Lisbeth Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I am getting ready to get a new refrigerator. For those who have side by side, or French door refrigerators, what do you love or hate (or even like/dislike) about the one you have? I can't decide between the two. On either one we choose we'll get the ice dispenser and possibly the hot water dispenser on the outside door. Note: we also have a big chest freezer downstairs for frozen items, and will be using our old fridge as extra freezer space and as a beverage fridge down in the basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hate my side by side. But it's an older model. The freezer is too narrow to store much in and that drives me crazy. If I buy a box of frozen pizzas at Costco, I need to take them out of the box to get them to fit. In our last apartment, we had a traditional freezer on the top…and even though it was a much smaller (and cheaper) fridge…I could store so much more in it. But if you'll have a big chest freezer, it might not be an issue. I think when we buy a new one, I like the ones with three doors…two doors side by side on top that are the refrigerator, and a big door on the bottom that is the freezer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I have a counter depth french door. (I had a ginormous SxS). I don't need a ton of space anymore, so the reduction isn't a big deal. (plus we have an old one in the garage.) I like that I can pull interior drawers out with only one door open. (check that out on any french door. many require both doors to be opened.) I like things don't hide as well as they did in my ginormous fridge. the door shelfs seems really shallow, but they hold more than I was expecting - and I can easily find most things. the freezer compartment has interior drawers as well. even a quart of ice cream easily fits in the drawers. I love that it doesn't stick way out into my kitchen. I so DO. NOT. miss that feature of my last one. the con is that the brita fridge water dispenser dh bought a couple months before we bought it is too deep. (I wanted a pitcher . . . . . ) the door alarm is good/bad. people have thought it was closed, but it wasn't, then the alarm goes off. but when dh was doing lots of stuff so he had it open for a prolonged period - the alarm went off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I have a Whirlpool, bottom-freezer model. Love it. I will *always* have a freezer on the bottom. I have no opinion about french doors; it's the freezer on the bottom that is important to me. :-) We chose not to have an ice/water dispenser on the door, because (1) we use a reverse osmosis unit and you can't hook those up to a fridge, and (2) we didn't want to lose the space. I've lived lo, these 62 years without that particular convenience and haven't missed it. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hate my side by side. It came with the house. But I really regret leaving our old fridge behind in the house we sold. It was a large Amana top fridge, bottom freezer, no dispensers. Loved it! I really don't know why bottom freezers aren't more popular. We had one growing up and I loved it then. Then had top freezers in all my apts and homes before finally buying one I wanted. I've looked at the French doors but don't like them. Too much door space seems lost. Good luck with your purchase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hate my side by side. It came with the house. But I really regret leaving our old fridge behind in the house we sold. It was a large Amana top fridge, bottom freezer, no dispensers. Loved it! I really don't know why bottom freezers aren't more popular. We had one growing up and I loved it then. Then had top freezers in all my apts and homes before finally buying one I wanted. I've looked at the French doors but don't like them. Too much door space seems lost. Good luck with your purchase! There are hardly any top-freezer fridges in any of the stores where I live--mostly bottom freezers and side-by-side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueTaelon Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I will never, ever buy a fridge/freezer combo again. I have a 16 cu ft freezer-less refrigerator and same size upright freezer. I LOVE my fridge! Its 11 years old right now and something went out so its unplugged (keeps freezing everything on the bottom 2 shelves) and it will cost $200-300 to fix and you bet your behind I am paying to fix it with my tax return. I love having tons of space for all the fresh fruit and veggies and room to stock up on eggs and almond milk. Anyway, were stuck using the combo fridge that came with this place right now and its driving me crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Our old fridge had split shelves...I didn't realize how much that mattered to me and miss them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msrift Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 We love our fridge. It's a french door type, with in-door ice/water dispenser and two ice makers- one for the freezer and a smaller one that feeds the ice dispenser. Our last fridge didn't have the water dispenser and I found that we (especially the kids) drink a lot more water when we have one. Two more great features w/the water dispenser - you can fit a pitcher under the nozzle and there is a great water filter.With kids, we love having the door alarm. I have often been on the other side of the house and heard it go off. Saves lots of headaches. We can turn ours off easily if we are cleaning it out so it doesn't beep at us incessantly. The fridge also has two compressors, one for the fridge and one for the freezer, so anything stinky doesn't cross into the other area. No problems with storing any size object. We also have a separate freezer for the bulk of our frozen goods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I dislike our side by side. Crowded, hard to see things, glass shelves always look dirty, door shelves feel like they will fall out. I LOVED our full fridge in the other house. If you have a nice big freezer already, and it is in a convenient place, consider going full fridge. It's amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hate my side by side. No