If we weren't willing to pay extra for features we want, we'd all have $500 GE refrigerators in our home.

antss: I have heard from several sources, including Expo Design and the area distrubutor for Northland, that significant design changes were made to the compressors after Aga bought Northland in 2003. In fact, I was told to make sure I didn't end up purchasing an older Northland that might have been sitting around. The distributor told me that each unit ordered through an authorized retailer is made to order but that I should be a bit wary of buying through an on-line vendor because those units might date from before the design changes, be returns, etc. He didn't tell me to avoid on-line sellers at all costs but rather to ask questions before purchasing. I guess this a long way of saying I have no doubt that there were design changes put into effect by Aga in its Northland line.

Briefly (or not): the Northland installation instructions were ambiguous. KD and GC and kitchen cabinet installer puzzled together over them. I was there; I saw them interpret the drawings, and I certainly didn't see any problems with their plans but I don't have the skills. Anyway, they worked hard to come to a way to proceed. Cabinet installer said he called Northland three times for help and that no one was really helpful. So my very skilled crew did the best they could. However, it took the Northland guy to point out (at the moment of installation) how the drawing was supposed to be interpreted. One series of lines operated like an optical illusion. Once he pointed it out, it was clear why my kitchen wasn't ready for the appliances. Cabinets had to be re-done and blah, blah, blah. Delayed use of kitchen for two months -- and delayed the hook up of the fridge/freezer beyond my tolerance. (We'd moved back in expecting to have a completed kitchen same week.)

Additionally, fridge condenser gave out after three months. Just stopped working. Was replaced by Northland within 24 hours at no cost to me. "That happens once in a while" said the installation guy.

I chose the totally stainless steel insides and I love how sturdy the whole unit is. No plastic. I also found out after about a year by reading the small print in the manual that I could order extra shelves and drawers. So I have totally customized the insides the way I like them. (I was trying to mimic my 25 year old GE side by side that finally gave out, and I succeeded.)

Another warning: Before I finalized my choice, I asked the Northland distributor about any problems I should anticipate. She said the ice maker was crap and if I didn't take it, they would give me a fifty dollar rebate. I left it in and planned a different solution for ice, thinking I could remove it later. Now it can't be removed easily because it would leave holes. I lost some non-usable space but it doesn't matter since I don't use all the space I have.

I do have a long term service contract. KD insisted. (She had never used Northland -- that was my choice because I wanted to avoid sub-zero). The aesthetics of separating fridge and freezer have paid off in a really graceful kitchen design and I'm not sure any other appliance would have worked when I did the renovation. Now I think there are some more choices (Lieberr). I'm happy.
Hope this helps.

-or- Is it more likely that Northland itself is simply evolving itself like it's competitors? Sub Zero, Thermador, Liebherr, and GE have all made design changes in the same timeframe. With the exception of GE none were bought out in the period. And GE's refrigeration unit was really a purchase by them of their manuf. partner's operation.

Just so you know, I don't work for Northland; I am not affiliated with them in anyway. I have been designing kitchens and specifying Northlands for years (even wrote a book called Kitchen Appliances 101: What Works, What Doesn't and Why--which took two and a half years of research, testing, and interviews).

Short-term lurker, first-time poster.

I appreciate this thread, as this is virtually the ONLY information I've been able to find anywhere regarding reviews of Northland refrigerators. It seems like it would have most of the features I want: fully-customizable (i.e. no water/ice for me), robust white metal interior, not Energy Star compliant (and theoretically more robust as a result), easily replaceable compressor unit, cheaper than SZ, etc. As you can tell, I'm shooting for a greater probability of reliability.

It's almost like the company's purposely in stealth mode. Can anyone tell me why? Should I interpret the general lack of interest in this brand as lack of faith in the product/reliability, or is it just poor, poor marketing?

