I also think there is something tucked back somewhere that is the culpret. I have a side by side with ice/water in the door. While doing the floor we had to disconnect the ice maker for about three weeks and finally got it hooked back up (had to move the fridge to different locations while working on the floor) never had any smell from that. Also, I've never had any "smells" in the freezer section migrating to the fridge, but I've had them the other way around plenty of times. It is amazing what can get lost in a fridge - either that or you had a rodent crawl in the back and die - that can be nasty. This happens especially if you put out poison as many are blood thinners and the rodents seek heat sources. Use to happen quite a bit growing up on the farm. I have three cats in the house and don't need to put out poison to control rodents, but I did have one under the fridge about two weeks ago. I pulled it out so the cats could get back there and the next morning it was cats 1 - mouse 0. When your cat spends all day staring at an appliance or cupboard door, you can bet they see/smell/hear something you can't. Cathy

Yeah, it makes sense to expect longer servicing of major devices. OTOH, personally I have never heard of anybody who has had problems with a new fridge, except for internet posters. I may not be the best person to sympathize with the need for long-term servicing as part of an included price. I have a lot of insurance on myself not on things. I never buy extended warrantees. About EnergyStar, which is a dumb rating system, we can agree it will get replaced with some other method one day. The good thing that EnergyStar and EnerGuide have done is to make our society think more all the time about consumption, and in so doing the net result is less consumption. Manufacturers got swayed to get involved without being fed money to do so. Sounds like it worked up till now. According to one EnergyStar site I perused last week, average annual energy consumption of new refrigerators, in kWh/year, was 1984 1990 1997 1999 2004 1457, 1044, 664 , 664 , 465 This was for top-mounted Refrigerators in the size range of 16.5Â18.4 cu. ft. which I believe was considered normal size back in 1984. Today's refrigerators are much better energy performers than older models. This came about without a scandal and without wasting a billion or two on incentives. So even a dumb measuring system can make a positive impact in the right direction. Let's open a new thread to discuss the ideal criteria for an ideal future rating system for refrigerators. David

As has been said by others, if you want to forego the filters altogether, you should follow the process in your manual. The others said you need a "dummy" as well as setting the bypass selection. While the box is the same as my Miele, the controls are different, so your manual is the one to go by. If you don't have it, look on the Thermador website. It should be available as a PDF there. If you can't find it, try AJMadison. If you just want to leave a used filter in there longer than the timer thinks, I'd let the indicator light stay on, so when it stops working you'll remember it's because it needs a new filter.

I was just looking at the Thermador T36BB810SS (bottom freezer 36") and was told by my sales guy that it was discontinued a few days ago and could no longer be ordered. Per the sales guy, the 900 series will not be available until October. The Thermador web site still shows the 800 series. The Big Online Appliance Retailer replaced the 800 series with the 900 series last night. So, yes, I'm thinking you could get an 800 model close-out. It looks like the difference between the 800 and 900 series are the addition of "ThermaFresh," changed lighting, new control panel style, soft close, and "delicate produce" bins in the door.