Side-by-side fridge or freezer on the bottom...

[Brigitte]

That is the question tonight. I hate (yes, I know that is a strong word, but...) my fridge. It came with the house - it's old, has a gasket that needs replacing, and has a tiny freezer. I need more freezer space and have considered just getting a freezer chest (I might still do that), but this fridge is making me crazy.

 

I went and looked at new refrigerators today. The bottom mounted freezers look really small. Is that an illusion? The side-by-side freezers look like they might hold more, but consume more electricity.

 

So, what do you have and love (or hate)? Oh, I am looking around the $1,000 mark or lower (the french door models are over my limit).

[SonshineLearner]

I like my side by side. We bought it in the back for less, because there was a scratch on the side. It has a ice machine and water in the door. Much better than the old one I had!

Carrie:-)

[BamaTanya]

My parents have the side by side and hate it. The opening is narrow (not large enough to hold pizza boxes) and they wound up "losing" stuff because it was hard to see and access once it got pushed toward the back.

 

YMMV, but that's our experience

 

 

 

Edited: I meant that I loved "MY" freezer on the bottom. Ugh.

Edited December 30, 2008 by BamaTanya

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would never have a side-by-side. The freezer may look big, but you can't get anything wider than about 10 inches on any shelf, so pizzas, pies, cookie sheets (if you freeze strawberries, etc.) are out. The refrigerator is also small (narrow), so you can't get trays, or large soup pans, or the occasional turkey in there. I also hate that the produce drawers are WAY down at the floor. You can't see what you have, and everything gets buried behind other stuff (in the drawers and on the shelves). Yuk.

 

The bottom freezers hold a ton! And, everything is easy to get to. And, like you said, they're much more energy efficient. The drawers in the frig are up high and easy to access. I get in the frig at least 10 times more often than I do the freezer, so I appreciate having the things I access most often more accessible! :)

 

I vote bottom freezer, all the way.

[CalicoKat]

My parents have the side by side and hate it. The opening is narrow (not large enough to hold pizza boxes) and they wound up "losing" stuff because it was hard to see and access once it got pushed toward the back.

 

YMMV, but that's our experience

 

 

 

Edited: I meant that I loved "MY" freezer on the bottom. Ugh.

:iagree:I have a freezer on the bottom after having a side-by-side. I loathed my side-by-side because it was tiny.

 

I love being able to put the whole large pizza box into the bottom shelf of my freezer on the bottom fridge. We are pizza people.

[fivetails]

We have a bottom freezer on the fridge here - I can't speak to costs (purchase or energy use) as we rent with utilities included and the fridge was already here, but I can tell you that if I had a choice, I'd want either the side by side or the top freezer mainly because it's a PITA to crouch down on the floor when I want to root through the freezer for something. :tongue_smilie: ...sure, the basket slides out - but it still means crouching on the floor to poke around...blergh.

[LBC]

My old house had a fridge with the freezer on the bottom. I really liked it. I loved having all of the fridge at a higher level, since I used the fridge part more (I have a separate deep freeze).

 

My new house has the side by side type of fridge, and I like this too. It's nice to be able to see what's in the freezer without bending over, but I don't like having the fruit and veggie drawers lower. Because of the layout of my new home, I will always need to have this type of fridge. The island is too close, so a half door is all that will work - which is another thing that's nice about the side by side model - the doors are smaller, and easier to walk past.

 

I don't know if that's any help to you, but I thought I'd let you know some of the comparisons.

 

Lori

[Jules]

I definitely wouldn't go side by side...if I had to do it over again.

[newbie]

Dont like botton freezer, all the bending over. But, everyone is right you dont get the room w/side by side.

 

Dh mentioned they sometimes have full freezer that looks like fridge that bumps up to side of fridge. They make it look like one piece.

 

That is our next venture.

[abbeyej]

I'm not fond of my side-by-side and wouldn't go that route again if I could help it. Suzanne is right -- I have trouble fitting anything wide in it -- even normal-sized pizzas! Luckily, I just don't use my freezer a whole lot, except for bags of fruit and veggies and the occasional ice cream. And even so, it seems very, very full.

