Shopping for a new refrigerator and trying to weigh my options. Wife was 100% set on a side by side w/ an ice maker... I was ok with that (other than I like French Doors). I know this is a personal preference but is there an advantage of one over the others? What about Standard Depth versus Counter Depth refrigerators? Currently we have a GE standard depth side by side refrigerator. I agree that "most likely" the kitchen would look slightly "more open" and "finished" with counter depth. However, you lose about 3 cubic feet going from standard to counter. Just assumed "if you have space" that you would want standard. Many disagree with me.

100% do NOT buy a Samsung...

It's really a matter of personal preference. And advantages of one over the other are subjective.

We had a counter depth side by side for 15 years. We replaced it last year with a standard depth with French doors and freezer on the bottom. We like the extra room from having the extra depth. Also, things like pizza boxes fit much better. We also appreciate the expanded freezer space. Another plus on the one we got it that it has two ice makers, one in the door and another down in the freezer. The way my wife goes through ice, it's been great.

We (nor anyone we know) have never had or wanted a counter-depth unit. We have always bought the largest that fit the opening.

I will not have any brand except Whirlpool in my house. If whatever needs repair, the repair costs are cheaper than other brands and the work is easier due to the way they (Whirlpool products) are assembled. I say that as a repairman having my own business for 23 years.

We just replaced a 20 year-old working Whirlpool side-by-side with a french door unit that is 4 inches taller (had to remove a trim board on the cupboard above). It has the drawer between the bottom freezer and the doors. We are very happy with this purchase. More room and more convenient. It is not a smart unit - don't need or want one.

We had to order it, and wait 3 months due to product shortages. COVID-19 reduced factory output.

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Ed (modelamac)

Trying to figure out some people is like trying to smell the number 9.

Do the French door models come with a French Maid?

In our old house we had a side by side. Bought a new house earlier this year, and it came with french door model. If I had to do it again, I'd think hard about french door. I find I almost always need to open both doors to get what I need, and so it's twice the amount of work (imagine if everytime you pass through a double door, you'd need to open both...). When I have to replace it, I'll likely see what options are out there for single door bottom freezer models are out there. This is assuming you have room for single door.

We have a French Door Kenmore (made by LG) which we like very much. It’s standard depth and has water, ice on the outside. Works well and we like it. Counter depth units are smaller inside (obviously) and much more expensive too.

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Asheville, NC Area

.....side-by-side.....squeezes everything space wise.....if you have anything 'large' like turkey, etc. will be hard to fit........would rather skip side-by-side....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

We have an old school Samsung from when they were built well. When we replace it, it will NOT be a Samsung based on everything known in the last few years. Right now, I'd look for a Whirlpool french door model, preferably with the extra drawer.

I never liked side by side, nothing fits in it.

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We have had them all. We currently have a french door Kitchenaid. I wouldn't get french door again, but my wife likes it. I wanted a side by side until we had one, and as others have mentioned, things like a pizza box or a turkey just don't fit, and had to go to the garage fridge. The only reason for a french door fridge is if you don't have room for a single door to open between counters or an island. I would go for a single door with freezer on the bottom. Best design ever. Our fridge is usually empty, so we like counter depth. All the beer and soda is in the garage fridge.

I like the "idea" of a counter depth fridge. I think the reason ours is so crowded now is that its the side by side type so nothing fits very well. I feel like if it were able to spread out a bit more, it would fit better, thus wanting to try the counter depth. Definitely want the drawer on the bottom. Not sure about the top yet. I think I've only side French doors on top so I never considered a single big door. We don't have a counter in the way so that might work. We're still in the "what do we get if our fridge goes south" phase anyway.

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Spacescape,

Definite not personal preference. There are pros and cons to each design. I'd never get a side-by-side model. The width of the interior can cause problems when placing items into the freezer. Less of an issue with the fridge but definitely can be problematic on the freezer side. Have a long item like a rack of ribs? Have a tray of food that needs to be put in the fridge or freezer? Want to put either in a side-by-side? Good luck with that. Want to put leftover pizza in its box in a side-by-side? Not gonna happen.

The issues I described above with side-by-side models? Not an issue at all with a french door or traditional top or bottom freezer design. All things considered relatively equal, go with a french door. It offers easier access and more flexibility in both the fridge and freezer side.

Counter-depth vs standard depth. Counter-depth is more expensive. Go standard depth unless space between the front of the fridge and the countertops/cabinetry directly across from it is an issue. You might want to consider counter-depth if you have a galley kitchen. We have a galley kitchen and space between the front of the fridge and our stacked washer/dyer directly across from it is tight. Problem solved with a counter-depth fridge. Those few inches saved makes a huge difference. 'course, this is a situation where a side-by-side would make sense. But, then you have the design issues of the side-by-side fridge that I mentioned before.

You might also go counter-depth if you happen to prefer the look. I consider utility first, looks second when it comes to fridges since they tend to be very similar in appearance.

Definitely get an energy-star model and check to see if your local utility will give you some bucks for recycling the old fridge. And, see if they'll give you a discount for choosing an energystar model. And, always look for deals at the stores on top of those savings.

