I don't know what you guys consider noisy, but thankfully I didn't take the advice of the two other reviews here (unless it gets louder as time passes?) The refrigerator isn't loud at all and I'm highly anal when it comes to things like this.
The door handles do have a point on them, but you will never feel it or know its there unless you run your hand around the "corner" of the handle which you will never do.
The one thing that is a tad annoying is the first shelf needs to be lowered to make room for orange juice to fit, thus making the second shelf only useable for items like yogurt, butter or something else not very tall. With that said, there is plenty of storage in the door which you could use instead of the top shelf. The bottom shelf is very roomy.
The refrigerator offers plenty of room to store cans, condiments and it has a huge drawer for cold cuts, packs of shredded cheese or whatever else you would store with deli meats.
The one thing I don't like is that the two vegetable drawers are not that deep. This seems to be a common problem on most refrigerators in this price range or lower because the compressors are on the lower part of the fridge thus taking away some space in the bottom drawers. I noticed this in any brand refrigerator I looked at in this price point.
My older refrigerator which was cheaper than this didn't have that problem. I guess they are made differently these days.
Nevertheless, I'm very happy with this purchase as I put a lot of research into the refrigerator and was hoping I made the correct decision.
According to consumer reports Whirlpool as a low repair rate which is good. However, they didn't rate this refrigerator very high. I don't know why, it isn't difficult to use as CI gave it a neutral rating for.
Did I mention it gets coooooooold. I set it at the next to coldest setting and its down to 30 degrees on the inside. I'm going to obviously correct the setting as that is a tad too cold. at least it has the ability to get cold unlike my old refrigerator.
The refrigerator does not have separate temp controls for the freezer and fridge which threw me off at first. However, I have a professional grade thermometer and it apparently doesn't make a different as the freezer is more than at the proper temperature. The
I've only had this unit (WRT359SFYW) for a few days, so I can't comment with much experience on how it works in day-to-day use. So far it's keeping my frozen stuff frozen and my cold stuff cold, so two stars for that. And it's not expensive.
The biggest drawback is that this fridge is quite loud. I know that excessive noise is a common complaint with modern refrigerators, and I have no way to directly compare the noise from this model from others. But this model is noticeably louder than the cheap 2002 Frigidaire it replaced, which was not exactly quiet in it's own right. With my open floorplan house (kitchen/dining area open to the living room) the noise from this fridge is very noticeable in the living room, 30 feet away. In the dining area, the noise dominates the room. The manufacturers have got to figure out ways to muffle these things. I'd return it in a second if I had a reliable way to find a quiet model, but I'm afraid they will just tell me "they're all like that".
In the refrigeration section, the shelves are too close together to hold tall items, even at maximum spacing. This is also a common issue with many top freezer refrigerators I look at--the whole refrigeration section is just too short in height. It would be better if this fridge was taller or wider and was not as deep, as space way in the back is hard to use, but more height is always welcome. This unit is so deep it doesn't fit too well in the standard-size fridge bay in my home.
I'll also note that many models in this price range include an icemaker as standard, where this one does not. Also, this model does not have separate temperature controls for the freezer section and the refrigeration section. And a one-year warranty? These are supposed to be "durable goods". It seems like many manufacturers have cut production cost and quality on refrigerators to the absolute bare minimum.
Edit/Update: I've had this unit for three months now. When it was delivered, it was not quite centered in my kitchen's refrigerator nook, but I didn't care enough to try to reposition it until now. Tonight I gently pulled the unit out and moved it back so it would be centered. As I'm rolling it back into position I hear a "snap" and the fridge lurches to one side. One of the rear wheels has broken or collapsed. Seriously?
Buy Whirlpool WRT359SFYW 18.9 Cu. Ft. White Top Freezer Refrigerator - Energy Star Now
I read several reviews before I decided to purchase this refrigerator, online, from a local hardware store as a wedding gift for my daughter. (These days I'm wary of the reliability of any new appliance purchase) From reading the reviews, I was fairly certain that the WRT359SFYW would be reliable & with an estimate of $37 yearly operating cost, it is in the top tier of the energy efficiency rating.
It has 13.6 cu. ft. fresh food compartment and 5.3 cu. ft. freezer compartment storage areas.
