We have a side by side now and feel that it’s not the best use of space. Both sides are kind of narrow which limits the size of containers that fit. It also makes stuff drift to the back where it can get lost.
I’m looking at the top fridge, bottom freezer models. I also want an ice dispenser.
Love/hate stories would be appreciated.
When we moved into our house, it came with a side-by-side. We hated it from day 1. Before we moved we thought that it would be convenient to be able to get at the freezer without bending, but the whole thing just seemed so small. The shelves aren’t wide enough.
We got a bottom mount freezer and moved the side-by-side to the basement. Since we don’t go into the freezer as frequently as the fridge, it is far more convenient to have the whole of the fridge at reaching distance when standing (including the crispers). It can be a little difficult for the kids (now 9yo) to reach stuff, and we have to make sure that what they are after is usually within reach.
My dads GF has a french door fridge, and it is also very convenient. It’s nice to be able to open part of it and not have to block off access to the rest of the kitchen. Her model has a beeper if the door isn’t fully closed, which I would guess, indicates that that can happen frequently.
I don’t have any experience with ice/water dispensers. They just look like they take up so much space. Do bottom-mount freezers have ice dispensers?
I’ve got a GE French Door Fridge. I bought a through the door water (only) dispenser and that saves a lot of space in the door. The ice bin is in the freezer, easy to get to.
The refrigerator space is HUGE, easily configured and works very well. With 4 kids (all boys) I have to stock a lot in the fridge.
I would recommend you look at the size of the freezer. It’s a drawer and not very deep. I have to be fairly creative in stacking and packing. It works out, but I would have preferred a slightly larger freezer.
Bottom line, I’d buy one again.
Dumb question: what happens when you open both doors on your side by side? Can’t you get the container in? Edit: never mind. I got it. Freezer on the side. :smack:
I love my Kenmore Elite model. I opted for a slightly older version with the ice maker in the freezer, i.e., it doesn’t have an ice dispenser. The ice dispenser version was in the door (obviously), but the whole apparatus occupied the entire left door. I preferred that space for refrigeration. It does have a water dispenser on the door, though.
Some people dislike the freezer on the bottom, but I only venture there occasionally, so it’s no big deal, despite the fact that I’m tall and it takes a lot more distance to get there.
I have a Jenn Air french door fridge. Freezer is on the bottom with ice-maker. Freezer space is okay, but I don’t really notice it that much as we have a full size stand up freezer in the utility room. It also has a the filtered cold water dispenser, but not an ice dispenser (never would use any way).
I would definitely get this style again.
We have a french door, and we love it. There is a lot of space for trays, and what not.
We opted out of the ice dispenser on the door, it just took up a lot of real estate, that could be better used for shelves.
We got a side-by-side frig just months before they came out with the French door. We’d been looking at reefers for over a year and finally decided what to buy.
I’ve been gnashing my teeth since.
When this one dies, we’ll either get the freezer on bottom, frig on top, or get a frig with no freezer and a separate upright freezer.
I have a bottom freezer model that I got last year. It’s not french door, though. I specifically wanted a bottom freezer because that’s what I grew up with and it makes the most sense to me (honestly, I go in there maybe once a week).
I do wish I’d have gotten the french doors. Especially since I use one half of the fridge and my roomie uses the other and n’er the twain shall meet. If I open my big door to a certain point, I hear a slight “thud” which I think means one of the feet of the fridge is coming off the floor.
I think I didn’t go with the french doors either because of price (french doors seemed to be 90% of the models at Sears, and mine was on sale as basically last year’s model) or size. I had a limited space to work with.
I agree with TheBori that the freezer seems small. My model - and I think most modern bottom freezers - has a freezer that is essentially a large drawer instead of a door. The actual cubic foot measurement of the freezer probably seems big but for some reason the space in the permanently-installed baskets seems rather small. Roomie and I keep each side filled to the brim with frozen veggies, then in the top drawer we have the ice bin and a small area where I keep frozen bread. I can’t imagine a normal household that actually cooks at home trying to get all their stuff crammed in there.
I don’t miss the side-by-side, tho. I only had that type because it came with the house. It ALWAYS seemed impractical. When I was cleaning it out before it got taken away, I found some seriously nasty stuff hiding in the bottom drawer on the fridge side. Who wants to go in their fridge on their hands and knees?
I’ve got a bottom freezer, french door model. Love it. LOVE.
The bottom freezer is super convenient, and even if you don’t go for the french doors, go for the bottom freezer.
I don’t have anything bad to say about it.
Ours is a Samsung. I love the design of it, and if anything there’s too much room in it. It doesn’t have through-the-door ice; the icemaker is in the back of the freezer, and you just open the freezer and pull out a drawer to access the ice bin. (A very minor inconvenience to save $500. It also added quite a bit of fridge space, but see above.)
