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Six steps to choosing the best refrigerator

5. Pick your brand(s)

Natalie Behring/Reuters/File
A row of refrigerators are on sale in a store selling home appliances and electronics in New York in this 2010 file photo. While the US is awash in brands, three American manufacturers account for more than 20 of the more popular brands.

  • By Jessica Snow Contributor

Consumer reviews often break down appliances by brand, but it’s good to realize that only a few companies actually manufacture most of the major brands out there. For example:

  • GE manufactured brands include General Electric, Kenmore, and Hotpoint.
  • Whirlpool manufactured brands include Maytag, Inglis, Kenmore, Admiral, Roper, Estate, KitchenAid, Crosley, Jenn-Air, Amana, Glenwood, Hardwick, Magic Chef, and Caloric.
  • Frigidaire manufactured brands include Tappan, Kelvinator, Gibson, White-Westinghouse, and Westinghouse.

Some of the other well known refrigerator brands include Samsung and LG.

Feature-rich refrigerators have a tendency to be more popular and each manufacturer makes one or more brands that are considered high-end or premium. These include GE, Whirlpool, Maytag, Frigidaire, Thermador and KitchenAid, as well as relative new-comers to the appliance scene, Electrolux, Samsung, and LG. If you’re only looking for something to get the job done, don’t shy away from more value-based brands such as Amana, Hotpoint, Caloric,and Tappan. Having a hard time deciding which to go with? Consider consulting Consumer Reports and/or CNET before buying to browse product reviews and find out which brands are topping the lists that week.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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