re: We are being nickel and dimed to death.

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Only trick was to let the water run a few seconds

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Hell yeah. I am in my mid 40s, but I did the same thing. You had push the "hot water" out, but I think I use to grab it, have to my mouth and turn it own.

We were outside all the time. If we were "down the road" if we were thirsty it was normal to just go up to someone we knew house and get a few sips of water from their hose. There was one point when we got Kentwood water that was delivered, but I don't think we had it for more than a year, but even then it was a habit to drink faucet water.

Would never buy a GE refrigerator again. Once was enough. Compressor went bad 3 months after purchase.

Have an RO that also goes to the fridge, so I don’t think I’ll ever care about the Fridge Filter.

The RO, on the other hand… the model I bought had been replaced twice by Lowe’s, so they didn’t even have a replacement filter.

It's time for the working people to revolt

This is why I buy bare bones appliances that are still solid brands.

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What price do you put in your family’s health. I would never trust an off brand filter. That’s like playing a slow motion version of Russian roulette.

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I haven’t changed our filter in like 6 years. We’re all fine.

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What’s wrong with an “expired” filter anyway? Unless it gets clogged, wouldn’t it still filter the bad stuff out?

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First, typical disposable water filters general work in two ways: particulate and chemical filtration.

Normally particulate filtration is done with some sort of paper or polymer structure that works like a web and traps particulates via mechanical means. particulate filters actually become more efficient over time by a process often called seeding. The fine particulates that get caught continually make spaces in the "web" get smaller and smaller catching more and finer particles. The filter fails when it becomes so packed that it can no longer provide the volume needed at the pressure present.

Chemical filtration in the same type of disposable water filter is usually done with activated carbon. Carbon is treated in a way that it opens up tons of tiny pores/crevises/caves so that as chemicals in water pass over and through it where the molecules of chemicals are attracted and held in these pores in a process of adsorption (that is not a typo, there is a D there). The amount and quality of the activated carbon determines how (and the type) of chemicals it can adsorb before being depleted. So in this sense a chemical filter has a finite life but the fridge is not doing a pre and post analysis of the water to see when this point is reached and simply using a likely very conservative metric (either time or volume) to trigger the replace message. So if you live in an area where the tap water has fewer chemicals in it then the filter will last longer but still has a limited life. Activated carbon is very susceptible to being rendered useless when the pores are filled with particulates which is the reason there is always particulate filtration ahead of the chemical filtration in these filters.

So a filter can become clogged with particulates which you will know when the volume is too low and can reach capacity on the chemical filtration side when the adsorption ability is exhausted. A homeowner is just going to have to guess on that side and probably factor in the manufacturer is probably being very conservative with their numbers because they want to sell filters.

There is a third reason filters can "fail" that in a way ensures they will "time out" at some point: bacteria. The particulate filter as it traps more and more organic and inorganic debris produces something akin to growth media. Anaerobic bacteria will begin to build up on the filter media and depending on species can release cytotoxins, enterotoxins et al which are dangerous to humans and animals. The bacteria can also spread onto the chemical filtration side and fill the pores with biological film and render them ineffective. Less frequent or more intermittent use often accelerates the bacterial growth process. Don't overthink that as it would be rare to experience acute life-threatening issues but it also doesn't mean it is totally benign. This is a situation where no filter could be better than an old filter.

The simple answer is homeowners have no idea when the optimal time to replace their fridge water filter is. There may be a time when fridges actually test the water, maybe by comparing the pre and post filtration redox potential, but even that would not be ideal and the probes would need manual or automatic cleaning. We are just left to guess and use the manufacturers suggestions as part of out decision matrix. Our SubZs at out home don't have filters (expensive but one of the best appliance choices I ever made given we are 25 years in and not a single repair to the fridge or freezer) so we don't have that issue but we use a larger 4 stage filter in the garage for the fridge and sink drinking faucet. At the camp we comply change ut when it tells us to because not living there it is more of a pain to keep up with than it is worth.

Fridge filters, home vent air filters, light bulb varieties, etc

They are all a scam

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What price do you put in your family’s health. I would never trust an off brand filter. That’s like playing a slow motion version of Russian roulette.

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Unless you live in an area where filtration is recommended, which is almost unheard of in the United States, eliminating the filter altogether has zero health impact. The water supply in the United States is the healthiest water supply ever available to human beings anywhere. Filtering it further is superfluous except in very rare places.

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I forget which brand it was, but I tried ordering ink for a printer and I had to buy it from the manufacturer and it required some sort of subscription. I bought a new printer.

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IF you use your printer a lot, I can not stress how much you need to buy the Shaq liquid ink style printer. I have one at work and I print a lot. I had HP for years and got tired of buying those cartridges for $120 a shot every few months. I got the Epson and have used it for a looooooong time and the ink is not barely half gone.



It is a huge improvement on ink usage and cost