So, I'm wondering something. If I do buy a new refrigerator... I like bottom freezer models but I don't see any selling now in Consumer Reports extensive charts/recommendations that don't have an icemaker built in except for diminished sized offerings. I want a big one, kinda like the one I have. My Amana seems ideal to me (what do I know?). I mean it's big 68x33x32" no icemaker and bottom freezer. Try and find that combination now! I don't see it.
So, my question is:
Can I just get a full sized bottom freezer fridge with icemaker and not hook up the icemaker? Would that be as if it didn't come with an icemaker and not have the maintenance issues that are attendant with fridges with icemakers?
Funny thing is the Samsung I was looking at, top freezer with 20cu.ft. usable capacity RT21M2113SG has no icemaker but Samsung sells evidently the same fridge with icemaker for the same price, the RT21M2115SG, according to the just published Consumer Reports 2022 Annual Buying Guide.
I bought a new fridge nearly a year ago. At the time, there were some "shortages" not so much because of supply chains, but because a lot of people had reverted to home cooking and had been upgrading kitchens with stimulus money. So deals weren't great, but you should keep an eye out for Black Friday promos.
I did refer to Consumer Reports, but it's somewhat hard to use their information. The models they review are invariably old by press time, so you just can't find them in stores. You can make educated guesses based on their ratings.
I leaned heavily on The Wirecutter's guide to buying a fridge, but the guide has changed this year. Although they don't do hands-on testing like CR, at least they referred to current year models. Now they've stopped recommending models (which can change annually), but recommend brands instead. Honestly this makes less sense to me than before.
I would strongly discourage buying a Samsung; they make nice fridges with piss-poor reputations for reliability. Strangely enough, Wirecutter recommends LG this year, but they were also infamous for bad compressors and even worse customer service. There are at least a couple threads in these forums warning against buying a Samsung fridge. You have been warned.
As for bottom freezer models, they just aren't highly popular in the U.S. so are a bit hard to shop for. A French door fridge is roughly the same thing (bottom freezer, but side-by-side doors up top) and are most popular with consumers these days.
In the end, I bought a Whirlpool that was recommended by The Wirecutter. No water line is connected up. I'm a bit disappointed by the fit and finish, but I did get the deal I wanted and hope that it'll last a long time.
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