French door and side by side fridges question

[jdb in AZ]

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.

We have the largest side by side fridge allowable with our built-in kitchen cabinets, and also have a stand-up freezer in the laundry room. DD has a massive French door fridge in her kitchen, and a chest freezer in her basement. Different strokes -- it's a matter of personal preference, and lifestyle. DD has small kids and does a lot more cooking than I do.

 

[AppleDumpling]

We did a kitchen remodel a few years ago and I debated the same thing; ended up getting my first ever side by side, and I really like it. Fridge and freezer are both roomy enough for our needs. The only real downside is that for some frozen food I buy in bulk at the warehouse club, I have to remove the outside box/packaging and separate multiple packs to fit in the freezer, but this isn’t a big deal. The fridge side is a good width—a standard pizza box fits.

That said, honestly I could have gone either way and been happy. The French door style seems to be more popular now and is supposedly more energy efficient. And there are different configurations with 4 doors-- 2 on top and 2 on bottom, or 2 drawers on bottom, etc.—maybe one of these would work best for you?

I suggest researching and reading reviews on the specific models you’re considering on a site like Consumer Reports. Sometimes the more expensive ones have the worst repair records. Good luck.

 

[minnie mum]

I love my French door fridge. My mother always had a side by side and was always complaining about the lack of room on both sides. I like my bottom freezer. It has two lower bins plus a full width pull out upper bin. I have no problem finding everything. We do have a smallish chest freezer in the garage. Handy for keeping things when I take advantage of good sales.

 

[already]

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?

We just replaced our fridge last month. I have always disliked the French door style because I thought the same way about the freezer. I didn't think I could organize it very well.

So, we went specifically looking for side by sides. But in the stores, I kept gravitating to the French doors because I liked the fridge space.

We ended up purchasing a huge French Door (33 cu ft). The freezer has two big bins on the bottom and then 2 spacious drawers that pull out. The door also has a small tray in it, so there is plenty of space to organize.

I can honestly say I LOVE our new fridge. All the fears I thought about having to lean down and not being able to organize were ridiculous. The leaning down is no different than having to lean down to get stuff out of the bottom drawers of the fridge or the bottom of the freezer in the side by sides. You are going to lean down in both for some things. And the sliding drawers on the top of the freezer make it easy to keep the often used stuff.

Our icemaker is in the fridge door (the actual ice making part with the water/ice/crushed ice on the outside of the door), so we don't lose room in the fridge or freezer with the icemaker.

I think you really need to look at the different features and different sizes of fridges to see what works best for you.

 

[wishesuponastar]

You do have a great point! That we would have to bend down in a side by side freezer. All these points I will bring up to DH, thanks. Oh, and thanks for posting the size of your fridge.

 

[morgan98]

We moved into a new construction home in 2006. At that time, the builder provided a side by side freezer as part of the deal. I was disappointed because the French door fridges were newer then and boy did I wish I had one of those! I actually got used to my side by side and ended up liking it just fine. For the record, we are only two adults and our freezer is never really filled to the brim, as we really don't eat frozen pizza, ice cream nor do we freeze much meat. So freezer storage was never an issue for us.

In January of this year, we moved into another new construction home and left the old fridge at the old home when we sold. I went right out and purchased a Kitchen Aid French door refrigerator. Actually, I am underwhelmed. I don't dislike it, but bending down to get into the freezer is a bit of a pain and (at least in or model) you really have to get used to making sure the freezer door is really closed. Also opening the side by side doors to get into the refrigerator is inconvenient at times. It's great when both are open and you can see everything, but having to open two doors takes some getting used to.

Another fridge that I may like is the freezer on the bottom model with one large swinging door for the fridge on top. These tend to have nice clean lines and would eliminate the two door issue. In retrospect, I should have looked into this option.

Just some random thoughts.

 

[Praying Colonel]

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.

Exactly our experience with our side by side. It's our first one, came with the house we purchased in 09. Immediately noticed the narrowness affected the ability to get anything of a certain size into it, and the multiple trays make everything seem cramped. It's nearing its endlife and our next fridge will definitely be a french door model with a freezer below.