[Brigitte]

I would never have a side-by-side. The freezer may look big, but you can't get anything wider than about 10 inches on any shelf, so pizzas, pies, cookie sheets (if you freeze strawberries, etc.) are out. The refrigerator is also small (narrow), so you can't get trays, or large soup pans, or the occasional turkey in there. I also hate that the produce drawers are WAY down at the floor. You can't see what you have, and everything gets buried behind other stuff (in the drawers and on the shelves). Yuk.

 

The bottom freezers hold a ton! And, everything is easy to get to. And, like you said, they're much more energy efficient. The drawers in the frig are up high and easy to access. I get in the frig at least 10 times more often than I do the freezer, so I appreciate having the things I access most often more accessible! :)

 

I vote bottom freezer, all the way.

 

Can you get a turkey in your bottom freezer? The ones I looked at today did not appear to have a bin big enough to put a turkey in. Since my space is limited, I can't get a giant fridge. On the other hand, the side-by-side I saw says it can fit a standard frozen pizza (not that we buy frozen pizzas, but...)

 

I do like the level of the produce bins in the bottom-freezer. I LOVE the bins in the french-door refrigerators, but the price is too high.

[Brigitte]

I had a side by side. It had an ice maker/water dispenser. That thing took up so much room in the freezer. I did love the ice maker (I love ice). But the freezer was so small. Just something to consider.

 

If I had my choice, I would still go with a side by side though. I'm very short. I don't reach into the top and back of the freezer very easily. That is fine since I don't go into the freezer that often. But if that part was my fridge, and I had a hard time reaching it, that would be really annoying to me.

 

Energy wise the bottom freezers are supposed to be better.

 

I like the water feature on the side-by-side, as do my girls. We could take the water filter off the faucet, which would be a big plus.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I'd have to do some rearranging, but I think I could get a turkey in my bottom freezer, up to about 18 pounds. I've never tried. I never buy a turkey more than a few days before I plan to cook it.

 

My bottom freezer/refrigerator is large, though. I think it's 22.5 cu. ft.

[Brigitte]

Which model do you have? The freezer capacity on the models I saw seemed lacking.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Lori, if you are ever in the market for a new fridge, you can have the best of both worlds: double-doors and a bottom freezer. Have you seen the bottom-freezer models with french doors? I got mine last year, and I love it! The produce doors can open with only one door open. There is also a large deli drawer that goes the entire width of the fridge, so everything is all laid out. I love it! Mine has water and ice in the fridge door, a nice feature, but it does take a lot of fridge space.

 

Anyway, just a thought.

[Mommyof4ks]

I would not get a side by side again if I had it to do over. There seems to be agreement that pizza is hard to have in a side by side. We keep our pizza in the deep freezer along with other large items for parties and such.

[OnTheBrink]

I have the 18 cf bottom freezer and I think I could get a turkey in there. In the top rack, I have a stack of 6 frozen pie crusts and two containers of frozen bananas on top, so that's almost a foot high and it slides in with no problem.

 

I'd never do a side by side again. You can get ice makers in bottom freezers (the one I graciously left behind for EX in the old house has one) and I have a water filter on my sink, so you can still get good water and ice, just not in the door of the fridge. ;)

[LBC]

Lori, if you are ever in the market for a new fridge, you can have the best of both worlds: double-doors and a bottom freezer. Have you seen the bottom-freezer models with french doors? I got mine last year, and I love it! The produce doors can open with only one door open. There is also a large deli drawer that goes the entire width of the fridge, so everything is all laid out. I love it! Mine has water and ice in the fridge door, a nice feature, but it does take a lot of fridge space.

 

Anyway, just a thought.

 

Thanks! I'm off to Google it!

 

Lori

[Brigitte]

Thanks, Michelle. I think I am going to have take a tape measure to the store and see what I can find out. The water and ice in the door is not something I have to have (in fact, I don't even count it as a plus). I think a trip to Sears is going to be in order....

