When It Comes To Refrigeration Is It Subzero Vs Everything Else

[Steve Williams]

In drawing up plans for a kitchen remodel, getting my appliances right was a huge priority. When we bought our home (which was new at the time) it came with all top of the line GE Monogram appliances. The refrigerator is a 36" side by side which is quite large enough and so we have another 36" side by side in the garage. Problem is both refrigerators are now old and far from energy efficient which makes me pause each month with my $700/month electric bill.

My goal was to plan for a 48" side by side in the kitchen and do away with the albatross in the garage in the hope of reducing energy consumption

The search kept coming back to the same choice

Subzero

Here is what we have in our plans with the glass door with the premise that if you can see what you want through the glass door, it will not remain open searching for what we want. Also with multiple levels for freezer this too reduces energy consumption by looking directly to the level you want

[video]http://www.subzero.com/PRO48Refrigeration/PRO48GlassDoorRefrigerator[/video]

 

[amirm]

I have to disagree . I say this after own the then best Subzero (a 48 inch unit) we bought about 9 years ago. The unit has been and continues to be noisy for such a high-end unit. The two compressors positioned above the unit transmit more sound than units where that is buried in the back or below. Then there is the issue of reliability. The unit came with the wrong drawers in the freezer. Yes, the wrong one. They kept falling out of track. A few years later when we have a repairman fixing something else in it, we asked and he said they were wrong and ordered the new ones. Of course, no warranty coverage and we were charged $300+ dollars.

Multiple things have died in it causing it to totally malfunction. And if there is one thing I hate more than anything else, is getting a call from my wife, when I in some other country 5000 miles away, saying everything is going bad in the fridge and what am *I* going to do about it!

I had to make the last repair myself. The fridge would not get cold and the light would stay on sometimes. Two simple switches that controlled the lights and compressor had gone bad. Bought them online and fixed it. But how hard can it be to put more reliable switches in there?

So for the new house, it was not going to be subzero even though we looked at everything they had. Instead we went for the new king . It is a Bosch unit sold under that brand, and two upgraded lines: Thermador and Gaggenau. We went for the Thermador edition. You get an independent fridge and freezer of your choice. So if one goes bad, the other keeps going. In our case, each is 30 inches for a total of 60! Of course, the wife was till not happy and had to get a Samsung French Door for downstairs so that she could put platters that are too big in there. But we digress.

The Thermador is dead quiet compared to subzero. If is fully flush mounted with massive hinges. The compressor is down the bottom. This makes the upper shelf a bit too high for my wife. But it has electric motors to move it up and down (I kid you not!). So if needed, she can use that to get to things but she has not complained yet. The unit is only a few months old so too new to have personal reliability data on.

BTW, in parallel thread, we all sang the praises for Miele. Miele's side-by-side fridge is also OEM'ed from Bosch. They changed a few minor things and made it even more expensive so I don't recommend it (do you need wifi firmware upgrade?). But does show you that they respect the quality and performance that Bosch has created.

So far we are happy but I wish we did not have to fork over so much for these two units. It is insane how expensive they are relative to a standard fridge. We could by 4 Samsung fridges for the same price! That said, it was thousands of dollars cheaper than the Subzero you have linked to above. So in that sense, it is great value .

BTW, I picked my appliances after spending a full year in appliance forum reading every post. It sure is difficult to research such things. So if you have not looked at Bosch and its clones, I suggest taking a look.

 

[amirm]

One more thing . We don't want anyone to see what is inside our fridge. We have enough trouble keeping the rest of the house neat that don't want to think about how we throw things in there. So no glass front for u.

 

[Steve Williams]

One more thing . We don't want anyone to see what is inside our fridge. We have enough trouble keeping the rest of the house neat that don't want to think about how we throw things in there. So no glass front for u.

Thats exactly what my wife said and I am sure she will get her way there. Besides if you get the glass doors then you lose the condiment shelves which would normally be on the inside of the door.

 

[Steve Williams]

I have to disagree . I say this after own the then best Subzero (a 48 inch unit) we bought about 9 years ago. The unit has been and continues to be noisy for such a high-end unit. The two compressors positioned above the unit transmit more sound than units where that is buried in the back or below. Then there is the issue of reliability. The unit came with the wrong drawers in the freezer. Yes, the wrong one. They kept falling out of track. A few years later when we have a repairman fixing something else in it, we asked and he said they were wrong and ordered the new ones. Of course, no warranty coverage and we were charged $300+ dollars.

Amir I wonder if in 9 years they have gotten less noisy as the ones I saw didn't suggest that

It is a Bosch unit sold under that brand, and two upgraded lines: Thermador and Gaggenau.

I did know that but didn't realize they were rated that good. Thanks to your raves I'll keep looking although I am not convinced about the noise factor

 

[rsbeck]

We have the Sub-Zero with the glass door. It is beautiful and every woman that comes to our house seems to want one just like it. It is virtually silent and the various drawers with their various functions makes it an excellent kitchen tool.

We keep all of our condiments in the bottom drawer.

