frenchdoor vs side by side fridge

[cnlmom]

We are in the market for a new fridge (ours is older and we know it is just a matter of time).
I am torn between the regular side by side vs the newer frenchdoor with the freezer at the bottom models. I really need more of the fridge room as I have seperate freezer already.
I am pretty tall and so is DH so I thought the french door would be nice.
We went looking and was overwhelmed by all the choices.
We have never had a door ice/water dispenser and thought that would be nice this time around, but I see on the frenchdoor model it does take up a bit of space and the "holding" container for ice is small.
We also found a few models that have shaved ice for instant snow cones.....how nice would that be, but my first instinct was "that will break soon" I also realize that is a feature that is a novelity (but how fun!!!)
Since our last fridge is going on 20 years old (I bought it new) we want to get exactly what we want (however we are looking of course for a good price) as we know this one will be with us a long time as well.
I am not looking for stainless steel (I know, the horror of not going with the trend), I need black to match my kitchen better, however I would for the right price take Stainless.
Any advice....I am on Fridge overload.

 

[IluvXU]

I got a french door last month and have really liked it. We had an old side by side that was in the house when we moved. I love having the water in front, my kids help themselves and that is one thing I don't mind them getting more of
We do have a lot more fridge space ... I love the setup in ours.

 

[irky416]

We got a french door a few months ago and we love it! I wasn't sure I'd like the freezer on the bottom, but it has worked out really nice.

We actually bought ours from the Sears scratch and dent center by us. It was a brand new refrigerator that was damaged coming off the truck. The damage is some dents and scratches on the side (that is blocked by the wall in our kitchen) and one dent on the front that you can barely see. We got a $2,000+ fridge for $1,000! Everyone who has seen the fridge has had to have the damages pointed out because they are really hard to see if you don't know they're there. If you have one near you , it might be a good option.

 

[dizneechic]

Love my french door, hate the bottom freezer. I boy a lot of frozen boxed items apparently and they don't fit too well. We have our 2nd fridge (13 yrs old now) out in the garage and I use that freezer way more than the one in my kitchen. As for the top 1/2 I do LOVE it, configures to meet our needs, we only have water dispensed (on the inside of the fridge, not outside) and our ice is down bottom so we didn't loose any space but still have the convenience.

 

[StephMK]

We are both tall too & bought a side by side a few years ago when we moved instead of a top freezer. I HATE it. The fridge area is so small. Not to mention the contractor that replaced our water line did it wrong so the water doesn't even work anymore. I would definitely give up the convenience of water in the door for more shelf space. We do have good tap water though if that makes a difference.

If you need fridge space, I'd go w/the french door. My mom has that & I love hers, it's so roomy. We have a garage freezer so freezer space isn't a big deal.

 

[snoopy5386]

well, I have a side by side and I hate it. The freezer is so small and everytime you open it, it seems everything comes falling out. I do LOVE the water in the door, we use that ALL the time and that would be a must do for me. As for the freezer on the bottom, eh.
I used to babysit for a family with 3 young boys, they had a fridge with a bottom freezer. The boys were always pulling half gallons of ice cream out of the bottom, eating some and then leaving the rest for the mom to find all melted hours later. Yuck!
Also, someone my mom works with had a bottom freezer and a kitten. Her husband had the freezer open, the kitten jumped in, he didn't notice and the kitten died.
Not sure if you have small children or animals in the house, but something to consider.

 

[daleswife]

I have a french door fridge and I love it. I find that the freezers in the side by side's are way too narrow for my needs. Cant fit a lot of stuff in it. Frozen Pizza's are hard to get in there!!! We have an Ice2o model from maytag with the ice maker in the door and it dont take up too much room in the fridge. It does have a small container for the ice, but it makes Ice quickly. Good luck in your choice!!!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We have a side by side and I hate it. There is no space for anything and my freezer stays cramed full and when you need something, everything else comes out with it. When we move, we will buy the new style with the freezer in the bottom.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

We have an LG french door from Home Depot and love it. Still using the old side by side downstairs for pop/beer but never did like the side by side freezer.

 

[joy@disney]

Thanks OP for this thread. We are also in the market for a new fridge, and are debating this choice as well.

Those of you who have the french door fridge. Could you share what size you have, cubic feet, etc.

Thanks to all the PP for sharing your opinions, I think I am leaning towards the french door style.

 

[Mathfailure]

I agree with most of the above, the side freezers are annoying.

I also did not like the water/ice through the door, it wasted a lot of space.

I am going to stick to the regular top freezer, bottom fridge. The biggest advantage is it seems to be the cheapest models. I like the wider shelves for the fridge and the freezer, and use a filter water jug for fresh water.

The choices are overwhelming. So deciding the style first is a good plan, then in the stores you can hone in on price and make.

 

[mrodgers]

No french doors, but I have freezer on the bottom. How many times do you go into the freezer compared to the fridge part? The fridge gets opened much more and is nice to have everything at eye level.