TIA

Speaking with my appliance dealer (who doesn't directly sell Northland but can get it for me through his Marvel dealings), he did say that he wouldn't have recommended them several years back but they've apparently made some significant improvements the last few years (presuming Aga
has put some money into resolving some QC/design issues, but who knows).

I've got a friend that's also buying a Northland and should have it several months before I need to buy mine, so I get to use him as a guinea pig before I order. :)

Good luck with your situation!

Believe it or not, I'm trying to decide between a 30" all fridge and 30" all freezer northland or Gaggenau. I think the steel interior will help the food last longest- theoretically.

Price is not the biggest issue here, functionality is. And northland just seems to have great capacity and lots of customization.

Does anyone have any updated experience with northland?

Tks!

This has been the biggest mistake of our lives. From the day we plugged it in we've had problems with it. First it made a lot of noise. So we called Northland and after a few months they agreed to replace the motor/compressor. We thought this would solve it...but it didn't. It still sounds like a Mack Truck. We bought a similar size Kitchenaid for about the same price for our other home, and its so quite.

Second, we've complained to both Northland and AJ Madison... and despite our warranty...they both said tough luck. AJ Madison, kept us on hold for 45 minutes, then hung up. Too bad, we really liked AJ Madison.

Finally, we financed it with one of those paypal deals, but they said sorry because you didn't notify us within 60 days. Little did we know that Northland was stalling us past the 60 day window?

Unless you plan on putting this thing in your garage, don't buy it. It does look nice but it’s very noisy.

There should be a "lemon law" for appliances...this one would qualify.
I build a high end home with construction cost of nearly $2million and spent over $80,000 on appliances. The Northland was my ONLY regret.

The Sub-zeros I am looking at are ~$6,000 more. Anyone recently buy these (say within the last two years) and could you provide any feedback?

Thanks,

Dan

I COULD have gotten my 36" twin pair a few weeks ago, but since my cabinets weren't ready yet, I let mine go to someone else who had ordered the same pair. (I can't believe Elite Appliance actually asked me to give mine up!) I should be due for my pair soon.

I read a LOT of posts on Gardenweb prior to ordering my Northland twin pair, and most say the noise is no big deal. The ones who regretted buying were people with small New York apartments without enclosed refrigerators. Every brand has a few bad experiences, but some of the negative reports in this thread sound fake; too hyperbolic.

My kitchen is 20 feet square and my refrigerator pair are going to be completely enclosed in closets. The front of my refrigerator doors will be flush with the cabinet doors @28" from wall, leaving a 3-4" convection air channel behind the refrigerator and cabinets, and it will be fully enclosed by 28" deep refrigerator end panels and 12" and 21" high refrigerator cabinets above. The one potential issue is we have a VERY open floorplan, about 1500 SF of open space (kitchen, nook, dining, living, foyer) with all stone floors, so noise could reverberate throughout the space.

Theoretically I shouldn't have any issues with noise, but the proof is in the pudding, and I won't know for about 8 weeks when my whole kitchen is in. If I do hear noise, I'll add weatherstripping around the units and consider soundproofing the cooling units, which for Northland refrigerators are in separate pieces above the refrigerator/freezer units.

I'll try to check in here after they're installed, but I'm really forgetful, so if you don't hear back from me, you may have to shoot me another email.

David

But things are looking up! My cabinet guy is installing RIGHT NOW even as I write. He works alone and he works slowly, but he was 90% done installing as of this morning. So our Northland freezer and refrigerator twins are still in the garage at this point, but maybe by next week we can comment on the big question: are they noisy or aren't they? Are the current compressors as noisy as those from a few years back? If they are noisy, is it bearable? Will being completely enclosed help the noise? I sure hope the answers are good! (In my last post I said they would be enclosed in CLOSETS... what?!? Cabinets, not closets. Sheesh.)

Answers are coming soon... stay tuned!

As for the other issue of the warped freezer door, still waiting to hear from Northland about what they're going to do for us.