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The initial batches of Panasonic were made by Videocon. But on our double door, it is written 'Malaysia'. This fridge just refuses to die, and we need a bigger capacity. So quite a dilemma. LOL. Hitachi had a 350 liter in their line up, and their fridges work well as well (Malaysia make again)

We picked up a Samsung 465 L Double door (without door handle) model and have been very satisfied with everything on offer so far - Cooling, features, product quality, space and ergonomics, and lastly the looks.

However, smaller capacity models from LG and Samsung that we saw during our evaluation were not good in terms of space and ergonomics.

We liked Hitachi during our search process and their smaller capacity models were also good. The reason we did not buy that is simply the cost. Hitachi was way more expensive than Samsung that we picked. Mainly due to the deal that we got on Samsung as opposed to no deal on Hitachi.

We got a Panasonic 300L exactly 7 years ago and are more than satisfied with the refrigerator. The build quality & finish is great and the bottom mounted freezer is very practical. The only 2 issues in the design that I could point out is that the door doesn't have a lock (though it doesn't bother me) and the other, it cannot hold more than 2 bottles of water on the inside rack of the door (probably to reduce load on the door hinge). Another minor issue that I used to have was that the compressor, while running, made some krrrr like noise. This was due to the vibrations transmitted to the body which I got rid of by adding rubber bushes to the bolts holding the compressor. The fridge has been absolutely noiseless since then. In all, I would either choose Panasonic or Hitachi. Sharp used to make good ones too, but I am not sure if the company still survives.

Regards,
Saket

Thanks for the feedback guys. We have narrowed it down to LG / Panasonic / Samsung. Bosch has a model that seems to be pretty good (KDN43VL40I online only?) but then again I'm not sure how good their service is in Kerala.

My current refrigerator is a 38 year old Hitachi (made in Japan) still running on original parts including the paint job and the only reason we are looking for a replacement is due to the higher power consumption. Beat that !

People here living in smaller flats - where do you keep your washing machine? I have had a washing machine in the bathroom for 14 years now in different flats. 13 out of those 14 years was my old LG top loader which was replaced by another LG top loader last year. The new one gives shocks on touching some plastic parts. I have called LG two times, 1st one gave some nonsense reason. 2nd one said that if I keep the Washing Balance in the bathroom, this is bound of happen because of the humidity and moisture. I generally googled around & it seems the problem with keeping in bathroom is more do with corrosion but it should not give a shock. I am thinking of pursuing it further with LG.

The guy opened the end part of the top where there are some circuits & even inside there is a lot of residual electricity (as shown by a tester). It seems like bad design if a washing machine can't handle a place with moisture.

I used to be a big fan of LG but my last 2 purchases (TV & Washing Machine) have both given problems! My earlier purchases made 14 years back were all great.

Hehe, welcome to life in Mumbai :)

We fortunately have a separate place designed for washing machine in our flat. But for those who don''t I have seen people keeping the same in multiple places other than the bathroom itself:

1) Kitchen - One rented flat that I stayed in Mumbai had an area allotted for the same in the kitchen itself. If you too have the space available, you may just need to add the power supply fittings there. Drainage will be via Kitchen sink.

2) Common lobby area - near the common washbasin, if available. Another common place to keep the machine. Since you have a top load you can move it around the house when not needed, if it is of semi-automatic type.

3) Balcony - If you have one and it is slightly covered from above. A good place for 9 months of the year. Take it in during monsoons :)

4) Any dry area behind the kitchen available?

Problem with google is it is cluttered with too much of noise and you have to dig deeper to find nuggets of facts. Coming to the topic of locating electronic gadgets in humid locations like bath room, it is the condensation that affects electronics. When you take a hot bath using water above 60 degree C, the steam and the enhanced moisture forms droplets of water. You can see this in the mirror. When the condensation forms minute droplets of water, it will conduct electricity resulting in electric shock. Theoretically pure water will have high impedance. But colloidal particles in the air and the impurities when mixed with droplets of water will lower the resistance to the conduction of electricity.

Bottomline : Water and electricity mix together with 'fatal' results.

I don't allow any electric gadgets (hair dryer included) inside bathroom. Only exception is the water heater.

Shouldn't the washing machine be designed such that the electronics are protected from this? As I said, my earlier LG was in my bathroom for 13 years without any such problem. The body corroded after 13 years & I junked it but the electrical/electronics did not face any problem at all.

Had shortlisted this Samsung refrigerator - https://www.samsung.com/in/refrigera...RT56K6378SLTL/.

The width x depth is approx 31 inches by 30 inches. Provided the dimensions to the designer doing my kitchen. It just hit me the Kitchen door is only about 29 inches wide. Any idea if a fridge can be disassembled slightly during transport and installation?

Thanks in advance!

I'm moving to a new flat (rented). There is a wash basin in the common area. I idea is to replace the basin to a square type basin with rear drainage hole and keep my front loader washing machine below it. The idea is to get as much place as possible below the basin and keep the WM as snugly fit below the basin.

Is it practically doable?

Depends if there is sufficient space to slide the machine beneath the wash basin and also accommodate the plumbing for 'intake & exhaust'...I mean...inlet and drain of both the wash basin and the machine itself.

Remember, you can also use front loaders as a table top; we do. We have put the front loader and the dishwasher side by side, which thankfully share the same height. By covering the top with a table cover, it serves as a good sturdy table top.
You can also place the front loader under your kitchen cabinet given the space and plumbing possibilities.

Regards,
Saket

Looking to combine our existing LG front-loader and IFB dryer units into a single washer-dryer. The advantages are a single machine leading to better space utilization, lower(?) electricity bills and less noise (the IFB dryer is very noisy).

Combo machines were very expensive earlier but I see a couple on Amazon at ~50K:
Bosch 8 kg/5 kg Inverter Washer Dryer (WVG30460IN, White, Inbuilt Heater)
https://www.amazon.in/Bosch-Washer-D...s%2C307&sr=8-1

LG 9 kg Inverter Fully-Automatic Front Loading Washer Dryer (F4J8VHP2SD.AESPEIL, Luxury Silver, Inbuilt Heater)
https://www.amazon.in/LG-Inverter-Fu...s%2C307&sr=8-3

Any tips? Only mod I need to do is routing the dryer exhaust through the kitchen window. The current separate dryer unit is in the garage so no outlet was needed.

Don't bother with these combo. More things to go wrong and you can only dry half load. So after the wash you need to remove half the clothes, run the dryer. Then run the dryer again for other half. Plus most are imported and parts are not easy to come by.

I picked up a separate washer and dryer last year from Bosch. They sell a vertical stacking kit for 2K so I got the dryer installed on top of the washer. 7KG front load bosch for 22K and similar 7KG dryer for 29K. 2K for the stacking kit.

Fits perfectly in my utility.

+1 to Viddy. Usually, the driers in combo units are condensation type dryers not the conventional hot air dryers. Two problems with condensation dryers.

1. They take long time to dry. I remember having read about 3 to 4 hours to dry.
2. They consume water for the condenser. They take as much water (sometimes more) as they use for the wash cycle.

You will be spending more electricity and water with these combo units.

Thank you both Vid & Graaja. Dropping the plan as of now. Will look to possibly replace the noisy IFB dryer with a quieter one. @Vid6639: Is the Bosch dryer very quiet in operation or does it bother people within earshot. The IFB one is very irritating - I will measure the noise level and revert as well.