Which Brands Best with Power Outages?

10 years ago

We have a whole house surge protector due to power outages, mainly during hurricanes or heavy rain or snow storms.

However, our 10 y.o. Viking built in 36" top mount fully integrated fridge-freezer malfunctions after each outage with a door alarm, but not immediately. It seems to take it a day or so.

Now the freezer isn't fully freezing and ice maker not fully functioning. It has made a few cubes so I don't think it's mechanical. Suspect (other ideas welcome) it's the controller board. That was replaced about 6 years ago, however.

The fridge needs repair. Even with an expensive repair there is a gigantic difference in cost for replacement since I have an opening: 84x36x24". Need to see what tech says.

Meanwhile, I did some research and believe I could switch out to Sub Zero, either BI36 UG with Glass Door -- gorgeous but crazy expensive -- or BI36 UFD French Door -- practical for location but also crazy expensive. Thermador Freedom makes a bottom mount that takes panels, a nice alternative to same style I now have with SS front. Liebherr (with a 84" kit) looks possible. I've had a Liebherr before and liked it but that was in the city with no outages.

The astronomical SZ prices notwithstanding, does anyone know how these do with outages? I have other Miele appliances which have not been affected so I'm looking for that line of defense. Would Thermador meet that due to similar mfg?

Ideally, I'd go with Miele fridge (also crazy expensive) but it requires a 25" deep minimum cabinet and my cabinet is only 24". The Miele door also is very thick (DD2 has one).

Is SZ a good bet? Or would one of the other brands withstand better?

This post was edited by rococogurl on Sat, Jul 6, 13 at 12:27

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Comments (6)

FmrQuahog
10 years ago
BLUESTAR and CAPITOL CULINARIAN
rococogurl
Original Author
10 years ago
quahog, someone appears to have hijacked your login and is posting stuff that smacks of trollism. Shame.
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lascatx
10 years ago
I don't have much to offer, but we had our Thermador BI when Hurricane Ike hit and at least one other time that we had rolling blackouts (repeating periods of power going on and off over several days). We didn't have a problem with it, even without a whole house surge protector. That bottom mount is what made me change my plans on the fridge and get the Freedom series. We've loved them.

It is likely a big ticket item either way, and that makes it tempting to keep the existing unit running, but sometimes it is better to cut your losses and start over. We did that this week with our AC -- only 6 years old. We expected a longer life, but we bit the bullet, did our homework as you are now, and we got ourselves a better system that is working better than anything this house has ever seen. I'm hoping the law of averages will give us a longer time with these units and you with your fridge.
rococogurl
Original Author
10 years ago
My impression is that most are happy with the Freedom fridges from what I've read here for a while. I was hoping to hear from an owner. Thankx lascatx for the feedback.

It's a huge ticket item, even going with Liebherr. And then there's the inevitable removal and install drama. Panels vs no panels. Will new panels match the old kitchen. What if I want to reno eventually, why lock that in, etc.

At 10 what's the life expectancy? 5 more? Unclear since I think this was one of the early units built by Amana when Viking fist acquired them. If so, and it's bascially a souped up Amana, it could have many more years of service.

But if a new control board is $1500 vs $6K for a Liebherr $8K for a Freedom it's still a tough call. One of the SZs would be ideal but after hearing a repair guy make a crack about all the blown SZ controller boards after an outage in the "fancy" neighborhood across the river some years ago I'd really like some RL experiences before I decide to go there.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
10 years ago
We have had multiple power outages with our 6-7yr old Liebherr. Still performs as it should. Two storms we were out for a week each. With extension cord dropped out the bedroom window to a portable generator shifting from fridge to basement freezer a few hours each a day. Easy to stop the beep with push of a button. We did get a clogged freezer drain but that was just a 'trouble-shooting' problem solved by researching and re-reading the manual. It has other issues with cracked inner plastics and poor ice-maker design but i have always had perfect temp in both fridge and freezer and ultimately what i need a fridge to do.
We loose power at least a dozen times a year for an hour or 6, one just last weekend.
kaseki
10 years ago
Although my power outages are brief due to an automatic generator, I have had no problem with any of the following major kitchen-related appliances that contain electronics. I'm not sure though whether any besides the refrigerators were running at any of the various times that power was interrupted. I am not counting clock time loss as a problem.

I have surge suppressors.

SZ 632 side by side
Wolf double wall ovens
Kenmore Elite (E'lux) induction cooktop
Cooktek induction wok hob
Miele dishwasher
Sharp MW
Perlick Wine Reserve
Perlick Refrigerator
Wolf ventilation hood (minimal electronics)
Zojirushi rice cooker

kas