[PeterPan]

Brigitte, the only way to know what frig you want is to take the stuff from your frig (I'm not joking) to the store and load it up. Might seem OCD, but I did this before I bought my frig, and I was TOTALLY surprised by the results. If you haven't been frig shopping in a while, you're going to be totally surprised. Go to Sears and you'll find your choice of multiple depths (3), multiple widths, french doors or single, ice or water in almost all the door types, etc. On the finishes, they now come in this smooth finish that is really nice.

 

As far as what I got, well I went with a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer, 33". It is within like 1 cu ft of the same capacity as the 36" bottom freezer, so almost the same capacity, but the finish is smooth instead of pebbly. (I hate the pebbles for cleaning.) I'm really glad I didn't get the french door. It's so nice to open one door and have access to everything. And I don't know how you are, but when you load condiments in the frig door, those dispensers can really eat up space. On a french door the space the dispenser eats up can be tremendous. On the bottom freezers, they often put the dispenser inside, so you could still get rid of your sink filter. On a side by side, remember the space eats from the freezer, not the frig. So anyways, on the french door, I didn't have enough room to put in all my condiments in my test. I literally took all the groceries, left-overs, you name it from my frig and stuffed them in each frig, taking pictures. The stated cu ft didn't really matter; it was the style of frig that made the difference. And some of that is really personal, like what things you tend to have a lot of.

 

Just as an off the wall suggestion, you could look at the Whirlpool Sidekicks. The units are LOVELY, quite affordable, and come in all-freezer and all-refrigerator. If you have room for a deep freeze elsewhere, you could put an all-refrig in your kitchen. I put the sidekicks in my mudroom and the bottom freezer normal frig in my kitchen. In the bottom freezer I keep open bags of veges, nuts, that sort of thing. In my deep freeze I keep the major stuff. Some of the bottom freezers have really nice set-ups too, with fancy pullouts. The Kenmore Elite is more plain, but I wanted that smooth finish and was willing to deal with it. Store a turkey? Well I put mine in the deep freeze, but there's a ton of space in my bottom freezer. I keep throwing bags of stuff in there and it keeps shutting... I'd say take something turkey-sized with you and see!

[PeterPan]

You don't have to take your tape measurer to the store; they have one. :)

 

Hehe, seriously, before you go you can use Sears' website to see the specs, including interior specs, on all your prospective frigs. Like I said, I was totally surprised by my results when I started stuffing food in. It's WORTH the effort.

[Brigitte]

Lol. When I looked on the website for freezer capacity of the various fridges, it said 0 and all the cubic feet capacity was in the fridge. Now, that is helpful. Sear's website was not the only one like that. Home Depot and Lowes are the same.

[PeterPan]

Hehe! Well it's hard to measure, because the freezer is pullout baskets. I LOVED the double-drawer set-up of the new GE's, but alas it only came in stainless steel when I bought. :(

[Julie in CA]

Just tonight I bought a Samsung bottom-freezer fridge. It's the model that's about 25 cu.ft altogether. Ice & water (but not through the door).

I just put my 23 lb. frozen turkey into the bottom freezer and it's not even 1/3 full. Plenty of room for more stuff. :)

ETA: The fridge I had before was a side-by-side, and I could definitely *not* have fit that turkey in the freezer.

Edited December 30, 2008 by Julie in CA

[Brigitte]

Brigitte, the only way to know what frig you want is to take the stuff from your frig (I'm not joking) to the store and load it up. Might seem OCD, but I did this before I bought my frig, and I was TOTALLY surprised by the results. If you haven't been frig shopping in a while, you're going to be totally surprised. Go to Sears and you'll find your choice of multiple depths (3), multiple widths, french doors or single, ice or water in almost all the door types, etc. On the finishes, they now come in this smooth finish that is really nice.

 

As far as what I got, well I went with a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer, 33". It is within like 1 cu ft of the same capacity as the 36" bottom freezer, so almost the same capacity, but the finish is smooth instead of pebbly. (I hate the pebbles for cleaning.) I'm really glad I didn't get the french door. It's so nice to open one door and have access to everything. And I don't know how you are, but when you load condiments in the frig door, those dispensers can really eat up space. On a french door the space the dispenser eats up can be tremendous. On the bottom freezers, they often put the dispenser inside, so you could still get rid of your sink filter. On a side by side, remember the space eats from the freezer, not the frig. So anyways, on the french door, I didn't have enough room to put in all my condiments in my test. I literally took all the groceries, left-overs, you name it from my frig and stuffed them in each frig, taking pictures. The stated cu ft didn't really matter; it was the style of frig that made the difference. And some of that is really personal, like what things you tend to have a lot of.