Robert

We have had a side by side counter depth Frigidaire for about 8 years now, replaced a standard size GE Profile. It was much cleaner looking than having a regular version jutting out.

I haven't priced a fridge since then, but it was cheaper than the similar standard size unit -- we paid either $800-900 for it. I know it was under $1000. I'm sure it was on sale.

Yeah, it's smaller inside. A medium pizza box fits -- but honestly, we always wrap leftover pizza in foil, 2 slices per, and label it so it's easy to find the next day. It can get full after a weekend grocery binge if we haven't been out for a while, but we solved that by having a second fridge in the garage. For many years we had a 4.5 cubic foot one. Looks and works like a tiny fridge took up very little space. We moved to a larger 14 CF one earlier this year at the start of C19 and threw some stuff in it, but honestly, it's mostly empty.

We are only a family of 4, so that might make a difference. And we aren't really the kind to buy pounds and pounds of meat to add to the freezer, or use gallons and gallons of milk, juice, soda, etc.

Here it is in our kitchen. The GE stuck out 4-5" from this?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2020 11:55AM by jdc.

One thing to remember - if you want ice and water in the door, it takes up a LOT of interior room. We have a French door LG - icemaker inside - counter depth due to kitchen configuration.

I switched to a French door model five or six years ago and have no regrets. The RV I bought also had a residential French door 23 cubic foot fridge. Side by side models have thin freezers. Good luck putting a pizza (or other wide items) in. Also with a side by side, a lot of cold air spills out each time you open the door. With the freezer on the bottom, that doesn't happen and, a bottom freezer means that the fridge section is higher; you don't have to bend over to reach stuff on the bottom shelf. I'd also agree in getting the largest capacity fridge that will fit in the opening you have. You WILL wind up using the extra space.

I will echo the above. Side by side has space constraints and overall gives you less room inside the fridge (about 3 cubic feet less) than a french door fridge that sits in the same space. I know as I replaced a side by side GE ('98 model) with a French Door ('18 model). The 1998 year model had about 22 cubic feet of space. The 2018 model has 27-28 cubic feet space. Easier to fit food into. They have done wonders with the freezer and organization space.

Space,

I'll echo Vicrock. Two common issues with ice and water dispensers. The first is they tend to be the least reliable part of a fridge. The second is the standard design puts them on the door, which removes a significant amount of usable space.

If I was going to have a fridge/freezer with an ice maker, get one that has the ice maker in the freezer. Forget about a dispenser. Unnecessary and getting one is a waste of money and space

If you want a water dispenser, get one that is actually inside the fridge itself. That way, it doesn't take up space on the door of fridge.

My old place had a GE Profile french-door fridge. Perfect design! Ice maker in the freezer. Water dispenser inside the fridge. Hit a button on the left interior and it dispensed water from a nozzle. We could store food and such on _both_ doors because of this type of design. And, the fridge worked well and has been rock solid reliable. I know the current owner of my old apartment and the fridge, installed in 2009, is still going strong.

Robert

.....a plus with French Doors is........french kisses....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

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vicrock
One thing to remember - if you want ice and water in the door, it takes up a LOT of interior room. We have a French door LG - icemaker inside - counter depth due to kitchen configuration.

Excellent point. When renovating the kitchen in our old house we decided to go with counter depth b/c a standard would have blocked the window, and by choosing a model with no water or ice dispenser we were able to recover more usable space inside.

Another thing about counter depth- IMO it's easier to find things in a shallower space, also easier to reach. With a deeper unit you tend to have lots of items blocking whatever is way in the back which can get lost/forgotten and ultimately go to waste. What's the sense in storing more stuff if you can't see it?

I agree with everyone above that side-by-sides suck for a number of reasons. Standard vs counter depth has more to do with your available space vs how large a fridge you want than anything. We bought a standard depth french door fridge recently. It's a Kitchenaid, which is an upgraded Whirlpool (i.e. it's a Whirlpool but with nicer handles and shelves). Based on what I've read I would avoid Samsung and LG.

I really like having a bottom freezer with a roll-out door. That puts the beer compartment up at easy access height and reaching into the top of the freezer is really easy.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2020 04:13PM by davester.

we have a 12 yo Thermadore/Whirlpool counter-depth sxs with ice and water.
If there was room, I'd have bought the standard. But for 2 people, we mostly have room enough.

As others have said, I buy nothing but Whirlpool made appliances.
Never LG, or Smung. They make phones and memory cards.
Whirlpool makes appliances.

We prefer sxs as neither of us like searching in the bottom of the freezer.
To each their own.

The sealed system failed 2 years ago. All parts were covered, I paid labor.
That was the warrantee, not an insurance policy of any kind. The failure was mostly from the house not being properly AC'd in the hot summer months. So the fridge works extra hard.
It wasn't cheap, but way cheaper than a decent replacement fridge.

If you have a hard to deliver house, make sure the trucking company doesn't send maroons.

A modern fridge tends to be lighter than older ones, but compared weights.
We had to reinforce the floor as our older fridge was ooooooooold and the size of a biggish college fridge.