room in the fridge or freezer for anything. Everything in the freezer has to be stacked. My ds had an avalanche when he opened the freezer last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hate my side-by-side. Same problem with pizza boxes as the pp. I hate my French door fridge. I have to "positively close" the doors--PUSH them both shut. I have never had to do this with a fridge before and it is annoying. When I close ONE door, the other will pop slightly open and stay ajar. Mine does this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I like my French door fridge for the width. Sometimes it's hard to find space for tall things, but it's usually nothing that can't be figured out. I have deep shelves on the door. One side can fit two gallons of milk side by side. Love the freezer on the bottom. Love that my littles can't get into it because the freezer drawer is too heavy and the fridge doors are too high. By the time they can manage those they're mostly out of the "open and dump" phase :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Love the French door refrigerators with bottom freezer. But don't get the "spacesaver" ice maker that fits neatly into the door (only) if your family uses a lot of ice. Get one that goes through the door that goes all the way to the back of the fridge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in Jax Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Love my Samsung French door fridge. :) FWIW, I also have two Frigidaire 16.7 c.f."all" fridge or"all" freezer units in the garage. They're very versatile: each can be configured as "all fridge" or "all freezer." They're exactly the same unit, but we have one set to "fridge," and one to "freezer." They weren't terribly expensive. They were about $500 each 5 years ago. They're not pretty, but they're very functional. When we renovated this house, we seriously considered just using the two units instead of a typical fridge with freezer. Ultimately, we didn't -- mainly because they don't have icemakers, and bc DH loves having ice and water on the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I LOVE my fridge...it's a year old Kenmore Elite French Door with ice/water in the door. I love the big, open, bright interior. I love the drawers and adjustable shelves. I love that's it's as big as a jeep.... :) The bottom freezer has three drawers. Love how I can arrange and get to all parts of the freezer with ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I have a side by side and I love it. I have no problems with pizza boxes or anything else. I can fit a half sheet pan flat on the shelves in the fridge. But I have the largest side by side I could find (31 cubit) and before that I had a 28 cu one. I suspect those who have problems fitting things in there have smaller sized fridges and I agree there could be space issues with those. I have a big family and lots of big dishes. I took my dishes to the store and tried them in the fridge I have as well as in the 31 cu french door. Not only did the side by side hold my dishes better, it had almost twice as much produce drawer space (huge concern since I buy most fruits a bushel at a time). I also like having more shelves that aren't so wide, I think it's a lot easier to lose bottles and small items in the back well the shelf is so long and things can get shoved a long where from where they started and get forgotten (of course that's probably only an issue if your fridge is generally packed like mine is and it's hard to see all the way to the back) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 We have a refrigerator-only and like it a lot - except it is not top of the line at all, it is pretty basic. If we had more choices when we bought it I would have spent more, but it was an emergency purchase and we took what they had. Our old refrigerator flooded from a leaky icemaker and we still have a huge hole in the ceiling downstairs that had to be cut out. So, no more ice-makers for us and I don't know how I could have done with less refrigerator room before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Despised my side by side. Hate the fridges that have those flimsy plastic drawers that don't move smoothly and eventually crack and ones with lots of nooks and crannies to clean. Next fridge freezer will be commercial quality with NO drawers or nooks. ONLY SHELVES. Cleaning will be a breeze. Dream fridge/freezer combo: Fridgidaire commercial 39 cu ft stainless steel. http://www.redtagappliance.com/frigidaire-commercial-39-cu-ft-stainless-steel-refrigerator-freezer-combo-fcrs201rfb_fcfs201lfb/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 My side by side does not accomodate a cookie sheet as I found out recently. I am not a big fan of the narrow shelves. I would get a freezer bottom, fridge top model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I really liked my Kenmore side by side. the freezer side is huge, I can fit a pizzabox inthere easily, that's how wide it is. I am just bored with it. we've had it 13 years. There is just 4 of us again so I want something smaller. I like the look and organization of the freezer on the bottom fridge. However, we have not had good luck up dating appliances, the new models just are not the same quality as they use to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 We have a side by side that I despise! Everything is crowded, freezer and fridge. I want a bottom freezer, but I'm not sure about french doors. I would take almost anything over the one we have now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I do not have a style preference, but I have had two Subzeros over the years and both were lemons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 There are hardly any top-freezer fridges in any of the stores where I live--mostly bottom freezers and side-by-side. I just replaced my dishwasher and snooped at the frigs.... you are right, no full size freezer on top. Which is what I like. And wow... sticker shock! My frig was about $400 new 9 years ago, it is a basic no frills Kenmore, and I LOVE it. Consumer Reports said it was a best buy and they were right. It holds a ridiculous amount of food. I hope it lasts a long time, I don't know what I'll do when it dies... I don't like side by side, and the thought of getting frozen items out of a drawer on the floor.