 

Just as an off the wall suggestion, you could look at the Whirlpool Sidekicks. The units are LOVELY, quite affordable, and come in all-freezer and all-refrigerator. If you have room for a deep freeze elsewhere, you could put an all-refrig in your kitchen. I put the sidekicks in my mudroom and the bottom freezer normal frig in my kitchen. In the bottom freezer I keep open bags of veges, nuts, that sort of thing. In my deep freeze I keep the major stuff. Some of the bottom freezers have really nice set-ups too, with fancy pullouts. The Kenmore Elite is more plain, but I wanted that smooth finish and was willing to deal with it. Store a turkey? Well I put mine in the deep freeze, but there's a ton of space in my bottom freezer. I keep throwing bags of stuff in there and it keeps shutting... I'd say take something turkey-sized with you and see!

 

Maybe I will take my turkey to the store on the day I plan to start thawing it. :D

 

I know what you mean about the configuration being a personal preference. I would gladly trade some fridge space for freezer space, especially now as we don't have a deep freeze. I don't need the water or ice features, to be honest. Ice makers take a lot space and we don't use much ice.

 

My other limiting factor is the fact that I need bisque, not white, black, or stainless. The stove is practically brand new and the previous owners put in bisque. Since the kitchen is very small and the stove will last forever, we need to stick with that color scheme.

 

Anywhooo, we will see how I fare.

 

Thanks, one and all!

[Brigitte]

Off to google....Thank you.

[PeterPan]

Just as a thought, black might look good with bisque. The frig will probably last longer than the stove anyway. (glass tops get scratched and elements go kaput, etc.)

[Ellie]

Love my freezer on the bottom. The only reason I'd get a side-by-side would be if there wasn't sufficient room for the full width of a "regular" door.

[Brigitte]

Not in this case. It is a tiny galley kitchen with no window. Black would make things even darker in there. Also, the fridge and the stove are only about 3 feet apart on the same wall. And, the cabinets are oak. I have removed most of the plaid wall paper, so that is improving things in that room. Maybe tomorrow I can post a picture.

[Mom2boys]

I would never have a side-by-side. The freezer may look big, but you can't get anything wider than about 10 inches on any shelf, so pizzas, pies, cookie sheets (if you freeze strawberries, etc.) are out. The refrigerator is also small (narrow), so you can't get trays, or large soup pans, or the occasional turkey in there. I also hate that the produce drawers are WAY down at the floor. You can't see what you have, and everything gets buried behind other stuff (in the drawers and on the shelves). Yuk.

 

The bottom freezers hold a ton! And, everything is easy to get to. And, like you said, they're much more energy efficient. The drawers in the frig are up high and easy to access. I get in the frig at least 10 times more often than I do the freezer, so I appreciate having the things I access most often more accessible! :)

 

I vote bottom freezer, all the way.

 

:iagree:

[PeterPan]

Ah, see I could see myself pulling off those doors and painting those cabs... BTW, at my old house we had a bisque frig and black dw with oak cabs. The counters were that verde green that has black flecks, so it pulled it together. You can also buy trim kits and put a piece of chalkboard on the front of the frig. That would look cute and make your frig multi-functional. :)

[Brigitte]

Ah, see I could see myself pulling off those doors and painting those cabs... BTW, at my old house we had a bisque frig and black dw with oak cabs. The counters were that verde green that has black flecks, so it pulled it together. You can also buy trim kits and put a piece of chalkboard on the front of the frig. That would look cute and make your frig multi-functional. :)

 

I'm feeling what you are thinking. ;) I am prohibited from doing any major painting, except where I tore down the wall paper. If I paint the cabinets, I would have to paint the railing on the stairs and the balcony and all the door trim on the main floor and the second floor - gotta love open floor plans. I would love to do all that. Dh has already put the squash on it, though.