Although I knew that the glass shelves weren't quite high enough for milk cartons, I thought for sure there would be some sort of reasonable work-around for this problem. Well, I was wrong. The cartons do not fit on any of the glass shelves unless the cartons are laid down, or a shelf is moved down which makes the shelf immediately below too short, or a shelf is removed. The bottom glass shelf is roomy, but not tall enough for milk cartons. However the door storage comes to the rescue. The storage shelf & bins on the door can hold up to 5 gallons of milk. She currently has 3 half gallon cartons of milk in the door shelf; It looks to me like there'd be room for 3 gallon containers in this door shelf. There are also two moveable bins on the door that will each hold a gallon container, as well as, an area on the door that holds soda/pop cans, a covered area that will hold a dozen eggs in a carton, and the bottom door shelf area. She doesn't have much in the bottom shelf yet it is shallower than I'm used to...I'm not sure what it will hold because we moved storage bins down to hold the milk which took height away from this bottom shelf.
A see-thru pantry drawer which extends the entire length of a glass shelf is shallow, but tall enough to hold 6 oz. Yoplait yogurt containers, and of course, lunch meats, cheeses, hot dogs, spices from the red pepper family that should be refrigerated & small items that can get lost in a fridge, etc.
There is no light in the freezer. The freezer door shelves are narrow too, but we managed to squeeze 3 average sized bags/packages of frozen products in the door shelf. There is one shelf in the freezer. An optional ice maker can be purchased...the refrigerator did not come with any ice cube trays.
She hasn't used the crispers yet. (the crispers are not the same size, one is smaller than the other)
There is only one temperature control for both the freezer & the refrigerator. The delivery man set it & we haven't had to change it. So far, my daughter hasn't had any problems with food freezing in the refrigerator.
I found another annoying, strange design when my daughter stacked her cookbooks on top of the fridge. There is a piece that extends the door an inch or so above the top of the fridge...I guess it's supposed to be hiding the hinge...or maybe its purpose is to prevent items on the top of the fridge from falling off. Anyway, because of this odd piece, she can't read all the titles of her cookbooks when they're stacked on top of each other & will need to stand them up & use bookends.
The refrigerator is not loud.
The door handles are slightly off & don't align with each other.
This refrigerator can be frustrating to use because the glass refrigerator shelves aren't quite tall enough for half gallon cartons of milk & many of the drawers and door shelves are narrower than or smaller than any refrigerator I've ever used. Hopefully, the shelves & bins on the doors don't break, because then I don't know how my daughter will store milk...especially cartons that have been opened. She might have to remove a glass shelf. I read the review that said one of the wheels broke in a few months & another that mentioned a leak. I don't normally purchase extended warranties, but I did this time.
I don't know who's designing appliances these days, but someone needs to take the appliance home & use it before final design decisions are made.
NOTE: Our energy company currently offers a $25 rebate for new refrigerator purchases...and will haul away an old, working refrigerator & pay the consumer $50 for this privilege. You might want to check your utility's website to see if any rebates are offered.
Read Best Reviews of Whirlpool WRT359SFYW 18.9 Cu. Ft. White Top Freezer Refrigerator - Energy Star Here
Door does not seal with much suction. Door handle pointy and sticks out in a way that is a hazard. Lower Door shelves are not easily reachable. Awkward layout. Feels small for 18.9 ft. Not way to install an ice maker.
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I thought this fridge would be great when I got it--energy efficient, roomy, good for the space. And then I tried to switch the side the door opened on. This should be a simple process, but it wasn't with this thing--the screws were hard to reach, the plugs to cover holes were so flimsy they fell apart and couldn't be used on the other side, the freaking Whirlpool logo scratched the paint when it came off, etc.
All of this wouldn't be more than a nuisance, except that the screws themselves were very soft. As a result, I radished out a screw head the very first time, using--get this--a hand tool. That's pretty bad. The screw couldn't be removed after that, so I cut off the head and replaced the door minus one screw, figuring it wouldn't matter.
Of course it mattered--it mattered because the hinges are made with open holes for the screws. What, did they save $.0000002 on the cost of the metal by doing that? So, yes, the door fell off, the shelves broke--I've had this thing maybe two months, and it looks like it's been through a war. This was very disappointing, and I don't intend to buy Whirlpool again.
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