We do that because you do lose a fair amount of efficiency when you lose those pockets inside the door.

It's a tough call. Fantastic refrigerator/freezer, looks great, silent, you have to do a little bit more work to make organizing shelf-space as efficient as you'd like.

Keep in mind, we're a family of five with a teenage son and we have guests and entertain a fair amount so we do big Costco runs and stuff our refrigerator.

 

[Steve Williams]

I'm glad you corroborated my thoughts about noise as I heard none. Amir they have come a long way in 9 years

Rob your use of the shelves is exactly what we planned

Not sure I could deal with 60" side by side however

 

[amirm]

.. although I am not convinced about the noise factor

Every review of Subzero in consumer reports them as being noiser than the best units. On scale 1 to 4 with 4 being the quietest, they give it a 3. So it is not just me saying it.

They have not however tested this specific unit. So perhaps it is quieter. And 3 out of 4 is also very quiet relative to some other fridges. But when you fork over $15K for a fridge, it better be absolutely silent....

 

[amirm]

Not sure I could deal with 60" side by side however

That's not the only size. You have a choice of 24 and 30 inch for the fridge and freezer in Bosch series. So you can for example have 24 for fridge and 24 for freezer (48 total), 30 for freezer and 24 for fridge, etc. Lot of flexibility when each unit is stand-alone. I just got tired of hearing the fridge is full and bought the two 30's .

 

[Steve Williams]

well here is the generic question...........Stainless steel finish right or did you go with wood to match your cabinets

 

[amirm]

We went with wood paneling to save on constant cleaning. Our dishwasher in one house is stainless and it is never says clean. So in the second house, we went with paneling on that one too.

The other thing is that there is no such thing as too many cabinets but a big huge stainless steel panel may be too much of a good thing. It can look industrial, clashing with the rest of the kitchen.

 

[Jay_S]

I have a 36-inch wide Sub Zero with the stainless steel finish. I love the look. But consistent with the comments above, low noise is not one of this unit's strengths. Nor is reliability. Every couple of years it seems like I have $600+ in repairs. Also, the local authorized repair agents have been good but very busy. I usually have to wait a couple of weeks before I can get them out to do the repair, plus additional time for parts to arrive before the second visit. At least the parts are available. Next time I will definitely look for another brand.

 

[Steve Williams]

how old is yours Jay?

 

[Jay_S]

I don't remember when I bought mine but it has been some years and therefore my experiences (except for service availability) may not be comparable. My repairs last year were not covered by the lengthy warranty that Sub-Zero provides on some of the component parts.

 

[kach22i]

$700/month electric bill.

Between that electric ground/heat pump, your stereo which I assume is on most of the time, and the older appliances you do have a heck of an electric bill.

I'll be reading this thread, looks like you have done your homework.

 

[SORAsound]

Steve. We have a subzero and I like it very much. Ours is 36". For such a huge appliance, the inside feels pretty small. Overall I would not call it noisy but i have noted that when i put it on really cold, i get a bit of noise. Like most audiophiles I am pretty sensitive to noise that could be controlled so I hear it if noisy. I would say it is probably better than the units 9 years ago (ours is 3 years old) but still on a scale of zero to 10, with zero being dead quiet, it is 2 or 3.
Amir, you had some good info. if I were to do everything over, i would have done my kitchen fully Gaggenau appliances as well. I love their design and the fact that they are not common.

 

[ack]

Another thumbs down for SubZ because of motor noise, although we replaced our 15-yr old one with a brand new stainless steel 611 two to three years ago, despite this fact, because the old one had been exceptionally reliable and haven't ever had to replace anything, down to the bulbs, so thumbs up from a reliability perspective. The new one is very efficient as well.

 

[vinylphilemag]

which makes me pause each month with my $700/month electric bill.

$700 per month?! Youch! I have a heart attack when ours goes above $200 for two months! (We get billed every two months for our electricity.) Fortunately, that tends to only happen in summer, when the AC is on most of the day.

 

[amirm]

$700 per month?! Youch! I have a heart attack when ours goes above $200 for two months! (We get billed every two months for our electricity.) Fortunately, that tends to only happen in summer, when the AC is on most of the day.

I think once the had the fiasco with power companies a few years back, CA power rates shot up and stayed there. Here in pacific northwest, we enjoy 6 to 8 cent Killowatt/hour! I just switched away from oil furnace to heat pump and saved a bundle in return! I suspect is cheaper than even natural gas to heat one's house here this way.

What are the rates in CA Steve? I think last I heard it could be as high as 16 cents KW/Hour.

 

[Steve Williams]

I think once the had the fiasco with power companies a few years back, CA power rates shot up and stayed there. Here in pacific northwest, we enjoy 6 to 8 cent Killowatt/hour! I just switched away from oil furnace to heat pump and saved a bundle in return! I suspect is cheaper than even natural gas to heat one's house here this way.

What are the rates in CA Steve? I think last I heard it could be as high as 16 cents KW/Hour.

IIRC it is 17 cents/KWH but if you exceed your threshhold it jumps to 42 cents/KWH