Fisher and Paykel refrigerators

9 years ago

Does anyone on this forum own a Fisher and Paykel refrigerator with the active smart compressor? I'm looking at the FD models with water and ice on the door. Thanks.

Featured Answer

northcarolina

9 years ago

That's right, ours does not have an icemaker. We don't use a lot of ice anyway, and the freezer in a CD bottom freezer fridge is pretty small to begin with, so we decided not to use up freezer space with an icemaker. Time will tell if this was a good idea. ha. I can understand wanting filtered water if your tap water isn't good. Our old fridge had it, but we hardly ever got around to changing the filter (they were expensive) so it wasn't of much use to us.

One other difference with Fisher Paykel single-door fridges is that they are narrower than the FD models. We have a 36" wide cabinet opening for the fridge, so our fridge is a little small for the space and when the kids get bigger we might wish we had gone for a larger FD fridge. But we had already spent many years reaching around the open door of our old side-by-side (the loading/unloading counter is to the right of the fridge) and I was SO tired of that. The single door is great for us. Oh, and one other thing -- a gallon of milk does NOT fit in the door of the single-door fridge. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized that (I had to buy ours sight unseen -- they had a FD on the floor but not a single-door). Then DH reminded me that it was perfectly OK to put milk in the main fridge. lol. I am pretty sure the FD models have gallon door storage. (We sometimes have 3 gallon jugs of milk at the same time, plus a pitcher of tea and one of juice, so probably the door storage in a FD model wouldn't have held all that anyway.)

Good luck with your choice!

Comments (7)

northcarolina
9 years ago
We have a new Fisher & Paykel fridge, but it's a different model than the one you're looking at. Ours is a single-door bottom freezer one with no icemaker (the saleslady thought I was nuts). It's only been a couple of months, but so far so good. The interior design is really nice -- it seems less "plasticky" than some others -- and the finish does indeed resist fingerprints. We have young children, so we have tested that part out pretty well. It would be nice if they offered the option of an internal icemaker without any door dispenser, but oh well. (We did not want a door dispenser.) Double check the door dispenser of the one you're looking at. I was under the impression that none of the F&P's had ice through the door, only water. It might not matter to you, but it's just as well to know before you take the leap. I will say that the ice cube trays that came with ours are about 10 times easier to get the ice out of than any other ice cube trays I've ever used.

Good luck with your decision. Ours was easier because a single-door fridge (not FD) works best with our kitchen layout, and I definitely wanted the freezer on the bottom, and I also very much wanted counter-depth so I could reach the cabinet above the fridge. And there is exactly one manufacturer of single-door bottom-freezer counter-depth fridges under 72" tall available in the US. So all we had to decide was whether or not to get the water dispenser/icemaker and whether to get the one with the freezer drawer or the one with the freezer door. (We got the one with the door and it's very cool. So to speak.)
gigelus2k13
9 years ago
I'm looking for the same setup (single-door, bottom-freezer, no water/ice dispenser) and, indeed F&P (oops, I meant Heier) is on the very, very short list.

Did you have a chance to check its noise patterns and level and whether it keeps the temperature constant (there were some reports on GW regarding bad temp regulation)?

Thanks,
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dennisgli
9 years ago
I've had a F&P E522B far about a year - no ice.

I haven't had any temperature problems at all. The compressor is DC and it sounds a little different - it runs almost all the time at low speed but is very quiet. Even at high speed (or when defrosting?) I think it is quieter than my old Whirlpool.

I love the design.
Barbarav
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone. Northcarolina, you're right about there not being ice in the door-only water. The only reason I want the water is because our water is awful and I use the filtered water of our present fridge a lot. I like the single door fridge as well as the French door and may go that route. Am I right in thinking that yours does not have an ice maker? Anyway, I think that these are the best "looking" fridges on the market (IMHO ), but I don't want to sacrifice reliability and function for good looks.
Dennis, does your model have the active smart compressor?
Thank again for your replies.
dennisgli
9 years ago
Dennis, does your model have the active smart compressor?

I don't think ActiveSmart relates to the compressor - I think it just means that it has a computer control system - not mechanical.

But yes, mine is ActiveSmart.
dadoes
9 years ago
Milk keeps better on an interior shelf. Door shelves run a little less-cool in both the fresh food and freezer sections.