When I go to someone else's house and need to get in the fridge, I grab and open up the freezer every time, LOL.

A few bad things about the freezer on the bottom.... As was mentioned, kids will yank on it all the time. My youngest opened it one time for ice cream and one of the kid's shoes was in the way. She closed it, but it got caught on the shoe and stayed opened just a bit. Not good, it was found too late after half the stuff in the freezer was thawed.

I don't know how others are but ours is a Maytag. The freezer door is a bit difficult to pull open. You have to pull with a bit of force, but not so hard that a 5 year old can get in. You do have to pull it hard enough that our handle comes off now all the time. Do not get lazy and pull open the freezer from the center of the handle with one hand. Use two hands and pull from as far towards the outsides of the handle as possible. My youngest has ended up on her rump from yanking the handle in the middle and having it come off.

 

[shortbun]

I love my french door model. It's a two drawer freezer set up and I think that gives me more flexibility with the freezer. I didn't get an in door water/ice dispenser because I didn't want to give up the space in the frig. All that said, I really don't like the limited space that a below freezer has. We had to get a separate freezer to accomodate big things which was a dumb thing. You already have one so you won't mind but it irritated me.

 

[dizneechic]

Those of you who have the french door fridge. Could you share what size you have, cubic feet, etc.

Here's a link to our fridge. From the specs:
Total Capacity (cubic feet) 22.2 cu ft
Shelf Area 27.7 sq ft
Fresh Food Capacity 15.5 cu ft
Freezer Capacity 6.7 cu ft

 

[DLW8]

We just bought a new fridge and went with a french door model as well. I love it. It is 25 cubic feet and is VERY big - when I moved all my food from the old fridge to this one, I actually had a whole shelf that was empty!

My DH wanted a water line, but we didn't want to lose the room in the door, so the model we got has the filtered water INSIDE the fridge. The bottom freezer has an ice maker and makes a good amount of ice, so we love it.

The bottom freezer has a top drawer that slides in/out plus the bottom portion. I keep the items that we use a lot in the freezer and then bulk items are in my chest freezer in the garage. I am finding the bottom freezer is easier to find things in and items won't get shoved to the back anymore.

We bought a Whirlpool Gold model from Sears at the beginning of Octber when they were having 25% off all Whirlpool appliances which made it very affordable and they had a rebate for free shipping which helped as well.

We have bought many appliances from the Sears scratch and dent, but this time decided to go for one from the store since we knew exactly which model we wanted.

 

[jetsetter90]

I just ordered mine from Sears. We had a subzero with the freezer on the bottom and I really love that. We also have the side by side in the basement. I have to tell you there is a difference mainly on my knees With a side by side you have to get down low to see what is on that bottom shelf (hate that bottom shelf)) but with the freezer on the bottom you only need to bend at the waist and how often to you really go into the freezer compared to the frig.


TTFN
Jetsetter90

 

[mickeyboat]

Our french door model is 5 years old, and we love it. The freezer is small, but since we use the fridge a lot more than the freezer, the configuration and space in the fridge more than makes up for it.

 

[neatokimmo]

I have a french door and a side by side. I hate hate hate that french door fridge, if fact I sold it at a yard sale yesterday.

My have great love for my side by side. The ice and water feature in the door doesn't take up a lot of space. I love the crushed ice feature. I am able to store items by type on the shelves in the freezer. The door easily holds all our milk and condiments. I am sad to leave it when I sell this place. I plan to buy something similar for the other house someday tho

When the ice gets jammed up in the french model, are you prepared to lay in the floor and hack at it? We had the french model in a narrow galley kitchen, it was such a PITA to do anything with the freezer.

 

[Fortune1211]

We have an Amana french door with a water/ice unit. I love it! We had a side by side when we moved in and that has to be the worst design for a fridge ever. We have a 5 year old and he can barely pull open the bottom freezer, heck there are days I have trouble too I'm not sure about the problem with hacking at the ice, we've never had trouble at all. It is a big appliance though so make sure you have the space!

 

[4Seasons]

How many times do you go into the freezer compared to the fridge part? The fridge gets opened much more and is nice to have everything at eye level.

When I go to someone else's house and need to get in the fridge, I grab and open up the freezer every time, LOL.

Same thinking here, LOL. I love my french door freezer (Maytag). Only complaint I have is the 2 Maytag appliances we own (fridge and dishwasher) haven't been as "trouble free" as Maytag would like you to believe they are. The fan on the fridge that blows the cold air up from the freezer to the fridge part died just a few days before Christmas after we'd had the fridge for just over a year (very inconvenient but fortunately we had a backup). We replaced the fan, but it happened a second time not long ago but mysteriously started working again. Maybe a design flaw?

The size of the freezer doesn't matter much to me, as we have a separate full size freezer since I like to buy in quantity when stuff is on sale.
What I normally do is plan out what I need for the week ahead and transfer it from the big freezer to the bottom drawer freezer, works well for me.