That said, we’ve had lots of problems with ours. The water filter exploded while we were on vacation last year and spat out about 100 gallons of water before the friend feeding our dogs showed up. (Fortunately, our floors are so unlevel that most of it was directed to a vent that led to the basement.) The ice maker has quit on us twice; the first time it was just out of warranty and they granted me an extension, but it took months to actually get it fixed. (I suspect this is the fault of the local repair guys rather than Samsung itself, but it doesn’t say much about who they let be an authorized service center.) The ice maker stopped working again a few months later, when it was definitely out of warranty. I’d work on it myself, but getting to it requires either a fair bit of disassembly or an extra joint in one’s forearm, so I’ve been buying bags of ice for the last six months or so.
So I’d definitely buy another French door fridge, but I’d probably pay more attention to where the ice maker is, and I wouldn’t buy another Samsung.
We have a french door model, and I wish it had an ice maker through the door. The ice maker is underneath, and every time you pull the drawer out to get ice, some of it falls out to the floor of the freezer, and it’s a pain. I probably open the freezer to get ice about 10 times a day, and my husband maybe 5, so it would definitely be worth it for us to have the ice maker more accessible.
Other than that, we love it.
Lots of good information and I thank you all.
We already have a full sized chest freezer as well as another fridge with a bottom freezer. But it’s a bend over and dig around type rather than a pull out. I think the non pull out has more room for the same space as there’s no room lost to clearance for the baskets or drawers to slide out. But it’s certainly not as handy as a pull out.
We don’t need a new fridge, but I came into a little unexpected money and would be willing to get a new one if it would make my wife happy.
Maybe we’ll hit Sears, Lowes, and a few others this weekend.
Do all the units still make the ice crescents, or are there alternatives?
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that little detail with mine. What I do now is manually turn the ice cube maker on or off, and I leave the ice detector arm in the up position (it has detent past the spring, presumably for this purpose). No more spilled ice. When the ice supply is mostly exhausted, I turn on the ice maker, drop the arm, and turn on turbo mode (yeah, there’s a turbo ice mode).
As for the bottom drawer space, I don’t have a problem with it. A couple of weeks worth of meat and frozen vegetables fit just fine. I do have the beer fridge’s freezer in the basement for overload, such as “OMG-$6.99/lb-for-rib-primal-I’m-buying-two” moments.
Love, love, love my french door refrigerator!! Its a Maytag - don’t remember the model number.
I have the water & ice dispenser in the door. The ice maker is actually in the refrigerator, on the top left. There’s still more than enough room. Works great!! I must have my ice!!
The freezer is plenty big enough for us - If it’s on sale, I tend to buy a bunch!! But, we don’t eat much processed food, so, it’s full of meat - hamburger, steaks, chicken, and such. Some frozen veggies. No frozen pizzas or stuff like that.
Oh, and the alarm if one of the doors is not closed is a good idea. Ours does go off on occasion - if the left door is not shut before the right-side door, it may not shut all the way.
I would definately recommend one!
I have the Maytag H2O model from 3 years ago. It has ice/water through the door, but I didn’t even notice for a few weeks after we got it that it doesn’t have crushed ice. The left door has a little flange-type thing that kept coming loose the first few months we had it until we learned you have to close the left door with two hands. One hand placing the flange into the slot at the top of the door while the other hand closes the door. Not a big deal, but, as I said, it took us months to figure out.:smack: That may have been changed in the newer models. The freezer is fine, with sliding baskets so you have a little more organized storage (I do have a separate freezer, though). Make sure you measure your space before committing to one–I measured the fridge first (this was in a new construction house) so I could have the space made so it could fit. Standard fridges are something like 30 inches wide–my french door one is 36 inches.
ETA: Nevermind, answered through research.
I was about to chime in and say all you people complaining about the freezer being too small are crazy, then I remembered mine is never full because I also have an upright freezer in the back room. If the freezer on my GE French door unit were my only freezer, I would probably find it a bit too small.
My only complaint with my Kenmore French door model is that it is easy to leave open.
It has an alarm that rings if you leave a door not closed properly, but I have discovered that it is only for the left door.
This can be problematic with a 6 year old.
I did a thread about French door fridges before I bought mine. Not much response.
Here is the thread New fridge cage death match Matag v LG - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board
Anyway I went for the LG.
Ice in the freezer, ice in the door came out the next year.
I love the fridge, it is awesome to be able to put a full deli platter or a turkey on a platter in the fridge.
Freezer is OK, but if it is summer and we go for ice too many time, ice production goes way down.
I wish I had an ice on the door model