apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There are a lot of comments on this recent post about Fagor...perhaps this is a good place to start.

I haven't actually used the Fagor fridge but I saw it at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show a couple of years ago.

It definitely seems like Fagor is copying the popular high end designs to provide a product that is less expensive. They do have some interesting products that I think are unique to them as well.

As far as the fridge goes, it looks very similar to the Liebherr. The Fagor is less expensive for a few reasons. The biggest reason, in my opinion, is the fact that it has one compressor as opposed to two. The Liebherr has two compressors, one for the fridge and one for the freezer. Who really needs two compressors you ask? Well, if you don't, then you're not losing out. Oh, and not sure, but, it may not have an ice maker either (don't quote me on that).

The construction of the Fagor fridge is comparable to any of the stainless type fridges you would get at Best Buy, Home Depot, etc. In other words, it looks good.

So, I believe there will always be a premium placed on specialized designs. The fact that the Fagor is counter depth and narrow, with a bottom freezer makes it pretty specialized compared to other fridges. It also looks cool.

I believe there is a cabinet company in Chicago called Modern Habitat that may be a dealer for Fagor. You could try giving them a call or sending them an email.
Indeed they are a Fagor rep http://www.modernhabitatchicago.com/productlines/fagor.shtml
The owners are very nice.

I looked at a condo here in Chicago that had Fagor appliances. Although I know little about them, they are certainly pretty and seemed to be of high quality. The developer/cabinet company is Unico here in Chicago. They probably have more information on the product.

I asked the Kitchen Direct rep about this fridge, and he said that it used 1.307 kWh/day, which adds up to 477 kWh/year. Running some quick numbers the Energy Star adjusted volume of this refrigerator is 14.96 cubic feet. The federal standard (per 2004 guidelines) for this size bottom-mount freezer model would be 448.64 kWh/year, and to qualify for the Energy Star label the Fagor would have to use 15% less energy than the federal standard, or less than 381 kWh/year. I'm not sure whether this will end up qualifying, which is a shame because it looks great and the manufacturer makes all sorts of eco-friendly claims.

Maybe someone can point out where I went wrong with these numbers or tell me why it's still okay to buy this fantastic fridge? Perhaps the issues people have with their Vestfrost/Summit models make this a better choice for durability.