 

[Sadie22]

I am on the shorter side and would find things in the upper freezer compartment just find but have a hard time locating items in the refrigerator below when the rest of the family would move things around. When we replaced the appliance, I got the freezer drawer with refrigerator above with drawers for fruit, vegetables, and deli items. So one door above and a big freezer drawer below which has a upper pull-out tray as well as open area below. We also have big freezers which are kept filled with homemade casseroles, bread, fruit and vegetables. This works well for us.

 

[Disney Doll]

Hated my side by side for every day of the 14 years it lasted. Too small. Both sides too narrow to be of any use. I will
never have another side by side. Ever.

Did I mention that I hated it?

I have a French door, separate exterior drawer, bottom freezer fridge now and I ADORE it.

It's a Samsung. Has some kind of twin compressor thing so the fridge and freezer have different compressors. The fridge is roomy. The shelves are very "adaptable". It has a couple of fruit/vegetable drawers inside the fridge. Then there is a drawer that you can open from
The outside, without having to
Open the fridge door. This drawer has an adjustable temperature thing depending on what you keep in there. We keep cold cuts, cheeses, and beverages in there. If you had kids you could keep snacks and drinks in there and the kids wouldn't be opening the fridge door every 5 minutes.

The freezer drawer is fine for us. It has a deep drawer with a divider, a more shallow drawer and then a narrow shelf that runs along the inside edge of the front. Deep drawer I keep meats on one side and general frozen stuff (ice cream etc) on the other side. The smaller top drawer holds mostly frozen vegetables. The narrow shelf holds Popsicles, butter.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Hated my side by side for every day of the 14 years it lasted. Too small. Both sides too narrow to be of any use. I will
never have another side by side. Ever.

Did I mention that I hated it?

I have a French door, separate exterior drawer, bottom freezer fridge now and I ADORE it.

It's a Samsung. Has some kind of twin compressor thing so the fridge and freezer have different compressors. The fridge is roomy. The shelves are very "adaptable". It has a couple of fruit/vegetable drawers inside the fridge. Then there is a drawer that you can open from
The outside, without having to
Open the fridge door. This drawer has an adjustable temperature thing depending on what you keep in there. We keep cold cuts, cheeses, and beverages in there. If you had kids you could keep snacks and drinks in there and the kids wouldn't be opening the fridge door every 5 minutes.

The freezer drawer is fine for us. It has a deep drawer with a divider, a more shallow drawer and then a narrow shelf that runs along the inside edge of the front. Deep drawer I keep meats on one side and general frozen stuff (ice cream etc) on the other side. The smaller top drawer holds mostly frozen vegetables. The narrow shelf holds Popsicles, butter.

You are very encouraging for a french door model! Thank you for saying its a Samsung.

 

[Squirlz]

Had a side by side and grew to dislike it for all the reasons listed. We moved it to the new garage kitchen and got a French door with 2 freezer drawers. Love it!

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[mnrose]

You are very encouraging for a french door model! Thank you for saying its a Samsung.

Ours is a sumsung as well. We love it. It has worked perfectly since we bought it about 18 months ago. And, it is beautiful to boot. Love it.

 

[Kbee]

I am looking to replace my fridge (its a bottom freezer, not french door). I like my bottom freezer but that is because it has a door, not a drawer so its just like a top freezer. I love the look of the french door fridges but I HATE the pull out drawer freezer. It has much less space than the one I have now, and I know the bin part will just become disorganized which I won't be able to stand. I would go with a side by side but I worry about space in the freezer and fridge for large items. If I can convince dh to let me put the one I have now in the garage I'll go with a side by side. If not maybe I'll just keep it even if the color doesn't match my new stove and dishwasher.

Don't you wish this decision was easy OP LOL

 

[Starwind]

we have a french door with bottom freezer and really like it.

the freezer has some organizing structure to it -- an upper tray that rolls out and has a subdivider within it; and the lower par is dividied into two sections -- the smaller is perfect for holding bags of frozen veggies and fruit. we do not have an icemaker so use that space to store ice packs and similar critters in what would have been the ice bucket.

my aunt and mother both have side by side (and for my aunt has had for decades) and when we were buying our replacement fridge they both warned us off because they found there was not enough freezer room in side by sides.

SW