Refrigerator noise


Seriously guys, how do you deal with it? My fridge is in the vicinity of my living room with all my equipment. It's pretty old machine, and the compressor is making noise almost half the time it's on ( seems to me pretty unusual, when I go to see my friends I never hear anything). I even set the level lower, but to no avail. Anybody with a similar problem? How can you check noise of a new fridge in a fairly loud environment of big store? Any recommendation (brand names)? No ice boxes please... :-)
branislav
I've never really investigated this much, but propane-powered refrigerators are dead silent. unfortunately, I was told that they're not legal in non-mobile homes, but who knows?
Try cleaning all around the compressor. You'd be amazed how much crap builds up in there, especially if you have pets. If the compressor is covered in crap it runs harder and longer.
Agree the frig is old and you should try the cleaning and other things, but also in a previous post someone also mentioned "LG" brand refrigerators are also pretty quiet.
I live in an apartment and my frig is also noisy.. but I'm not gonna buy my own!! But I WILL try cleaning the back, and I can stick a AC cleaner back there, as I have several extra ones of various brands laying around.
My wife and I are sensitive to fridge noise, and we're shopping for a new one.

Here's a website that discusses quiet appliances.

Based on the info there, and on customer reviews, we are purchasing an LG brand fridge.
My thoughts are the same as Winoguy17's. Remove the front grill and the easy to remove cardboard covers from the rear and vacuum all the dust you can. About a month ago our 20 year old fridge was beginning to get noticably louder to the point that I was pretty sure it was going to require replacement. I cleaned it as thoroughly as I could with a shop vac, and it is much quieter now.