Need New Refrigerator advice - YouLookFab Forum

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Need New Refrigerator advice

Joy

Veteran

Tell me about your refrigerator. We will probably soon need a new one. A built in side-by-side (refrigerator and freezer) with door cold filtered water and ice dispenser came with our house. I am not crazy about the freezer space but a small chest freezer in the garage also came with the house. It all works fine for just the 2 of us. The refrigerator we have is starting to freeze things in the refrigerator section and is about 18 years old. We can replace it with another side-by-side with water and ice dispenser in the outer part of the door or with a single or French door unit with refrigerator on top and drawer freezer on the bottom. These styles do not come with the water/ice dispenser. Before this house I did not think I wanted the ice/ water dispenser but we use it all the time now. So I am torn about getting another side by side with this feature or having more space and no dispenser. All have ice makers. I need advice.

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26 replies

Latest reply was from Joy

JAileen

Veteran

We have an LC with french doors on top, freezer drawer on bottom, and ice/water on the door. I LOVE it! We never had an ice maker before. I don’t know how we survived. We’ve had it 3-5 years.

I wonder if your moving to Colorado with its drier air makes you drink more water. I drink a lot of water here in the desert.

Joy

Veteran

Thank you,JAileen. The drier climate does make me thirsty and I tend to drink a lot of water. I would probably miss the water in the door. Is your unit built in? Extra high? If we got a regular refrigerator, we would have to have the whole wall redone. We need a counter depth model too

Joyce B

Veteran

I am also looking for a new fridge but I do not want the ice maker as it occupies too much space and needs extra plumbing so it is not for me. Joy, what did you not like about freezer space in the side by side? I would like a fridge of that type but with more space in the fridge and less in the freezer.
Some top fridge and bottom freezer seem nice but all the little drawers in the freezer drive me nuts nust thinking about them so I will not get that type for us. Also the fridges with the double top door and bottom freezer seem a pain in the neck, having to open both doors when looking for something in the fridge and dealing with all the little drawers in the freezer.
Good luck with your search

JAileen

Veteran

Joy, our fridge is not built in. We had a space in between cabinets and it just fit. It’s not counter depth, either. It juts out a foot from the cabinets. When we had remodeled our kitchen, we had them plumb for an ice maker, but didn’t use it for 15 years.

Anonymous

We have a Kitchen Aid counter depth stainless steel refrigerator with French Doors (freezer on bottom). Easier to find stuff in the freezer section IMO.I didn't think I would like it at first, but I quickly fell in love. Water dispenser is inside the refrigerator on the left panel Love my ice maker - we use tons of ice. I also have a upright freezer in the basement.

Glory

Veteran

We had a side by side with water and ice when we moved to this house and it lasted about 18 years. I was not sorry to see it go at all. The freezer side made this momma crazy as it could only store very small items.
I replaced it with french door, freezer on bottom, with ice maker and water. We also had issues with size and ended up having to remove the cupboard above the fridge to get the new one in. It was a bit of a headache but well worth it in the end.
I love the water and ice dispenser but I know that they take up extra room and are a major cause of flooding.

Kathie

Veteran

We got a French door/freezer on bottom, counter-depth LG last summer, and it’s been great. I personally have a poison eye for water dispensers on the front of a refrigerator, so ours has only an ice maker. I would have happily gone without that, too, as it takes up a lot of space, and is one more thing to maintain/break. But, I’m very old school about refrigerators.

L'Abeille

Veteran

I am biased against side-by-sides because while temporarily staying in a home with one, I bought a frozen pizza. There was no possible way to fit it into that skinny freezer so we had to cook and eat it right away, which was not the plan.

When we moved into our dream house I selected a fridge-top, freezer drawer bottom unit. There is an ice maker but no water faucet.

I am very happy with the style, but not so enamoured of the particular model. The only way to slide the drawers or shelves out for thorough cleaning is to pull the fridge away from the wall (because the door won't open fully being in a corner), and it is not on casters so that is a major pain. Also the style of the shelves does not lend itself easily to deep cleaning (grooves where moisture collects). I had never thought to look for those features because I assumed easy cleanability was a given in fridge design. (This one was made in China, but I don't know how significant that is, maybe they all are now.)

Anonymous

@L'Abielle, that's why DH refused to get a side by side one! We just have a standard freezer on top one from Sears, but the cheap plastic compartments on the sides are drawers have cracked sometimes-so I would't rec it!
Are the freezer on the bottom ones better?

Joy

Veteran

Joyce, in out old house we had the French doors on the top and freezer on the bottom. It worked very well. You get used to what is behind each door so only open one. They are more efficient to run than a side by side. Although only counter depth, it seemed very roomy. The side by side we have now is cramped by comparison. It is 1/3 freezer and 2/3 refrigerator. The freezer fits small items only...so no turkeys or frozen pizza boxes. I buy the smallest ice cream containers. I like to make beans from dried rather than use canned and freeze leftovers to pull out later. Cooking for two means that can happen often. I also freeze nuts and many spices to keep them fresh.
The units with a freezer drawer do not have little drawers that I have seen, just 2, a top shallow section for things you use often and a deeper bottom section.

rachylou

Veteran

I cannot imagine the luxury of such choice. My whole life, the smallest full-size fridge has been my only experience. Every apartment. My mom’s house! The Sears Hotpoint top freezer, that plastic bottom tray that splits in half. My whole life, living with a duct-taped bottom shelf. Lol. It’s all about size. Apartments and old houses. I’m also not used to bulk buying. It’s farmer’s market twice a week around here.

