Whirlpool - 36-inch Wide Side-by-Side Refrigerator - 25 cu. ft. .- Black Stainless - Black Stainless Steel

Pros and cons for this model: Pros: 1. The stainless steel finish tends to match other non-Whirlpool kitchen products. The fridge doesn’t necessarily look out-of-place when placed with other brands. 2. Decent price and seemingly frequently on sale although I had to wait until Black Friday to get the best price. 3. Best Buy seemed to offer the best extended warranty program. My previous refrigerator lasted 20 years; all signs point to more recent refrigerator offerings not lasting as long, especially in lieu of digital controls over old-school knob controls. Out of all the available offerings as well as all the competition, I went with the manufacturer, retailer and warranty program that pointed to getting the most mileage out of a big-ticket appliance. Best Buy's offerings had the best that I could find, all things considered. Appliances Manager Levi offered some great assistance as well as fielding twenty questions about everything imaginable, so "Hat's Off!" to great customer assistance at the point of sale. 4. Handles are installed by a setscrew in a recess hole. The obvious discipline is to lubricate both recess and threads of the Allen (hex key) screws before the handle installation to ensure any future removal, if necessary. Some manufacturers and models are not as user-friendly as this one. Cons: 1. If the buyer has to remove the doors in order to get it into the house, be prepared for a challenge. The owner’s manual showed the incorrect screws to remove at the top hinges. The bottom has water connection hoses and brackets that you may need to photograph in order to make sure reconnection is done properly. Even the guys in the YouTube video about removing the doors on this exact same model complained about the lack of proper engineering behind this door application. Be prepared if you, too, have to remove the doors. Add to that screws on the bottom of the skids in the shipping assembly have to be removed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to have two people when unpacking this refrigerator as it has to be tipped up and get as much weight off the bottom in order to remove the plastic skids. 2. Other manufacturers and models had better space accommodations in the freezer department around the top where the ice maker is located. Some space is wasted for accommodating the front of the ice maker where other models have an additional shelf for food storage. 3. No cantilever shelves in the refrigerator for user-designated, at-will shelf height. Whirlpool shelves—at least on this model—are all fixed-height. They do offer an additional crisper drawer, which is nice. It would be nicer to have multiple built-in cantilever brackets and shelves, especially around holiday times where some larger food items like turkeys can be better accommodated for the time being. After the larger items are used, shelf heights can be quickly restored to previous levels. It would be easy for Whirlpool to reconfigure and add cantilever shelves and shelf brackets. 4. Kinda weird temperature control. The best end-user discipline for getting the most mileage out of an appliance is to set the temp controls where the refrigerator keeps food at optimum storage temps while not making it work too hard to do so. Out of the five available settings for each compartment, my freezer temp is set at the lowest level and the temp still bottoms out at zero degrees. On the other hand, the refrigerator temp control is set at level 3 and the temp stays about 32 to 33 degrees.; i.e., not cold enough to freeze but easily cold enough to keep milk and food at least up to an expiration date without going bad. While those temps at that level aren't bad, it would appear that the controls and system for the refrigerator compartment have to work harder to keep the best temp. It would be better if the end-user could set BOTH compartment levels at the lowest setting(s) and still get the desired temps for both the best (and longest) possible food storage while making it possible for the refrigerator to not work as hard to get those temps. The less the refrigerator has to work, the longer it would last.

Looks nice works great in cooling food .. had to have the 1st one replaced due to the ice machine not working. The second one is working fine, but still in doubt if it will have the same problem. And missing the can soda holder.

Overall, the refrigerator is very sleek and I have found the unit to be very quiet and holding temperature. My one complaint is that the refrigerator side lighting seems very dim. I’m trying to research but the model did not come with an upper light shield which I’m not sure it should have but is definitely limiting light flow on the upper shelves and to the left side