Fisher and Paykel : E522BLX 31in 17.3 cu.ft. Bottom Mount Frost Free - Stainless Steel/Left Door Hinge Review

No, I had not heard of this brand either when I went out looking for a refrigerator to replace my 30 year old GE.

Our problem is space. Even though I certainly wouldn't mind a huge Viking or something, the reality was around 18 cu ft. I went all over the place, looked at every brand and found that most companies spent their best efforts on the bigger models.

Then, I saw a Fisher and Paykell. It was the right size, had a beautiful simple design and the use of interior space was better than others in its size range. It had the desired bottom freezer, the controls were simple and made sense, the trays for fruits and vegetables were easy to access and the glass shelves could be adjusted, removed and cleaned easily.

Style-wise, I was drawn to the clean, curved door design made of smooth metal rather than textured plastic. I needed white, but the stainless is extremely good looking. F&P also now offers models with dispensers in the door.

Note that the doors are not reversible so you have to order the left or right door version.

The glass shelves extend from side to side and slide into little slots. It is easy to slide them out for cleaning or adjustment. Surprisingly, the little plastic dams that surround almost all glass shelves these days are absent on the ends of these shelves. I strongly suggest that you get a couple of shallow plastic trays to hold meat or other drippy things. That is probably a good idea for any fridge, actually.

There is no dedicated meat compartment I suspect a special separate compartment would break up the interior and isn't really needed anyway. The wide expanse of shelves is what makes this interior special.

We took out one of the shelves to free up space for big and tall things.

There are two little lidded compartments in the door that we use for butter and cheese. They are not very big and certainly could have been designed to hold more in the same space they occupy.

The fruit and vegetable trays are lidded and separate, with little adjustable vents to control the humidity. They slide nicely, access is good and cleaning is easy.

We like the bottom freezer. It uses a system of separate drawers, rather than one big bin. This is a good high-end touch and the real drawer sliders make it nicer to use. The bins on other models seemed terribly cheap in comparison.

The lighting in the fridge section is fine. The drawer system for the freezer part precludes a lighting system, at least one that wouldn't be impossibly complex. But, the bins slide out and it is easy to see in them under normal kitchen light.

On another site, a reviewer complained that a glass shelf broke. They do look a little vulnerable as they are so long and thin. However, we stored two turkeys on one shelf with no problems. Tempered glass is very strong and I would think problems would be rare.

There were also a couple of complaints about noise. Our kitchen is like astage where every sound is projected into the adjacent living room. Still, I can hardly hear it and it is rarely even on anyway. This may be a princess and the pea situation. In our case, the old fridge was 20x noisier, so this is fine.

Operation-wise, we are very happy. The fruits and vegetables do indeed last much longer than before, the ice cream (even Ben & Jerrys) is hard and the ice doesn't stick.

One oddity is that even when the feet are adjusted to tilt the unit back a bit, the doors will not close all the way on their own. The formidable gaskets hold it back. But not to worry. The door-open alarm will not let you forget. It will probably rid your house of rodents and insects.

We are happy with this fridge. It looks great, has about as much utility as possible in its size range and works well. I am hoping it will be reliable.

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Product Description:
This DCS Refrigerator with ActiveSmart electronic intelligence provides unequaled cooling and temperature performance. Two variable speed fans provide independent control of the DCS refrigerator and freezer compartment. Frost Free. Unique humidity controlled bins in this DCS refrigerator keep fruit and vegetables fresh for up to two weeks. The DCS refrigerator has brushed stainless steel models have EZKleen finish enabling it to be easily cleaned. This DCS refrigerator comes with a full 2-year parts and labor warranty, 5 year warranty on compressor and internal condenser. Additional Info: Total Storage Volume: 17. 3 cu. Ft. Refrigerator Storage Volume: 12. 4 cu. Ft. Freezer Storage Volume: 4. 9 cu. Ft. Energy usage (kWh/yr): 487. Dimensions (in inches): 28 7/8 D x 31 1/8 W x 66 3/4 H.

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