09 AM on March 5, 2023

I have had Beko and Indesit appliances without problems. If you want mid-range then Bosch, if you want to invest, Miele.
posted by plonkee at 11:36 AM on March 5, 2023

According to UFC Que Choisir consumer association (France) brands with higher than average durability (14 years and more) and good satisfaction ratings are:
- LG
- Siemens
- Liebherr
- Samsung
- Miele
- Bosch

This is based on a 2021 Euroconsumers survey with about 39000 respondents in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain.
posted by xe at 11:54 AM on March 5, 2023

Chiming in from the land of Gorenje: their quality has gone to shit in the recent years. If you can get a 10-15 year old Gorenje in good shape, great, it'll last until the heat death of the universe. If not, well... Everybody here who is not made of money buys Beko (and takes the 5-year extended warranty as it's usually free), or Bosch/Miele/Liebherr if they have the money. Samsung is a newer brand in the kitchen world and I would not trust it for a fridge.
posted by gakiko at 2:54 AM on March 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Hola! Tambien vivo en España, and I'm very happy with my Bosch fridge.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 3:42 AM on March 6, 2023

Anecdata: my Samsung fridge-freezer, purchased in June 2018, is now cooling the fridge to between 0 and -4 C. On its warmest setting, in a room at a normal indoor temperature. Nothing obviously amiss that I can fix. It's been a perfectly good appliance, but I'd have expected it to last longer than this before starting to lose the plot.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:48 AM on March 6, 2023