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"one door closes and another window opens"
Vlad the Impailer.

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cbelt3
100% do NOT buy a Samsung...

I second that. Have had nothing but problems with mine icing up
and the drawing sticking.

Also, whichever brand you get,
1. the water dispenser should be on a side wall, not the door because it takes up way too much room inside if it's on the door.
2. Ice maker should be IN the freezer with a tray, not and ice cube dispenser on the door for the same reason as #1.

just my 2 cents from experience.

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Rborlin.substack.com

Whirlpool Side by side here...counter depth. With just two of us, the freezer has plenty of room, even with the icemaker and water in the door. We can fit pizzas in the freezer. I would not want inside water and ice as I don't want to open the door that often.

We do have one issue. The refrigerator side buts right up to a wall. You can only open the door about 95% of the way. Most of the time its not an issue. When you want to deep clean inside and pull out the drawers, it's impossible to get the drawers out unless you pull the fridge out and nudge it to the left.
So on that note, a left hand opening top fridge would work better.

Personally I don't want a fully smart refrigerator. I want a sort of smart refrigerator. i don't want an internet connection at all. I would like a bluetooth connection so you could rotate some photos, show a to do list or shopping list and maybe a calendar. it might be neat to program an alarm that goes of if you access the ice cream section after 10 pm. All of the updates would be made by phone...so the fridge is fairly dumb.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2020 09:47PM by Markintosh.

We wanted to go as big as possible for our kitchen. Looked at Samsung but everyone warned us about repairs being almost impossible and finding the 2nd ice cube maker proved challenging. So we bought the GE PFE28KSKSS French Door. Advantages to me is lots of space and two ice makers. The repair guys said it would be much easier to fix if something failed. Downside is it was quite a bit more expensive than the Samsung ($3000 vs about $2100). We've had it since 2017 with zero problems.

[www.geappliances.com]

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2020 10:17PM by davemchine.

I'm so very confused now. Ha ha. We currently have a "standard" and it sticks out what? 3" (possibly 4"). It's not in our workspace but I feel counter depth might give the kitchen a little more "finished" look. We are looking at the Frigidaire Gallery line or Stove, Microwave and Dishwasher so I was considering their refrigerator so it would match.

[www.frigidaire.com]

[www.frigidaire.com]

[www.frigidaire.com]

[www.frigidaire.com]

My sister has a side-by-side, with water/ice dispenser in the door. She complains about it constantly. She hates the inefficient use of space in both the left and right side. We have a galley kitchen, so a french door/bottom freezer, counter depth fridge was a no-brainer.

Why is your wife 100% set on a side by side w/ an ice maker? What's her reasoning?

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The breakroom fridge at work has french doors with an ice and water dispenser in one of the doors. Seems to work pretty well and there is still plenty of room in that door and the other door for storage.

I thought I wanted a side-by-side years ago, but did not regret leaving it behind in the old house and definitely wouldn't buy another one. My son's house came with a side-by-side and it's just kind of awkward. Personal preference, though. I like a bottom freezer and will probably go with French doors next time.

Maybe you and your wife could visit one of the big box stores and "practice" storing variously-sized items in the display models?

Your first Frigidaire link looks very much like the one in our office break room. I'm not sure of its size, but I know it's not counter depth. I really enjoyed having a wide deli drawer like that in my last fridge.

In my photo, the diswasher is also Fridgedair Gallery, so they match.

The micorwave is also FG, but we had had it for years before the other 2. The matching "dull" stianless model was $500... and the current one wasnt broken... so didnt get replaced.

The 3rd and 4th one look exactly like the one in our rental right now, its a 2323. There is enough room for ice cream to the right of the ice maker.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2020 11:42AM by jdc.

We put in a counter depth side-by-side Whirlpool when we remodeled our kitchen a few years back, as we prefer how much cleaner it looks, much like jdc's picture above.

My only complaint with it is that the top shelf of the refrigerator side is poorly thought out, as it is non-adjustable and the "light fixture" at the top hangs down just far enough to interfere with most plastic juice and milk jugs. We eventually reprogrammed ourselves to keep the drinks in the door shelves instead.

I just looked up the current equivalent of the model we have, and it appears that they rectified this issue.

It depends if you have the space or not. We had a large space and ended up getting the Fridgedaire combination that is a full sized freezer, next to a full sized fridge. There is a fake piece that goes over the top and makes it look like a sub zero. If you have the room, this is an excellent choice. You get counter depth, full fridge and freezer and it is much cheaper.

We have 3 older Samsung appliances - all over 10 years old.

A side by side - plastic on the side of the freezer door panel cracked near the ice maker chute. One relocatable refrigerator shelf cracked - might have been due to one of the kids.

Washer - replaced the pump last year myself. Had to replace the dispenser tray housing - not the tray. Did this myself as well. Total of about $70 in parts for both.

Dryer - freaking bad design. I've replaced the lint assembly twice. Turns out that the plastics used suffer from temperature creep over time. This makes the lint tray sit proud and catch clothes as they tumble. Three parts cost around $50 and takes about 10 minutes to replace.

Will never buy a Samsung appliance again.