Fisher & Paykel ActiveSmart 447L Top Freezer

My family had one it lasted 20 years I did a lot of research to find a model similar to that one. It ended up being this. 8 years now with no issues.

Been working well for over 8 years – This fridge has been doing its job for all the time that I bought it 8 years ago. It's quiet, cools well and has been a boring dependable fridge. What more is there to say? Show details

Poor quality with built in design faults – We purchased a new Fisher and Paykel Iridium Finish E440T Fridge in early 2010 for $1849 from Clive Peters Initially the fridge worked fine but within the first 18 months we had several service calls to rectify the following faults: 6months- Plastic door closer assist on the freezer broken and replaced 12 months - Plastic door close assist on… Read more

the fridge broken and replaced

18 months - Exterior handle on fridge replaced

22 months - Thermostat in the fridge section replaced.

After the warranty we have had the following issues with the fridge -

4 years - The plastic door close assist on fridge and freezer break again.

4 years 6 months - Iridium finish on the freezer and fridge door started to peel off around the handle area and then spread to the front of the door panel.

5 years - The crisper drawer automatically opens when the fridge door is opened. We had to secure it with sticky tape.

8 years - Starts to regularly leak water and has ruined kitchen cabinetry as a result of this. This only started after we changed the fridge temperature slightly at Christmas time so as to cater for the hotter weather. We have not been able to get the fridge working correctly since then. It either freezes everything in the fridge or alternately things are not as cold as they should be.

IT was easy to clean and the fridge compartment has a fair bit of room.

We were quoted upwards of $410 to fix the thermostat and the seal to stop the leaking. Due to the cost of fixing the fridge we decided to replace it with a Samsung 450L Black water dispenser fridge. We were looking at getting another F&P fridge but due to the poor quality of this fridge, we decided to steer clear of F&P fridges.

TIP - If you have an Iridium fridge with a peeling coating, give the part that's peeling a light rub with a non-scratch scourer to remove the loose coating and then give it a light rub with a rag with some spray vegetable oil on it. This changed our fridge from something that looked like it had mange to a barely noticeable mark.

Solid & Dependable – Nicely styled, and eminently practical. The three glass shelves are adjustable to twenty heights to find the perfect spacing. The single, full width crisper has an adjustable divider and two separate humidity controls for each section. There is no meat keeper tray, or automatic ice maker/water dispenser On the door are four half width and one… Read more

full length shelf which are also adjustable, but the options don't give a great range of option.

Two half door shelves have hinged covers, and there are two removable egg tray inserts.

The fridge is fitted with four (plastic) castors, and a leveling system to keep the fridge from rolling when in use.

The styling is smooth, with no sharp corners to catch dirt, and keeping it clean is a breeze.

Adjusting the thermostat for fridge and freezer is easily done on the panel inside the fridge compartment, and the fridge has open door alarms - which are needed as the doors can often stay ajar unless you are very certain to fully close the doors.

The only minor grumble I have with this frost free fridge, is there is some minor fan noise at times, but it's quite infrequent, and not loud at all

Wish I had never bought this fridge – This is the third time it has frozen every thing in the fridge and will need repair man to attend. Had faulty clip on freezer door replaced after researching it was a known fault to fisher & Paykel . Thankful I have extended warranty ..the sales man said always advisable  Show details

Leaking fridge - built in obsolescence – We have had this fridge for a few years but it has stared to leak water unexplainably and is ruining our wood floors so it has to go. Not happy. I can't recommend this product and I would be reluctant to buy another Fisher & Paykel product as a result.

Faulty Alarm Function Starts Beeping (For Hours) And Can't Turn It Off – This fridge was delivered to me 1/09/15. So far the repairman has been out twice & is booked a third time on Monday. The ActiveSmart temperature control has a door alarm + a fault alarm. This is the problem - it's faulty and starts beeping (loudly & continuously) for no reason and could only be stopped by turning the fridge off at the power point.… Read more

It started beeping at 3:00 a.m. At 3:45 a.m. I got up and turned it off at the plug for a few minutes before turning it back on & resetting. The previous time, after several hours, it had stopped beeping by the time the repairman arrived so he said there was nothing he could do. He said I have to make a note of what the electronic temperature gauge is doing so I can let him know. Is this fridge a lemon? I asked F&P whether I could have a replacement fridge and was told no. My previous fridge was a 20-year-old Westinghouse that never had a problem until the door seals went. This Fisher & Paykel is a nightmare.

