Is this one of those American things, or am I just ignorant?
I’ve never changed, or heard about changing a water filter in the fridge 🤔😵💫 sounds like I’m living a unclean life…
It really is weird. I guess from other comments that this is something about those fancy and expensive fridges that no normal people have with water dispenser on the door and ice sometimes… Maybe?
At least 50% of American fridges do indeed have ice and filtered water dispensers built in and I think they’re great :) ice cold, delicious water any time of the day? Yes please.
They’re not even that “fancy/expensive” as it’s fairly standard
if i want cold water, i just let the tap water run for a bit and drink that. granted, its not ice cold, but do you really need it to be freezingly cold?
Honestly, yes. Frigid water is extremely tasty
look at mr. freeze over there 😎
Something something, ICE TO MEET YOU! something something.
The water in my sink only gets lukewarm at the coldest.
It gets pretty much ice cold where I live. It’s nice
The last time I got a fridge I bought the cheapest one it could find. It dispensed water but did not have an ice maker.
ice cold, delicious water any time of the day
I just turn the tap to cold for that
I do like that my countries tap water is perfectly drinkable/inflammable. I have no need for such fridges.
Just fyi inflammable means flammable .
https://youtu.be/Q8mD2hsxrhQ?si=LfqrhXvprpebrcJT
Inflammable is something that can be inflamed
But in case anyone was at risk of thinking they understood the logic of the English language, flammable also means inflammable, so good luck.
Most of North America, the tap water is perfectly drinkable; but it can still be improved with extra filtration.
These also provide water colder than a tap can.
To be clear, very much a luxury item, not a necessity in any way. They’ve just become quite common over here.
The filters are also particulate filters; they won’t do much if your water is actually considered unhealthy due to bacterial contamination/you’re on a boil water notice.
Wait…mnot only do y’all not have garbage disposers; you don’t have refrigerators with built in ice machines and water filters? That’s crazy. You you’re just stuck having to get ice from those little refillable trays?
What would you need a machine to make ice in a freezer? Sounds stupid.
It’s not. It’s about the quantity. How many trays for ice are you going to keep in the freezer? The machine makes constant ice so multiple people can use the ice and you don’t need to refill the tray everytime and wait.
I never fill an ice tray or open the door. I simply put my cup up to the front of the fridge and ice falls into it. Cubed or crushed. Having to use those little ice trays and pop cubes out of it every time you want ice is what sounds stupid.
Does your fridge have plumbing + a water/ice dispenser in the door?
A regular fridge obviously wouldn’t need cleaning of parts it doesn’t have.
Ooooh that makes sende. No my fidge doesn’t, and I’ve never seen that IRL. It looks useful, when I want ice cubes I need to manually fill an ice tray/bag and put that in the freezer.
I had no idea some countries didn’t have ice machines as a pretty much standard option. It’d be hard to even find a house built in the past 25 years that wasn’t pre-plumbed for a waterline for the fridge. I never really thought about it, before.
Some fridges have a water/ice dispenser built into the door. Not all American fridges have it and it’s available in other markets too.
Ever watch Red Dwarf? That was Lister and Rimmer’s job.
US people have a fetish about ice cold drinks that’s not very common outside of their country.
Like “the brits drink warm beer (6° instead of -2°), what kind of prehistoric shit is that⸘”
No, they don’t.
I’m American. Yes they do. If it isn’t some alcoholic beverages, hot cofee, milk, or orange juice, it comes with ice. We even have iced coffee. And slurpees.
Ummm… What water filter?
Y’know, the one that adds that moldy flavor to the water and ice.
I don’t usually lick the ice buildup off the back of the fridge, but I’ll keep it in mind if I ever choose to.
lol Your fridge doesn’t have a filter if it doesn’t have an ice maker or water dispenser.
I don’t usually lick the ice buildup off the back of the fridge
Me neither. That’s a “sometimes treat”, to quote Cookie Monster betraying everything he ever believed in and indeed was.
Now now, most of us can’t just scarf down cookies and then run around like crazy like we could when we were young. Cut old Cookie some slack, his metabolism isn’t what it used to be.
While you have MOST of a point, I’m 99% sure that him having any sort of metabolism isn’t canon, let alone one that’s changed with age 😄
Water from your … fridge?
In our country we have faucets. You can get cold water, hot water or mix it with knobs on spout.
Or you mean the waste water from ice build-up ?? Oh, now it kind of makes sense…
North America, particularly 1990-2010, fridges with a water dispenser and ice maker built in were/are pretty common. 3 of the 5 houses I lived in as a kid had one.