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I just replaced my dishwasher and snooped at the frigs.... you are right, no full size freezer on top. Which is what I like. And wow... sticker shock! My frig was about $400 new 9 years ago, it is a basic no frills Kenmore, and I LOVE it. Consumer Reports said it was a best buy and they were right. It holds a ridiculous amount of food. I hope it lasts a long time, I don't know what I'll do when it dies... I don't like side by side, and the thought of getting frozen items out of a drawer on the floor.... Mr. Ellie and I look at appliances all the time, because when the dishwasher/fridge/oven/whatever goes, we want to replace it right now, lol, so I stay up on these things. :-) I use the refrigerator much more often than the freezer, so it makes sense to me for the fridge to be at eye level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 We have an LG French Door with water in the door and ice maker in the freezer. This is a model that's been around a while. We got it probably at least 7 years ago. It's ok, and I actually really like the French Door design and would get another french door. But the ice maker in this thing drives me BANANAS. It drops down the back of the freezer and then comes out every time we open the door. This particular model has a really stupid design. So before I bought another one, I would look long and hard for user reviews of the model I'm looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Mr. Ellie and I look at appliances all the time, because when the dishwasher/fridge/oven/whatever goes, we want to replace it right now, lol, so I stay up on these things. :-) I use the refrigerator much more often than the freezer, so it makes sense to me for the fridge to be at eye level. I am worried about throwing my back out when I get that 20 lb. turkey out of a bottom drawer! Top freezers have shelves, which I also like. Produce is lighter, lol. Its what is on the bottom now, but you are right, a lot of squatting. But at least getting light things out and hey, exercise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonduck Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I LOATHE my side by side. It's a GE and is horrendously narrow. I can't fit anything in, ever. Forget trying to freeze something like a casserole or lasagna. It just doesn't fit. I tend to use the square 9x9 size for those types of items because it's the only way it will fit (and even then it is a close call and requires some rearranging). The shelves other than the top shelf are not tall enough to store much on. A beer bottle can't stand upright on them. Also, the brainiac that designed this kitchen installed the refrigerator against a wall on the refrigerator side. Thus, I cannot completely open the refrigerator door. That would come in handy if, for example, by some random chance I desired to remove the produce drawers and thoroughly clean them in the sink. :cursing: Focusing on the positive. I really like the water and ice dispenser. It has a light that indicates when it is time to change the water filter. I have had other refrigerators where the water line to the dispenser periodically froze but this one has never had a problem like that. The fridge is also very reliable. We have lived here since 2009 and have never needed it to be serviced. I guess I feel pretty strongly about my refrigerator! :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Kenmore freezer on the bottom (not side by side or french doors). Love it. Tons of space. Shelves lift out easily for cleaning. Everything adjustable and comes apart easily. Light alarm if any doors left open. Freezer has a pull out drawer and shelf for easy access. Much cheaper than a side by side. I would buy the same thing again in a heartbeat. I did so much squatting with a standard fridge and side by sides have terrible storage space/sizing in the freezer. When I did research for this kind of thing 4-5 years ago, a lot of problems with side by sides were in the water in the door mechanisms. If you have a problem it would probably be with that. It's the first place for things to go wrong. Really check out that aspect to see who has the best. We decided it wasn't that important, and we'd rather have the peace of mind that something would last 5+ years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in FL Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I love our GE Profile french door, bottom freezer with ice and water dispenser in the door! We replaced a still functioning, (but not at all functional) :tongue_smilie: counter depth GE Profile side by side which came with our house and we all utterly despised. Nothing ever fit and it was ridiculous to be trudging back and forth to the garage (to where the spare fridge was located) just to retrieve or replace everyday meal items...for every single meal. In our experience, the side by side was practically worthless. And don't get me started on the whole counter depth thing! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new french door, bottom freezer. We have the large capacity 26.7 cu ft fridge and it holds everything effortlessly. The ice and water dispenser locking mechanism come in very handy as well. We have a little person (who does not live here), but visits very regularly and the buttons are the first thing he goes for. Poor kid, he is convinced that all the fridge needs is new batteries! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 A couple houses back we had a subzero with the freezer on the bottom. It only had one door on top. LOVED it. I miss it. We have a side by side now that came with the house. It's not what I would choose, but I don't dislike it enough to get a new one. My MIL has a French door with the freezer on the bottom, and I have noticed the "having to push the door shut" issue. Probably not an issue for her, but it would be with kids constantly in and out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Thanks for all of the info! This has helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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