My misadventures with fridges began when i bought house 6 years ago. Having no fridge the realtor gave me one as a gift. It was large, old and of good quality.
However, I had an opportunity to buy a new fridge which I was told would lower my electric bill. instead, I saw zero savings over the old one and the new Kenmore broke down after about a year and a half, and after four years was kaput. I was not used to such poor durability in a fridge.
To replace it I bought another Kenmore about $500 but the noise was intolerable so I returned it and tried a Frigidaire (turned out to be the same model under the different badge) which was also no good. Neither of these regulated the freezer temperature better than 0-25 degree range. But it was the buzzing which i could not take. I returned the second one.
This time I bought a Montgomery-Ward almond color 18 cu feet from a church for $40. They had it as extra. This fridge meets my needs. It is by no means silent, but the sound is a whooshing noise like a fan or a/c and in no way offensive. There is a small tear in the fridge door gasket and i have ordered a new gasket.
Based on my original disappointment with the vaunted efficiency of the modern refrigerator, I am not automatically assuming that this fridge will prove more expensive to run even though it is older. But I wonder just how old it is? Does anyone know the date of manufacture or an estimate? There is no date on the back label.