Filtered, colder-than-tap water, and effectively unlimited ice without having to screw around with ice cube trays. Some also provide heated water that’s far cleaner than what comes out of a typical hot water tank, but that feature is rare in my experience.
They have a filter in the water inlet, and should be cleaned inside/out roughly every 6 months (that part is neglected more often than not).
Having an automatic ice maker in the freezer is pretty awesome. then if you have water running to your fridge you may as well have a chilled water dispenser.
I don’t really care for fridge water but some people like very cold water and the tap isn’t always that cold.
These fridges provide ~4c filtered water and some provide ice. A few even provide two different sizes of ice.
I think I have one of those ice cube trays in my freezer. The last time I used any was probably 3ish months ago or so? I this this about sums up the need I can see in a fridge that has a tap connection to provide ice…
NeedWant.Everyone’s different.
My mother empties and refills the 4 trays in her freezer daily.
“There’s this light on the front of my fridge. It’s some kind of error thing, it says ‘replace water filter?’ Why should a water filter only last six months. That’s ridiculous. My last refrigerator never did this. I paid a lot of money for this appliance and I feel it’s really unfair that you’re trying to tell me I’m somehow responsible for this. This is unacceptable. When can I expect delivery of my new refrigerator? You have to understand I’m not a technical person, I should not be asked to mess with this myself. I am absolutely not paying for a technician visit for this. This refrigerator is clearly defective and I want a new one. What do you mean consumables are not covered by warranty? What is a consumable? No, that is unacceptable. If you don’t deliver a new refrigerator to me right away I am going to charge back my credit card. I am very disappointed in this purchase and your company’s performance.”
You are bringing back bad retail days memories lol
As if its the most natural thing for a fridge to have a water or ice dispenser .
Nobody that i know have these and the one that i have seen at a random person, they never used it!
Why were you in a random person’s kitchen :P
This comment thread is a clash highlighting the ridiculous lengths we humans go under capitalism to get/normalize completely unnecessary luxury items
I replace the water filters the way I wash my legs: I don’t.
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I DO clean the nozzle - but I removed the water filter. There was a bypass piece.
I bet leaving an old filter in is WAY worse than a bypass, since there’s nothing to get stale/gross.
But… Do you really?
How much does a fridge filter actually filter? I am perfectly fine with drinking out of the tap, and the fridge is just filtering the tap water…
To me it just seems like a cash grab.
Then use no filter but never never let the accumulated bacteria inside the filter fester for too long.
Emphatically, without question, YES the filter needs to be replaced and the lines need to be cleaned out regularly. You should try cleaning out the underside of your taps sometimes, too. Water == life, and not just ours, so things grow in it.
Augh. Makes me think of the time I discovered nobody had ever cleaned the Keurig at work… I’ll never forget when I wiped down the inside of the water tank and discovered the plastic was clear, not frosted gray like I originally thought 🤢
Post it again just to be sure
Damn, people on Lemmy get weird when you have something slightly nice in your house now?
We have a whole house water filter so the fridge one is redundant. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that in our fridge when you remove the filter it the water path just goes into a bypass mode. So we are filterless in the fridge (because we filter elsewhere) and don’t need the filter nag from the fridge.
That’s what I do as well. The fridge, water machine and the coffee maker all get filtered water and I have a flow meter to check the filter usage.
This reminded me to change my filter last night and stop ignoring the red light that has been on for 3 months lol. Thanks.
Why would I need a water filter or drink water directly from a fridge?
The water is cold all the time. It’s nice. My mom’s has it. One day, I too will hopefully join the upper echelon of cold water having fridge people.
You drink less if the water is cold.
Western people drink too less water on average.
My tap water is cold as well
It can filter out some of the shitty things municipal/rural water has in it.
Edit. I’m seeing a different post of yours. There are SO many places in America where you should not drink the tap water.
America
That’s the answer probably. In Germany the tap water is more regulated than bottled water and it can even be used for baby food.
Not cold cold tho
Cold enough for me
These are questions AI can answer
Chatgpt:
Using a water filter ensures that the water you consume is free from impurities, contaminants, and unpleasant tastes or odors. Drinking water directly from a fridge with a built-in water dispenser provides convenience and often includes filtration to improve water quality. It’s all about ensuring you have access to clean, refreshing water easily.
Sounds like something you would need in a third world country.
Exactly. For further evidence, see our healthcare funding system
I rented a place that had one of these. It’s just another thing to forget about maintaining.
A huge percentage of my life I’ve spent working outdoors in remote settings, drinking water from plastic jugs or bags. Maybe that means I’m just wired differently but I don’t really understand the desire to have chilled water in the first place.
Hey Skelly, when’s the last time you cleaned your dishwasher filter? And replaced your HVAC filter?
