Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links consumer reports best refrigerator 2020 retailer sites. A good refrigerator can last for years, but at some point all refrigerators begin to break down or become burdensome.
The decision of whether or not to replace your old refrigerator rests on multiple factors, including the amount of disrepair, the environmental impact, and your own personal needs. The longer you have had your refrigerator, the greater the potential repair cost, says The Money Pit. If the refrigerator is less than eight years old, consider repair. Don’t forget to take into consideration the best refrigerator brands. Opting for a company with a reputation for producing high-quality appliances will save you in the long run. In fact, it may drastically increase the number of years before you need to repair or replace your new purchase.
You could be sucking up unnecessary power and facing high electric bills. A 10-year-old fridge uses twice the energy of an Energy Star-related fridge, according to the Energy Star website. The type of fridge also makes a difference in terms of energy usage. For instance, manual defrost units use less energy than automatic defrost units, if properly maintained, and units with top-mounted freezers typically use less energy than units with bottom freezers or side freezers.
