LG LFX25991ST 24.6 Cu. Ft. Stainless Steel Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator - Energy Star
CUSTOMER REVIEW
My background is fixing restaurant, refrigeration & commercial AC equipment. This review is for the LG LFX25991ST & includes a BACK to BACK comparison with the Samsung counter depth side by side model RSG257AARS/XAA.
PROS
Highest capacity among the 36" wide french door, counter depth models.
Looks good, nice sliding action on the drawers, nice lighting.
CONS
Known defect in defrost cycle, this is VERY important; all modern frost free 'fridges enter a defrost cycle to rid itself of frost / ice.
Ice is accumulating on the back panel of the freezer, near the evaporator coil & fan.
They (LG) tried to engineer a fix but it's only partially effective, they will replace the main circuit board, the new one will have a LONGER defrost cycle (it will now use more energy than what your yellow energyguide sticker said) & change out that back panel which includes two fan motors (one is for the ice maker).
Even though our house is always between 30-50% RH ice still accumulates.
The compressor has started vibrating, causing bottles & misc items within the fridge to rattle.
The leveling system is poor & contributes to make the fridge unnecessarily wobbly when the doors are opened & closed, I made wood shims to help but it doesn't eliminate the wobbles, no matter the surface - I compared on concrete & my kitchen's wood floor. It really gives a flimsy feel for an otherwise nice looking fridge.
Controlling proper temps & humidity in the fresh vegetable drawers has been very poor without blocking off cold air ducts.
French door design is in vogue but it has a lot going against it...think about this compared to a side-by-side...
* You remove the entire contents of your freezer whenever you open it. Hope you don't plan to have that 'fridge in your retirement years. It also exposes all the freezer contents to outside air, moisture in the air quickly turns to frost on your contents & drawer. It requires more effort to find things in the freezer which tend to be buried like a chest & you are in a hunched over position looking for them.
* The freezer drawer sliders are more complex than a simple hinged door, they carry a lot of weight & break much more frequently. Simply pulling from the side of the pull handle (asymmetrical force) instead of the center can cause the drawer to go off kilter & make trouble.
* There's more gasket surfaces meaning more areas that can leak or for condensate & mold to form on, plus a cheesy center partition that can develop condensation (because it's not heated) & is susceptible to failure.
* In order to have ice in the door the ice maker is in the refrigerator section so it's not uncommon for ice to partially melt & clump together causing dispenser jams. A separate ice maker fan forces freezer air via ducts to the ice maker - not the best engineering to go about making & delivering ice - more stuff to go wrong. The SBS actually has the ice & ice maker in the freezer, BRILLIANT!
* MANY times it is necessary to open BOTH doors to get something out when it used to be only one with a SBS. Organization is not that good in these.
Three service calls & LG has agreed to replace - our point of purchase is getting a full credit from LG & we can now pick another brand/model from them - we are going back to a SBS. The irony is we're as happy to get away from this fridge as we were when we got it! :^)
UPDATE
We've only had the new replacement, a 24.5 cubic foot Samsung SBS model RSG257AARS/XAA for a few days so this is only an early impression but we do like it MUCH better.
Now this is IMPORTANT & something other reviewers CAN"T comment on...We've had BOTH fridges loaded with the same groceries BACK to BACK & the difference is HUGE...
PROS
MUCH BETTER use of space, we transferred everything out of the 3/4 full LG, put it in the Samsung & it was AMAZINGLY less full AND better organized. Plus, enough room for all the condiments AND a gallon of milk in the door (not so with the LG). Space is a BIG deal when considering a counter depth fridge, we would have never believed it without owning both but the Samsung side by side EXCELS IN SPADES over the LG FD!
Everything is easier to ACCESS, the difference is not slight, we are happy to ditch the "French door" style, ooo-la-la, good rid-dens.
Exterior door display is MUCH easier on the eyes at night.
Two out of three people say it looks better, the third (me) is undecided.
Can place it more flush against the back wall, per the mfrs spec, this is partly due to how it draws condenser air, the Samsung draws air from the front & the side ensuring that heated condenser air isn't recirculated, the LG draws & discharges condenser air from the back, so you will definitely get recirculated condenser air if you're placing against a wall especially so in an alcove. Samsung includes a flat angled type wall plug on the power cord so you push it back further if your receptacle is behind the fridge.
Quieter - vibrates & is noisy at initial start (warm box) but completely acceptable when temps are at normal operation. Ice dropping into bin (especially an empty bin) during the harvest cycle is somewhat loud but infrequent & really a non-issue.
Doors can open wider so be careful not to open them into nearby items like pantry doors or an open dishwasher.
Costs less.
CONS
Leveling system is no better, just two leveling feet in the front, fridge wobbles a bit but not as bad as the LG.
Lighting is not as bright as the LG since food items tend to block a lot of it, lighting does ramp up on this one.
Exterior fit & finish is good but the LG has the edge there.
For those with pets, periodically accessing & cleaning the condenser coil on any fridge is a must, this one is more difficult to complete that task than the LG.
A lot of people complain about the drawers not opening far enough but they DO open ANOTHER increment if you open the doors all the way, in that case they open plenty. Limiting how wide they open for normal use helps prevent stress & potential for breakage. We are totally OK with this design. The drawer rollers aren't as smooth as the LG.
I hope this helps :^)
3-12-14 UPDATE: Still happy to have ditched the LG for the Sammy CD SBS.
