What About Refrigerators? (4iC)

sl2crmeg

I HATE HATE HATE my side-by-side with a passion. You can't even fit a danged pizza box in there, widthwise. In my wild days of petsitting I've look thru a lot of fridges and I like the freezer on bottom with the double doors the best.

I agree 100%. I curse my side-by-side every time I go grocery shopping. The frig part isn't so bad, but the freezer is ridiculous. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with the side-by-side top with the freezer on the bottom. I do love the ice/water dispenser and use it daily. I have a GE and have been happy with the product in general.

I replaced my fridge about a year ago and we looked at EVERY make and model out there! Our old fridge was an Amana side by side. It was a little tight in the freezer side as far as bigger boxed items were concerned. Luckily we had a small chest freezer in the basement. The only problem with the fridge side was that the plastic on the shelves broke and/or cracked. We were restricted in the size of our fridge. We needed a counter depth model which is a few inches shallower than standard. After much looking we ended up with a KitchenAid side by side with water an ice. (DH has to have an endless supply of ice!) I absolutely love it. There is almost twice as much room as the Amana and the shelves and storage are extreme well designed allowing full view and easy access. No more hidden nasties!

I can't stand side-by-sides.  Every apartment and rental I've lived in has the freezer on top, thank god!  However, we don't have an extra freezer chest like a lot of people do, and we store a LOT of venison at a time.  It's so much easier to pile giant roasts and packets of stew meat into a freezer that's a nice rectangle than one of those long, skinny deals.  Meh. 

I agree, hate side by sides!! DH and I argued over every fridge we looked at. I love the double doors with the freezer on the bottom, but DH being so tall didn't like the idea so I gave in and we got a fridge with the freezer on top. Now of course we bought an extra freezer chest to store meat and stuff in, so he doesn't even use the freezer upstairs, go figure! 

Wow! I'm glad I asked you guys! Thanks!

Why do you like the French Doors? What's the advantage? Our frig sits at one end of the kitchen and space isn't really an issue. I'm thinking they're more expensive, too. But maybe there's an upside I don't see...

going against the tide I love side by sides    We bought a new fridge in August and I never liked the mini freezer on top thing and the french door freezer on bottom was not for me.  It is like a chest freezer so you pile everything on top of each other.  Even high end ones there was only flimsy pull outs to put stuff on to 'try' and organize it.  We dont' have an extra freezer and nearly always have a packed freezer - for organization purposes the side by side works much better for me.  We went with an LG which is a bit oversized.

And I don't know guys I can put a full size pizza in my frig  - couldn't in the last one but easily in this one.  I like the big shelves on the door too.  I really recommend going and looking at different ones especially different brands if you can.  The things I want or need may not be what you want and need.  The trend is the french door, bottom freezer but I just couldn't have done that - plus if there are two sides to the fridge how do you remember/decide what goes on each side

I hate my side by side. I would much rather have a freezer on bottom or even no freezer at all in my fridge.

FYI I loved my new side by side when I first got it.

I just recently got a GE Profile Side by Side in the biggest cubic feet we could find.  I shopped around for all the different kinds.  I looked at the ones with the freezer on bottom and fridge on top but what I was told was that on the bottom drawer, there is nothing underneath it when you open it and ice and water tends to get on the floor.  Also, if you are stacking things on top of each other, you will have to dig around to find what you need.

My new side by side holds so much more than my old Whirlpool one does.  I also love that my combo has an option for express chill (basically a 15 minute wine or whatever chiller) built in, express ice for those times you dump your ice into a cooler and don't want to wait 24 hours for it to regenerate, and express cool for when the power has been out of the door has been open for too long.  Oh, and it has a door alarm and digital temperature controls.  Oh and the best part, one of the shelves slides in to make room for a tall bottle when needed.

I would suggest getting whichever one you like the best and maybe moving the old one into the garage for extra space which is always nice to have if it still works.  Also, if you have an appliance place near you, you should definately look at the scratch and dent section.  I saved $400 on mine and the only thing wrong is a piece of plastic on the inside that isn't cut right...it is purely cosmetic and I would never have noticed had I not asked. 

sl2crmeg

I like the freezer on bottom with the double doors the best.

That's what I have. Got it at a Maytag scratch and dent warehouse place (though it's Amana brand..Maytag's cheapy brand, I think?). It's really nice, I like it a lot. The main advantage two having two fridge doors instead of one is it's a lot easier to open a 15" wide door than a 30" one, if your kitchen is small, or crowded. Plus it's just prettier, I think. But I really like symmetry. (No, I'm not OCD at all. ) It's also easier to pull out the door shelves and wash them when they're only half-size.

Now the freezer... It's drawer-style, which I really love and really hate at the same time. It's nice to just open it and drop something in without having to worry about it falling out or anything, plus you don't have to squat down to see what's in it. But it also sucks, because the basket's wire is rather widely spaced, and small things fall right through and onto the floor (making a nice mess on the floor if you don't notice). Plus in mine at least, the track has issues once in a while, and I have to take the drawer out and fix it. Water'll freeze on the track (making it nearly impossible to open without breaking something), or someone opens or shuts it a little roughly and it just misaligns itself.

But overall..I love it. I doubt I'll ever go back to a top-freezer fridge, and I'll have a hard time giving up the "armoire" style. It's just nice looking.

We have a JennAir (Maytag) side/side with ice and water dispenser...

I love the my side/side because my freezer is just for the small stuff...
ice cream, chocolate, coffee, rum, vodka, frozen daiquiri mix etc....

We have a big freezer for the pizza, and frozen food and other large stuff.....
it's in the laundry room on the same level so not a big trip for how often we use it....

The one thing I can't live without is the ice maker and water dispenser...
No yelling at anyone (dh) because the ice trays weren't filled up...
It's super fast and convenient...

My mom got a freezer on the bottom model and loves that the fridge has everything
at eye level.....

Good luck in chosing one...

I prefer the side by side. I can organize my food much better and seems like I can fit more in. I have 3 fridges, 1 side by side, 1 freezer on top and 1 with it on the bottom. I hate the one on the bottom the most. My side by side will fit even the biggets Turkey. I don't buy frozen pizza's so that will never be a problem for me. With the side by side I can see what I have in there at a glance, with the other ones it seems like I have to move the food around to find something.

I alos prefer the wire shelves instead of glass but they seem to be hard to find.

Thank you all for your input! It has helped me to pretty much decide on a bottom freezer model with a door and slide out basket shelves and a single door on top. Something like this one with the larger capacity.

Don't know which brand yet, as someone said, I'll have to go look at them.

Thanks again!  

Here is a LINK

Have fun shopping!