Very happy so far – Bought this fridge last week to replace my almost identical 19yr old Fisher & Paykel. In those 19 years I never once had to have it repaired or serviced, it was however getting a bit tired with minor broken bits / wear and tear, and a freezer fan that needed replacing, which I did myself. Because of this past experience I was more than happy to go… Read more

with the same brand fridge. Overall not much has changed in 19 years, the layout is the same with some modern improvements like a recessed LED light, separate electronic controls for fridge/freezer temp, door alarms, etc. I really like the glass shelves and the configurable door shelves. New fridge is slightly bigger than the old one (447L/380L) and the extra space and height is invaluable. So far I am very happy with everything, fridge is super cold just how I like it, freezer works extremely well making ice in a short time, and as a brand new fridge it looks great in my kitchen. If I had to make any negative comment it would be that it is slightly louder than my previous one, but only very slightly, and not intrusive at all. Here's hoping this one serves me just as well.

Great Fridge – I have had this fridge for 11 years and have moved 4 times (lots and lots of stairs) with this fridge. I have never had any service to it or repairman look at it. It has never missed a beat and is still as good as the day I bought it! Nothing has broken in it or on it and it is very quiet. Best fridge ever!

Big Dissapointment – nothing but problems have replaced fridge 3 times , noise , frost, and door damaged last one delivered noise unbearable told by Good Guys Preston it was normal noise

17 Years Old – We have been very very happy with our fridge. It's 17 years old and has very minor issues, we've replaced the odd shelf, etc but overall it's been great. Sadly, we now have to look for a replacement, but will look first at this model again. Hope they are still making them as good as they did back then. Not too big, but holds a lot. Not much Show reply

Disappointing quality of Fisher&Paykel – Poor quality I wouldn't recommend We purchased the fridge 6 years ago. Immediately after we first purchased we had problems with the freezer seal. We had a service call (covered under warranty) and the fix short cut completed was to take out the existing seal and put it in upside down. This did not really fix the problem...we should have got… Read more

the service man back but not being at home during the week we didn't get around to doing this.

But the thing that has really annoyed us, was the intermittent loud thumping that started coming from the fridge last year. It is now like having somebody intermittently hammering in the kitchen, and wakes me at night. We paid for an expensive F&P service call and were told the compressor is broken and basically is not worth repairing. We expect a fridge to last well over ten years....needless to say we are very disappointed!! The shelving is good Freezer seal is poor, and compressor didn't last as you would expect

Best fridge ever – We have had our E440T for 5 years and its never skipped a beat. 3 moves (up and down stairs with ease. Its quite light) and its never had any issues. No noise, smells, failures or breaks. Not sure what other reviewers are doing to there's to break all the components as its well built and put together.

Noisiest fridge have ever owned – Our old Whirlpool fridge suddenly packed up so needed new one in a hurry. Since our Fisher & Paykel washing machine has been brilliant and we liked the look of the E440TRT3 we purchased that. Immediately after installation it's compressor and fan noises were very loud all the time so after complaining to the company a technician came to check. … Read more

His comment was that the noise was normal for that fridge and it was not as loud as some! We have checked ourselves that nothing is vibrating in the fridge and there are no loose parts that could be adjusted. Yesterday we even turned the fridge off for a while as the racket was intolerable. This fridge takes top prize for being the noisiest one we have ever owned over many years and definitely from that aspect I would not recommend it. Looks nice and is spacious Very noisy

Noisy compressor Fisher Paykel E440 TLT3 fridge – Good fridge but noisy compressor, not sure if this is common to all of this model or just the one we bought. Following suggestion on this forum I pulled fridge out and looked at shelf (condensation catcher/evaporator) above compressor, but it was attached correctly. The problem with ours was poor quality control or bad design of rubber… Read more

bushes on compressor mount not quite big enough, hence loose mounts, rattle in neutral position, not if pushed up or down. Easily solved by inserting 20.5mm blocks under each mounting rail which pushes bracket up against upper rubber bush.

Only concern is that this may shorten life of bush. If it does, I may have to get the proper sized bushes that should have been there in the first place. Still a lot quicker than waiting a day for a serviceman not to turn up. Hope this helps others if this is widespread.

Junk parts designed to fail – My fridges' shelves began breaking within 2 years of use, looking at the design of the plastic shelf, which is supported only by two small plastic lugs at the rear, it is quite obviously designed to break fast and the replacement cost is astronomical. Buyer beware. So far 3 door shelves and all of the internal shelves have split or broken… Read more

completely. I will never ever purchase another product from this company again.

