French door and side by side fridges question

[wishesuponastar]

We were looking at fridges tonight, french door and side by side. My question is how do you like the freezers in both of these models?

The french door model with the freezer on the bottom seems like it would be a nuisance to get what you need out of the freezer space. Plus having to lean over.
But I do like the french door fridge space seems nice and roomy.

The side by side fridge - is there enough space in the freezer?

 

[LBIJim]

When we last replaced our refrigerator we considered a French door/bottom freezer model. But the freezer seemed like it would be just a giant disorganized dump bin. So we got a side by side. Plenty of freezer space, at least for our purposes.

 

[Southernmiss]

Love our french door freezer on the bottom refrigerator. My grandmother has always had a freezer on the bottom fridge.

We are on the shorter side so it's actually easier to find food in the freezer than if it were on the top.

Love the space of the refrigerator.

 

[Missy1961]

I hate the French door freezer. Much less space than we had before with a side by side (we didn't have the water & ice in the door, so we had tons of space). If I had to do it over, I'd get a side by side.

 

[MommyMK]

We have a side by side and NO there is not enough freezer space, when we moved here we almost immediately had to go buy a chest freezer. The side by side freezer cannot fit a frozen pizza in it, no freezing things on cookie sheets, etc. It is a huge pain to dig through to find stuff on the shelves and stuff is always and I mean always falling out when we open the door. We do have an ice maker and water in the door that I would not trade for anything, but it means the freezer is small and a pain. I'd much rather have to dig through the French door bottom bin freezer vs having stuff constantly falling out of the side by side.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I have a side-by-side, plenty of room in the freezer for everything. I can fit frozen pizza's standing on their sides just fine. I always thought that the french-door with the freezer on the bottom would be great but my friend has one and hates it. All of the crumbs fall into it and it is a pain to organize and find things.

 

[kuhltiffany]

Had the French door my last 2 houses and loved them! Just moved to a new (to us) house with my first side by side and absolutely hate it! Can't wait for it to die so I can replace it!

 

[mommasita]

I have the french door, freezer on the bottom, with the extra drawer for whatever you so choose on the fridge. LOVE IT. I put all my can drinks in the drawer... Also have the ice maker..

I saw reviews where there wasn't enough room in the freezer for anything frozen in the size by side, although I loved the look, the other suits our needs better..

 

[wishesuponastar]

We have a side by side and NO there is not enough freezer space, when we moved here we almost immediately had to go buy a chest freezer. The side by side freezer cannot fit a frozen pizza in it, no freezing things on cookie sheets, etc. It is a huge pain to dig through to find stuff on the shelves and stuff is always and I mean always falling out when we open the door. We do have an ice maker and water in the door that I would not trade for anything, but it means the freezer is small and a pain. I'd much rather have to dig through the French door bottom bin freezer vs having stuff constantly falling out of the side by side.

That is something to consider that things fall out of the side by side freezer. Thank you all for your replies. DH and I don't need a new fridge right now but I appreciate your input.

 

[marius97]

I'd give anything to get rid of our side by side. The freezer is so narrow that it is a pain to get anything of size into it. When I go shopping, I make to be keenly aware of what is in the freezer so that I know if I have room for something new.

 

[shoney]

When we bought this house it had a side by side. I didn't like it at all. The frig and freezer were just too narrow. We bought a regular refrigerator for the garage so I had room for food for parties. You couldn't fit aluminum trays of food otherwise.

The french door is much more roomy. I don't mind the bin freezer.

I feel we use the refrigerator part so much more that having that be so much more roomy is worth the freezer on the bottom.

 

[Happy Snowman]

We've had 3 different side-by-sides. Two of them had a pretty narrow freezer section and did not hold much at all. The third had a good size freezer section and was fine. We ended up getting an upright freezer to accommodate the lack of space. With that upright freezer, I liked our side-by-side because it was easier to organize on the refrigerator side. My parents have a french door and I think the fridge part is hard to organize and it's pretty deep so it's hard to get to things in the back. The freezer part has better space than our side-by-side though and while you sometimes have to shift things around, it's pretty easy to get to everything in there. My preference, a side-by-side with a wide fridge side and a small upright freezer.

 

[Meriweather]

I have a side by side. It's alright. The refrigerator part has plenty of room. The freezer is narrow, but I have a chest freezer in the garage (have always had one....even before this refrigerator)
DS has the freezer on bottom and hates it. It is a mess even with spacers and it is a pain to bend over for it. The refrigerator is fine.

 

[mnrose]

Replaced my side-by-side with french door, freezer on the bottom. I'd NEVER go back to side by side.

I like that things FIT in a french door. My refrigerator fits in the same space as the side by side and I have LOADS (about 30% more) space inside. Huge difference.

I don't find the bottom freezer to be a pain in any way, and I am tall. It has enough "separate" spaces that I can organize and always know where to look for what I want.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I can see where if you have a bottom freezer with separate spaces that would be easier to find what you are looking for.
Now to convince DH to go with the french door fridge.

 

[deedeetoo]

We have a French Door Fridge. I love the refrigerator section, but the freezer section is too small. I don't like the way the freezer is organized as well with bins instead of shelves - well there is one shelf but it is fairly shallow. When we got it we moved our old fridge downstairs and we still fill up the freezer section of that one also.

 

[JanaDee]

I have a side-by-side, plenty of room in the freezer for everything. I can fit frozen pizza's standing on their sides just fine. I always thought that the french-door with the freezer on the bottom would be great but my friend has one and hates it. All of the crumbs fall into it and it is a pain to organize and find things.

We have a side by side and have no problems fitting pizza in the freezer, either laying flat or standing up.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

We purposely bought a side by side with a larger than normal refrigerator section and purchased a stand up freezer that goes in the pantry for our frozen foods. The freezer for our side by side is generally just for ice and water as we really don't put much food in there at all. We didn't like the french door version as it seemed that getting food in and out looked like it might be a bit of a struggle to keep things rotated properly. What we have now works pretty well for us.

 

[amberama76]

I love my french door refrigerator. I'm tall and I don't like having to bend down to see what is in the fridge and with this one I don't have to since its on top! I really don't like the freezer being just a big pull out bin but I deal with it and we have a chest freezer in the garage too. I'll never have another type of fridge as long as I live in the house I'm in now because basically the way the kitchen is designed a regular fridge won't work because the door wouldn't open all the way and I really hate side-by-sides I rented one for a few months when our first french door fridge's compressor went out and I felt like I never had room for my food.

 

[LisaR]

It's important to remember that refrigerators vary in size. You most certainly can get a side by side that holds cookie trays and pizza boxes in the freezer. Measure the large things you normally store in the freezer and then measure the shelves in the store so you can see if your stuff will fit. I've only owned side by sides. A good friend has the bottom freezer and she kicks it everyday hoping it will break soon so she can go back to a side by side.

Even as a child we've always had a spare refrigerator in our garage or basement. If you go that route, you'll have plenty of room.