The first time the tech came, he thought that the freezer was in refrigerator mode and he reset it (I was dubious because it wasn't as cold as a fridge either). The next day, the temp was still about 48 degrees so another service call was scheduled for two days later. The same tech came out and with the help of the installer (who happened to be there installing the fridge), it was determined that the door switch was defective. The switch was taped down and now the freezer is cold and making ice while we wait for the new switch to come in. Hopefully that's what it is. I'm a little worried that it's not the switch, but the door not closing properly and therefore not engaging the switch. We'll find out next week. Fingers crossed.

It's a Whirlpool, model number is ET18PK I do think it's OLD like about 20 years old really! I think though, I'm not sure. It is in excellent condition as far is how it looks, I think they just had the seals replaced because they look new. I wouldn't be surpised if it went out as old as it is but it was working just fantastic before yesterday :( I cannot turn the freezer temp down any more as it is set as low as it will go and it only gets to 5 now...really it's staying more like at about 15 degrees now. Each time I check it it's something different but I haven't seen 5 on it since this morning, more like between 10 and 20. The coils look to be pretty clean, not spotless but certainly not globbed up with dust either. A few dust bunnies...nothing major. Repair guy is coming tomorrow, I'll be sure and update and see what he finds out! ACK!

Thanks, dennisgli. Glad to hear from a happy F-P person. I haven't been able to see the model you have, or the one that replaced it. It doesn't seem to have a FD option any more, which is livable for us. The one in the appliance shop is just a titch bigger, which is actually a downside for us as we want to keep things as low profile as we can. I was impressed with the amount of fridge space, though. Particularly on the door... There were a few GW threads talking about both the freezer and the fridge not being able to get cold enough that scared me off of F-P when we were prepared to purchase. Now, I am rethinking it again and will do more research (ugh). ahoyhere - what people talk about on-line, and it resonates for me, is that when short people with a small arm research (or bad backs) try to bend into freezer drawers and pull large things out of the bottom, it can be difficult (or painful). This resonates with me, as someone with a short reach and bad back. In those cases, it is actually easier to open a bottom door and have full access via squating than having to bend over and reach down and in. I totally get your loathing of squating for the crisper drawers and we are sold on a bottom freezer for that reason. Surely we access the freezer less than the fridge. However, it doesn't negate the point that proper back mechanics (which matter to those of us with back pain) involve using the knees (squatting) versus bending over and using back muscles to lift ourselves and items up. Your Pininterest page is a lot of fun. Appliance eye candy, which I couldn't appreciate until this remodel. I took some repins for my own underused pininterest page. Thank you! By the way, we have one of those single induction burners that we purchased to use during the remodel - it sold us on getting an induction range. Just LOVE it. Ginny20 - I have no idea about whether Samsung's ice maker/water can be shut off. And I really, really do not want water on the door. I'm not loving that the Samsung CD sticks out so far past the cabinets, either. And, apparently the service and repair issues are nightmarish up here in Alaska. The appliance repair folks who used to repair them have dropped them because it is just so bad to work with them. I really don't want to treat a major appliance like a disposable item, which is basically what I'd have to do with Samsung. Take my chances that I get a good one - be prepared to take it to the dump if it breaks... I went out again and did the rounds. Fell in love with the Liebherr's looks again, as I do every time I see it. For sure, it would look the best. It's the thinnest, narrowest and most integrated look. It's also freaking pricey...and the freezer storage seems pretty slim. Thanks for the feedback, folks. I'm still not sure where this boat is going to land.

I just went through all of this. Here are my findings......... nobody at the HUGE appliance business i purchased my combo fridge/freezer knows anything about this issue except: "putting a combo fridge/freezer in a garage won't work - unless the garage is heated, because they're not designed to be in a cold garage" is all they could offer. they don't know "why" only that they won't work properly. So I'm a degreed Control System Engineer for 35 years and very anal with getting things to work - so I wanted to get to the bottom of this. The problem with my combo fridge freezer is that the thermostat is located only in the refrigerator. No thermostat in the freezer. So when i put the combo fridge freezer in my cold garage (garage temp got down into the 30's at times) the thermostat in the fridge was satisfied and never turned on the compressor. Consequently the freezer wasn't cold enough. Solution ? I put a thermostat in the freezer and wired it in parallel to the refrigerator thermostat so that if either thermostat called for cooling - the compressor would run. fridge thermostat setpoint = 35 deg freezer thermostat setpoint = 0 deg. it's been about a week now and all is working well. everything in freezer is frozen and nothing in fridge is frozen. I am fortunate to be handy and know electrical systems and wiring - so i was able to do this myself. If you can't do this yourself or can't find someone who can, try looking for a fridge/freezer combo that has independent thermostats (one in fridge and one in freezer) and try that. I found it interesting that when I called this HUGE appliance store that i bought my unit from, and talked to people in customer service, sales and service - that nobody knew why my unit did not work properly in a cold garage..........all they could say is "they are not designed for that" (idiots...) One more thing - if you see the "heating element" accessory offered as a "quick fix" for this situation, know this...............all that does is heat up the thermostat in the refrigerator to make the compressor run more to keep the freezer frozen. Yes this works but your electric bill may be higher because it may be causing your compressor to run when it doesn't need to. It's basically a band aid fix. If you have no choice - maybe try that accessory. Better than nothing i suppose. reach me at lwallace@pcsoc.com if you need more help.