They are typically the first thing to break on a refrigerator, and they're costly to repair. I'm sure using daily or not will not make much difference.

I hate them and much prefer an ice-maker in the freezer. Hard to find anything other than built-in's these days, without them, so clearly I'm in the minority!

Our fridge is 4-5 years old and hubby used the ice dispenser several times a day. So far, it's going strong.

There are two things about it that I don't like. It leaves waters spots and white residue (from our water filter/softener around the dispenser and quite often (daily) a cube of ice that was left in the chute that dispenses ice will melt just enough that it falls out onto the kitchen floor. If I don't see the ice at the time it falls on the floor and pick it up, a water spot is left on the floor. I do like the crushed ice and hubby loves the darn thing.

Our water and ice dispensers are used heavily. We’ve never had them break on the 2 (maybe 3?) different refrigerators that we have owned that have them. We do change the filter as scheduled.

What has happened was a leak in the water line from the wall to the refrigerator. Leak happened while we were away, the whole house flooded, flooring ruined throughout the house. This refrigerator and water line was under 5 years old, so be sure you have a good water line. Ours is now stainless.

That happened to us too maddielee, except the line froze while we were away. I'd been wanting new hardwood floors, but that is not the way I wanted to get them!

The lesson we took away from that experience was to always shut off the water to the house if we are going to be away for an extended period, especially in the winter. But, in our defense, we didn't know we were going to be gone - my brother died unexpectedly and we were snowed out by a winter storm that was much worse than forecast. When we got back from his funeral, we were unable to get home. It was the perfect storm (no pun intended).

I've had mine for almost 13 yrs no problems. I use it every day. I rarely ever use the water dispenser.

Have used it daily multiple times on various fridges and never had a problem. My GE profile fridge I had before the flood had a design flaw in the ice maker. The part that pushed out the ice was plastic and kept breaking up into pieces. It was replaced several times. All the others including my current one have worked great.

I am on maybe my 3rd refrigerator with ice and water in the door. Wouldn’t be without it as water is my main drink and I use it all the time. We don’t have kids so ours stays clean and I wipe out the nozzle periodically with alcohol or vinegar. I have never had a refrigerator failure due to failure of the ice or water dispenser. It’s always been age (the first one) and the compressor on the second. We have a whole house water filter in addition to the filter in the refrigerator system and we keep up with changing both.

You can have a shut off valve installed to make it easier to shut off the water supply to your house.

I did not get the in door water/ice dispenser. I decided NOT to enable the ice maker in the freezer compartment, either.

My parents had a lot of trouble over the years with the ice makers - this was back when appliances were made to last.

They also noticed when they were on vacation for a couple of weeks, the ice in the freezer pretty much turned into a solid block.

I use old fashioned ice cube trays, and I buy extra ice for parties. (I'd do the latter anyway.) I do keep water in the fridge sometimes because I like my water either COLD or HOT, not temperate. (I use the SodaStream bottles, giving me the option for fizzying them up should I desire...)

Re whole house water filter -- yep, I have one of those, too. There's so much iron in my well water that otherwise everything would go orange. Can't be good for one!

Thank you for posting this ..... I've been wondering about how good they are .

I tend to only use ice in the summer. Only acceptation is and occasional bourbon. Currently my ice maker is in the blocked state. Fairly easy to fix but messy. Was 70 today for the first time since October so it is time to work on it.

No, they waste space on the interior of the refrigerator. Also I don't drink unfiltered water and prefer to use a filtering pitcher. And yes, I use filtered water to make ice cubes.

I always turn the water to the house off before leaving for an extended time.

I use my exterior ice maker several times daily and would not be without it, but I also have ice trays in the freezer in the garage in case of emergency. My ice maker did break down after about three years (not exactly sure), but I bought a replacement ice maker and installed it myself. The replacement ice maker cost about $115.00, but to me, it is definitely worth it. It is not that difficult to replace the ice maker yourself, and so the only cost is the cost of the replacement. At first I thought there was a simpler part to replace, but that did not work.

We've had it before by I chose not to this time. First of all, I needed a counter-depth refrigerator. They are not that big to begin with and an ice - water dispenser took up half a shelf. I decided to just buy a filtered water dispenser to put in the refrigerator. It's long and narrow and doesn't take up that much room. The ice-maker is in the freezer section with a large bin for the cubes. I prefer the look of the plain uninterrupted doors on the outside.

Our water dispenser is inside the fridge and the ice dispenser is in the freezer. I wanted an unmarred look on the fridge. THe fridge is 9 years old and we've never had a problem. It's a GE and our 20 year old GE is downstairs and still ticking along.

No, I have neither. I have ice makers in the freezers but no through-door gizmos. We use ice cubes only with cocktails. We drink bottled spring water and put it in the fridge to chill it.

Ice and water thru door. Used multiple times a day. I’d only buy it that way I do t want to be opening the fridge and freezer for drinks

My criteria for any refrigerator is that the ice maker is in the freezer where it belongs. I find the outside dispensers to be messy and somewhat unhygienic. I have had inside water dispensers in the past and I do like them.

IMHO the less bells and whistles on an appliance the longer it will function. Good luck trying to find one w/o, however. So far the filter clogs much faster than rated, the water dispenser froze and the ice is used so seldom it gets all jammed up. I am not a fan but this is the world we live in. I agree they are unsightly. If I had city water I think most of my issues would evaporate but we don't. If the mechanism can't hold up to daily use then the world really has become more work than it should be!!

We use the under counter water filtration for filtered drinking water at sink and filtered water extended to the enclosed ice maker.

Ours backed up on our last one. Good thing DD was sleeping in the basement that night which is next to the laundry room. She heard "something" and it turned out to be a leak! (She has amazing hearing) The tube froze and and then broke.