Terrible quality of components, extremely expensive to replace

Fisher and Paykel E440T – We have had this fridge for 12 years. It has been through 6 moves, including significant amounts of stairs, and we have never had a problem with it. It's easy to clean inside and out. We purchased it as a couple of have been using it for 6 years with kids and it's been a pleasure to use!

Terrible – wouldnt buy a Fisher & Paykel Product again. Supposedly made in Cleveland, Brisbane, Queensland manufacturing plant but the quality is rotten. The fridge lasted just over 2 years. Im not surprised that there arent more nasty reviews and complaints from consumer reviews about this fridge. There are clear issues whether this fridge is built to… Read more

last. Wouldnt buy another F&P product again and wouldnt recommend it to any friends. poor quality components. not built to last. stainless steel, nice appearance in just over 2 years the fridge was buggered. The technician said that it appears an issue from manufacturing but thats great when the warranty has expired. The fridge is like new but at $600 for a regas, no way.Not good enough. this is a [censored word removed] fridge not built to last. never again buying another F&P product.

Fisher and Paykel Fridge E440T poor quality – I have a Fisher & Paykel for 2 years only. We had the technician to fix the fridge one week after purchased as the door magnet was not closing the door well. First its freezer air flow got an issue as it keeps accumulating ice. Then it is not cold at all and this gave my family a big headache. I will never buy this brand again. Poor Design and quality

Not good quality – My Fisher & Paykel E440t fridge is about 10 years old, I have have F&P out on two occasions for repairs for other issues. At the moment the temperature control lights do not work, the front plastic panel has broken and now the unit has burnt out all together. I was going to have F&P come out today for a 3rd time but I thought that as the fridge… Read more

now has so many problems I will bite the bullet and buy a new fridge. I feel that a fridge should last longer than 10 years before it gives up the ghost.

Poor quality

E440T Fisher & Paykel fridge keeps icing up – Ices up every week - something wrong with the airflow in freezer. All seals appear to be fine. Must be a design of the freezer air flow that is poor. I will take it all apart again today and reassemble. Buzzer would constantly go off in the middle of the night. What pain of an appliance - never buy another!

Excellent – I've had this fridge for 4 years and I think it's fantastic. It was in storage for 18 months and people warned me that it might not work when I got it out as the gas often leaks from them but it was just fine. It's been moved to 3 different flats and 2 different storage places in that time and has taken a few dents but has been tough enough to… Read more

withstand it all and still work perfectly. For the first 18 months of it's life I had it squeezed into a wall space that was slightly too small for it and it didn't have any problems with that either (Fisher & Paykel advised me it might overheat so keep an eye on it). The freezer is sensational and the only time it's ever frosted over as when a drunk flatmate left it open. I love the overall internal layout with the drink rack up top, although sometimes I wouldn't mind more space for fruit and veg in the bins. And the shelves and racks are versatile and easy to adjust but also really sturdy, which is great for longevity. Also,the two times I rang Fisher & Paykel for advice, they were pretty helpful and friendly which was good. Overall a really great quality fridge which I've been very happy with. Looks great. Beeps when you leave the door open. Adjusts easily to accommodate uneven ground. Sturdy good quality shelves and racks that have taken some wear and tear and are still in 100% perfect quality. I find the bottle rack at the top really handy as it saves so much space on the door. Iridium finish looks great but you don't have to wipe it all the time like SS. I wish the lids to the egg compartment would stay flipped up on their own as it can be a little tricky to put eggs in and try to hold them open at the same time. I sometimes run out of space for fruit and veg in the bottom drawers.

OK – We've had this for 9 years and its still going. I have had it ice up twice though. Both times I fixed it myself by hacking away at the ice then pouring boiling water down the freezer drain tube. Otherwise I can't say I've really had any issues with it. There is nothing overly special about this fridge, nothing fancy, no gimmicks - it just does the… Read more

job. I can't remember how it compares price wise, however I would expect it to be in the lower mid range. I don't hate it, but personally I wouldn't buy this model again due to the icing issue. It does the job and is roomy. Otherwise nothing overly remarkable. No 'door open' beep over-ride. Prone to icing up (then leaks).

Excellent – We've had this fridge for about a year, and so far, so good. We chose this one mainly because it's the perfect size to fit in the available space in our kitchen, and also because of its humidity control in the fruit/veg crisper - I it use for vegetables only, and it keeps everything fresh much longer than my old fridge did. I like the ice cube… Read more

tray storage too. Here's hoping I have better luck with this fridge than the other reviewers did - but these days, most fridges are built to only last about 6 years (unlike my old Westinghouse, which went for about 35 years). Looks good, good size, keeps vegetables really well Nothing ... yet!