 

I tried to get a link to a place that is for sale that is identical to ours, but it won't work. Bummer

[PeterPan]

Sounds easier to buy a new stove so you can get the frig you want. Maybe sell the bisque one on Craig's List? :)

[Josie]

I dislike our Side-by-side immensely! The freezer width is way too small.

 

I have never had a freezer on the bottom, so I can't comment on that. I will say that I have had a freezer on the top, and I prefer it to a side-by-side.

[nukeswife]

Another vote for bottom freezer. I used to have a Samsung with a bottom freezer although different from the newer ones. The one I had the freezer swung open and had 3 drawers inside . I loved it. I'm not crazy about the big pull out drawers, but that would still be better than a side by side. We are military and move a lot so my brother got the Samsung when we rented our house to him and I'm stuck with whatever is in our rental. Currently it's a LG Side by side and we ended up having to go buy a 21 CU ft. freezer just to have enough room. This one has the water/ice in the door and the ice maker takes up about 1/3 of the freezer. It holds almost nothing. Oh and the fridge is hard to fit stuff in too. We buy alot of milk at a time, like 4 gallons worth, but we have to buy it in half gallons or we can't fit it all in, it's a real pain in the behind.

 

Sorry for the rant, but just tonight I had to try to fit stuff in the fridge and it was driving me crazy!

[CalicoKat]

Which model do you have? The freezer capacity on the models I saw seemed lacking.

I have an Amana. I also go the water/ice dispenser. It looks like this, but mine is black. My MIL went and bought one after she saw mine. :)

 

http://www.nextag.com/Amana-Bottom-Freezer-Refrigerator-505513071/prices-html

[Sharon in SC]

That is the question tonight. I hate (yes, I know that is a strong word, but...) my fridge. It came with the house - it's old, has a gasket that needs replacing, and has a tiny freezer. I need more freezer space and have considered just getting a freezer chest (I might still do that), but this fridge is making me crazy.

 

I went and looked at new refrigerators today. The bottom mounted freezers look really small. Is that an illusion? The side-by-side freezers look like they might hold more, but consume more electricity.

 

So, what do you have and love (or hate)? Oh, I am looking around the $1,000 mark or lower (the french door models are over my limit).

 

casting a vote for bottom freezer. I have one and love it. my parents have a side by side and hate it. little to no storage comparatively.

[cjzimmer1]

I only read through the first page and so many responses about side by sides being too small to hold large things. This must really depend on the size of your fridge because I can hold a pizza box on every shelf of my fridge if I wanted. I can easy hold a 20+ pound turkey on the bottom shelf, and I have also stored by half of sheet pan in their as well. Granted my side by side is one of the larger models (I think it's 25 or 26 cubic feet) but it's still a standard model (not commercial sized or anything).

 

My parents have the bottom freezer and I HATE it. You basically have to sit on the floor to find anything. They have it stuffed pretty full so if you pull out the drawers, things fall out. I find it a real pain. But since they don't go in this freezer much (they also have 2 upright freezers and a chest freezer) they don't worry about accessing it. I on the other hand go in the freezer a few times a day.

 

I also find that a fridge with with freezer on top or bottom has much more space in the back for things to get lost.

[LaxMom]

Hated the side by side, for all the reasons stated previously. The only side by side I would consider in the future would be a Sub-Zero, but even that would be iffy; my ILs are constantly having issues with theirs.

 

We replaced our side by side with an LG armoire with a bottom freezer *drawer*. I think this may be the key. My mother used to have a bottom freezer with a door and that was a giant pain. I don't think she could put a turkey in hers. Our drawer pulls way out and the handle part tilts forward for additional access. The bins in the bottom level are deep, and then there is a slide out shelf above that is not so deep, but holds a number of things. (Just looking at it, I could very likely put an 8-10 lb turkey in that, too.)

 

Our ice/water are in the fridge door and really, the only thing that we lack in space is additional door shelves (there is one under the ice maker).

 

I really like LG appliances, too. They are a very customer-service oriented company and my appliances are great.