I will say ice makers and water dispensers worry me because of sanitation...

Gretchen

Veteran

We just went through this with our remodel last year.

I was not a fan of the ice/water dispenser, but DH wanted an easier way to prep his water bottles for cycling so it was a reasonable compromise.

We ended up with a subzero side-by-side. The salesperson at the appliances store had a guide on size of fridge needed based on size of house... I think it must assume # of people and how much food you would reasonably need? Anyway, for the size of fridge recommended, the french door would have been too big to fit with the placement of our island.

I reminded DH that we started with a dorm fridge in our first apartment. Moving on up!

Joy

Veteran

Still have not ordered anything. Nothing is available that fits both space and wants. DH did a bunch of on line research. At this point we don’t want to remodel the kitchen. I suspect that we will end up with another side by side although I would not recommend them to anyone. An expensive model would probably outlive us as we are both in our 70’s.

Joyce B

Veteran

Thank you for the reply, Joy, I will keep it in mind. I don’t think appliances are made to last these days which is bad but can be good if one gets tired of them.
Let us know what you decide on. I am still looking for mine, too.

Joy

Veteran

Joyce, we just had a Samsung repairman and shop owner out. He said the ice makers on the side by side of all makes are better than those in a French door model. After about a year or so the ice maker stops. There is not much the repairman can do. They don’t seen very fixable, I guess an ice maker near the top that needs to send the ice way down to the freezer section is not a good idea.

anchie

Veteran

We have a Samsung side by side with ice and water dispenser on freezer doors. I am very happy with it. Freezer side is big enough - can fit big frozen pizza box easily, even American size LOL. It has two drawers at the bottom and rest are shelves that you can readjust as needed. We didn’t want ice and water dispenser and ordered a cheaper model without it, but received this model by mistake. When we reported it they begged us to keep it for the price of the cheaper model instead of replacing it and we agreed. I am now so happy that they made this mistake, we use water and ice so much, can’t imagine now being without.

Joy

Veteran

Anchie, we had a Samsung French door at our last house but Samsung does not make a refrigerator the size we need now for our built in space.

Theodora

We have an lg French door with bottom drawer freezer that is 8 years old and the water dispenser is perfectly fine! Useful in Florida, as we can get ice and water all day without opening the doors. I agree that it has SO much more room in the freezer than the side by side it replaced!

shiny

Veteran

Joy, the main requirement is what fits your space, as you probably don't want to remodel. I'm guessing your husband checked out AJ Madison to research? And I totally get you not wanting to spend an arm and a leg for a Sub Zero at this point in life. Which is what we did with our remodel -- but we're in our 50s so figured it was okay to splurge on this.

That said, you have not bought a fridge in 18 years. What you need to know (and may have already figured out) is that most of the brands out there these days are built to last only a few years. Especially the kind that have built in water dispensers in the door!! These are notorious for failing just a few years in.

I know it'll be an adjustment but you can get a fridge with space for a water pitcher, the kind with a water filter.

Otherwise I love having a french door with freezer on the bottom. Just make sure you can reach the top shelf. In our case a french door was what we needed for our layout. Ultimately the reasons we we went SubZero is 1) with the model we bought I could reach the top shelf and couldn't with most other brands 2) I stood there opening and closing the french doors on various models and thought that the plastic part in other brands was cheap and would be the weakest most likely to fail part.

Freckles

Veteran

I've had a Jenn-Air for about twenty years and just love it. It is a large fridge single door, freezer bottom, water tap inside door on left panel so we can fill jugs of water easily and an ice maker in the freezer, deli drawer full width of fridge on bottom of fridge part. the shelves on the door are wide enough to insert flower vases or other containers to hold herbs, spinach, asparagus upright in water.
We thought that we would go to a smaller size fridge when our son moved out but stayed with this one. It gives me the flexibility to keep beet tops on etc after coming home from our weekly visit to the farmers market.
I know this isn't what you're looking for but can highly recommend the brand, I wouldn't buy anything else now.

Staysfit

Veteran

There may be some other options as well. We had amazing luck with Amana counter depth refrigerators which we used for several years before replacing with a built in side by side. They had a freezer drawer on the bottom. I loved that style because the freezer was so spacious and held much more than my side to sides. I had two of them....one with a water and ice dispenser. My built in is a Viking. My stepfather had a kitchen and bath store, and he liked that brand for its durability and good track record for maintenance. No problems with it yet for 10 years.....
My next door neighbor used GE and likes them. The appliance repair person we use now likes LG .

Joy

Veteran

Thank you for all the great advice. Getting something the same size as our present refrigerator has limited us a lot but we don’t want or need. kitchen remodel. The kitchen is very attractive as is.
Shiny, you have a good point about reaching the top shelf but I haul around step stools all day as it is. My kitchen cabinets are ceiling height but I love the look.

Joyce B

Veteran

Joy, have you looked at 4 door refrigerators? I saw a Samsung that looks nice but I doubt they will have it without the water and ice maker. The search continues for me. Have you found your fridge?

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Joy

Veteran

Joyce, we ended up with a model very similar to the old one so it would fit the built-in space. For us it is barely ok but, without a big kitchen remodel there was not much choice.

Joyce B

Veteran

Thank you for letting us know about your choice. I am still looking but I think I have seen most fridges available...
At least your search is over, good for you.
Have a Happy Fourth.

Joy

Veteran

Joyce, being without a refrigerator puts pressure on the process. Even with just 2 of us we struggle with the lack of room in a side-by-side arrangement, especially in summer. I would not recommend this type of refrigerator to anyone. Luckily we can shop often and do not have to stock up.