I've been refrigerator shopping. I'd like to go over what I've concluded.

We are not remodeling the kitchen, just replacing appliances. DW wants more room in the frig. I want something as reliable as the old frig, but more energy efficient. We have had it for 20 years, and it has never broken down. It does seem to heat the kitchen by itself in the winter, though.

Neither of us like French doors. I like SxS, but DW needs more horizontal space. Countertops won't fit. Based on my experience with bottom freezer refrigerators at the office, bottom freezer space is hard to use efficiently, and ice-makers on the bottom seem clumsy. Further, we don't have space for an under-counter ice-maker. Thus, we seem to be best served with another top-freezer unit.

We are not interested in external controls and water/ice dispensing from the door, so we are left with the 'basic box'.

I've inspected refrigerators several times. As best I can tell, there is no need to spend more than $900. That was as high as top-freezer units without externals or stainless steel cost. I wouldn't mind spending more if it gave us more room, efficiency and reliability, but I didn't notice anything being added to the package above the $900 range.

The only 'added value' items over this price range that I've noticed were 'crisper filtering' and 'water filtering'. We are already planning to install an under-counter RO unit, so the water-filter didn't meet a need.

On the reliability issue, as a rule I don't get extended warranties. In fact, I rarely buy anything 'new'. I like working with local repair people, and figure I can do a little better than the warranty cost in the long run and make some friends in the process. Anyway, after reading Consumer Digest and a number of posts here, it seems the best refrigerator reliability is found in the Whirlpool family of products. There are plenty of horror stories about Whirlpool service, so this isn't said with enthusiasm. It just seems the statistics favor the Whirlpool family. Also, our current frig is a Whirlpool.

All that said, the current choice is a Maytag primarily due to the simpler set of features (no water purifier).

I don't know a great deal about refrigerators. One feature that comes to mind is 'ease of cleaning' the heat-transfer unit and condensor, but this doesn't seem to be discussed much.

As a side issue, the part of the process I've enjoyed the most has been playing with Feng Shui kitchen color schemes.

The order for the new frig will probably go out in a few days. If there is an option I've missed and should investigate, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!