I did like that feature, especially with the whole my DD's were growing up. Now, we just have the internal one. That works for me. DH doesn't like iced beverages.

I would research and find out all the preventive maintenance that should be done. I am sure there are things that you can do.

Share, if I had one of those fridge/freezers... I would use it all the time. But instead I have a jug of water in my fridge, and have to open the door all the time, and refill said jug.

Wow I'm surprised at how many don't like them! I find myself drinking way more water than I ever did because of it. Ours has a filter in it and a signal on the panel for when the filter needs changed.

I realized I hadn't included that I fill up 2 big cups of ice every morning to bring to work because I only like ice cold water. That's the ice I wasn't sure if I should put thru the door or just scoop out of the bin to save on the use of the dispenser.

I've almost always had an ice maker in the freezer but never in the door. We love it and even if it doesn't last, I will always want one! Moni, I hope you get one some day too. : )

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts!

I really don't like the internal water dispensers on the newer fridges. There you stand, with the door wide open, while you fill your glass with water. I find that such a waste of energy.

I won't even look for a new fridge, till this one gives up its life. A want and a need are so far away from each other. ;)

Moni

We use it off/on and it's running along smoothly. Mine has a filter inside the refrigerator that the water goes through before making ice or dispensing water in the door. I actually don't drink enough water, and it encourages me since it's easier to get to.

My fridge is 16 years old. The ice maker started leaking last year, so I just turned it off and went back to ice trays. I never used the water very often, but I loved the ice dispenser. My fridge is a side by side and would not get that again. I think I’d get a French door, freezer on the bottom with an interior ice maker.

Our fridge is at least 15 years old: it was here when we moved in, so it's probably more like 20. We use the water dispenser a lot, no issues. I didn't think I would care about it, but it is nice to fill a cold water bottle quickly. We don't use the ice dispenser only because it's faster and easier to reach in to the bin and grab a couple of cubes. But we don't have trouble with that, either. Well, actually, recently it didn't seem to be making ice for a couple of days. Turned out a cube was blocking something; cleared that and ice started dropping again. I love having an ice maker. I'm so spoiled lol.

Dedtired, I would recommend doing research before purchasing a french-door refrigerator. About seven years ago when I was researching I noticed that style reported more service calls than any other style.

It may be that part of the like/dislike has to do with whether you use the refrigerator section or freezer section more.

I wouldn't trust a fridge water filter to remove enough contaminates to suit me. I need one that removes fluoride and that takes a high filtration level. Unfortunately my water co started adding fluoride to our water. :(

Ours is a french door style and I love having the freezer on the bottom.

why is a filter outside the refrigerator more trustworthy?

You need to consider the quality of you water. How often is it tested, where does the water come from? Our city test the water only every 2 years. Some years there is stuff in the water (POOP).

dh is a chemical engineer and has a degree in environmental engineer.

We do not drink nor cook with the city water.

Does your city send you an analysis when they test your water.

All our side-by-sides have had water/cubes/crushed ice through the freezer door since the feature was available. That's three GE's in 40+ years, plus two at the Maui condo. We never had any trouble with the dispensers. I would like to be able to remove the 'outside' part for cleaning. We empty the ice container and stop ice production if we're leaving home for any length of time. We also dump old ice and halt ice production if our consumption lags -- mostly in winter.

Our current counter-depth GE Monogram is almost 18 years old. The freezer is wide enough for a standard 'large' frozen pizza box. We replace the water filter as needed; redundant, as our city water is pure and tasty.

My DIL's French door/bottom freezer failed after seven years. (Don't recall brand.)

My water utility tests and sends quarterly reports on the water quality and contaminants. The water here was fine, no strange tastes and no visible particles and no need for the filtration. Then they reported and started adding fluoride, no, no, no just so wrong.

Rob - I use the highest filtration level pitcher that I can get, it does report the ability to remove fluoride. I have a tester to know when to replace the filters.

My background is in the medical field including the study of chemistry and microbiology.

I'm still not getting why refrigerator filter=bad, but other filters are good? Am I missing something (or are they?!)?

Our Jennair side by side has the water/ ice on the outside and we've used it heavily for 19 years with no problems.

I detest ice/water on the outside of a refrigerator. We have water inside (on the jamb) and an ice maker in the bottom freezer. That works well for us.

...because I assume it would depend on the filter and there likely some great refrigerator brands and some poor external filters as much as there are bad refrigerator brands and great external.

Wouldn't that be the deciding factor? Could just put an external system on the fridge and then you'd have both the convenience and the certainty for which you are looking.

My mother has a fridge with those dispensers. The water tastes funny and the ice is really cloudy.

I don't use either of them when I'm visiting her.

We have one and use it ALL the time. I don’t use the water though - it runs too slow for me.

Last summer, though, we were having problems with the ice flapper - yes, that’s it’s real name. Apparently it wasn’t closing completely every time we got ice and was letting warm air leak up into the freezer. That caused some ice melting/fusing of cubes.

So I finally called the repair guy and he got me a new flapper. Total charges about $110. (And then my electric bill went down cause my freezer had been running excessively! I should have noticed that, but I just didn’t. Duh.)

My refrigerator is about 7 years old and it’s a Frigidaire.

The only problem we've had...is the ice cubes cease to release from the tray. They have all these home remedies: ie spray with pam .....just replace the ice cube tray and it's good for another 10 years. :0)

Ew I wouldn't want oily ice cubes! haha

Hot Rod -- How long as it been between filter replacements at your mom's house? Filters work by retaining some pollutants. They can only hold a given amount. If they aren't replaced often enough they will *add* pollutants to the water.

chisue - the filters are replaced regularly, of course. I think it's something to do with the plastics in the components. I drink water from a Brita-type pitcher when I'm there. It tastes fine.