We bought a new fridge when we switched out all of our appliances about 4 1/2 years ago, and we've pretty much hated it since day one. The crushed ice comes out everywhere (around the cup) and I don't like how the inside is configured. And, in an effort to minimize fingerprints and smudging, we bought the "stainless steel look", which looks like stainless but isn't. Well, it doesn't show prints, but it's film like plastic-y coating scratches easily. Sometime a while back the cubed ice stopped working altogether, so now all we get is crushed.
Over the weekend while filling cups with ice for a party, I started to smell something terrible, like an electrical burn. The smell permeated everything in the fridge and freeze, and is still there now. We're not really sure what happened, but figure that the ice maker is shot. Considering we've never liked it anyway, we don't want to sink any money into getting it fixed and are taking this opportunity to start over.
So, here's my dilemma and factors I'm considering. I've always had a side-by-side. Do I want french doors with the freezer drawer on the bottom? Do you have one? Do you love it or hate it? Do I still want an ice/water dispenser in the door? Would I miss it if I didn't have it?
We don't really need to filter our drinking water, but we do use the fridge dispenser all the time now rather than the sink faucet. Also, size wise, I need to stick with a standard size for it to fit in the built in space that we have. We also don't have a ton of clearance between the front of the current fridge and the island, just about 31". We have a full freezer in the garage, so freezer space isn't a huge issue. I don't need top of the line, I'd just like a roomy interior and something that will last, and I will be getting real Stainless Steel this time.
I'm usually a Sears customer for appliances so I plan to head there today and check out my options. And, I've always been happy with Kenmore (except for this fridge), but should I totally be considering something else?
Alright, help! Thanks for your input!
I have a Samsung French door with freezer in the bottom. The fridge is huge... from the outside. I'll be honest & say that when you open the doors it feels like you have a lot of space, but you don't. And it's configured stangely. My old smaller side by side had more room. I would keep the door dispenser. We use those all the time! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI just bought a GE with freezer on the bottom. I thought I'd love it, and I do. However, having the freezer below with mainly a big wire bin is not ideal for organizing my freezer items.
ReplyDeleteI think you would love the french door with the freezer on the bottom fridge...we have the single door and freezer on the bottom and love it! Our ice maker is inside the freezer not on the door I prefer that.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the fridge, but it sounds like it might be a good thing. Nowadays the fridge has gotten even more sophisticated and it can indicate anything from when your food is getting spoiled to your shopping list of items you will need to purchase. I am looking forward to see what model you will pick. I believe even Samsung now offers fridges.
ReplyDeleteI had a french door when we moved here 6 years ago and hated it! The doors never closed all the way with a normal push - and sometimes closing one side puffed open the other side. We would go out and come back to the door alarm and realize the fridge had been open the whole time.
ReplyDeleteThe one we had, had the water dispenser on the inside which was annoying and the ice was in the drawer freezer which took up space plus you had to touch the ice with your hands to get it. Weird when you have guests. We bought a side by side with the most possible cubic feet available that would fit in our space and are much happier. Good luck!
we don't have the in door water or ice dispenser, but we do have the french doors with the lower freezer and we LOVE it. it just makes so much more sense for us and gives is an incredible amount of fridge space which we need. we use the freezer less, so having it lower makes sense as well. this is our second (we bought our first in our old house and it stayed there) and we won't go back!
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I both have french doors with the freezer at the bottom and love them...both with the ice and water dispensers in the door....but WORD TO THE WISE, if you even remotely like to have people over for dinner or a party, get the ice maker inside of the fridge, NOT in the door. The reservoir is tiny and does not make much ice. My mom's is in the door, and she ended up putting a large "sonic ice" ice maker in the garage to meet the ice demands at her house. I myself, learned from her mistake and bought ours with the ice maker nested into the fridge, and we NEVER run out.
ReplyDeleteI might need a new one soon to so I'm no help. Good luck finding one you like though
ReplyDeletemy friend has a water dispenser/filter built INSIDE the fridge. Her fridge has french doors and a freezer drawer. She loves it! I can find out the brand if you'd like. xox
ReplyDeleteWe recently bought new appliances and were told Whirlpool and LG has the best warranties. I had Whirlpool for about 20 years with no problems, so went back to that. We bought a SS stove first and I HATED IT!!! I could never get it clean and hated trying to all the time. My husband said we were not going to keep something another 20 years with me hating it so we donated that to Habitat for Humanity and replaced all the appliances with white. I love it (although I miss my beloved almond that I had before LOL). We have side-by-side and ice maker/water on the outside of door. We like it. We had problems of finding a fridge to fit in our space (built-in) and I would have taken ANYTHING so we did look at the french door/freezer on bottom, but my hubby absolutely hate it! I didn't really care, but it might be a bit harder on your back.
ReplyDeleteI always had side by side refrigerators and about 4 years ago, we bought a new house and were appliance shopping. I really loved the french doors, because a) the fridge was so large, you can fit large platters and pizza boxes in them with no problems. b) I HATED my tall narrow freezer! I loved the idea of a sort of deep freeze style freezer. I have the Samsung, I think mine is 30 cu. ft., so it's pretty large! I LOVE IT!!!!! Even 4 years later! I got the option not to have the ice maker/water in the door, because it took up so much room and the price difference was pretty big. I haven't missed it at all. the ice is in the top drawer of the freezer it's easy for everyone to access. I recommend the french door:) Mine is black though to avoid those finger prints;-) it's easy to wipe down.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer to have a fridge die so quickly! That said, at least you hated it, and aren't completely heartbroken about getting a new one, right? ;-) We had a French door fridge with the freezer on the bottom in our old house, and I really liked it. However, we sold it with the house, and now have a built in (side by side) fridge with cabinet panels in our current house. I love the built in look, but am kind of over the side by side thing. I would love another paneled fridge someday, maybe in a different style, but I will say the current unit does look nice with our kitchen. The downside is that it's going to cost a small fortune to replace, so we'll be putting this one on life support when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteBoy, that wasn't helpful at all, was it? ;-)
We had always had a side by side, until we decided to upgrade a couple years ago. I love our new Samsung frig. It has French doors with the smaller drawer for snacks and such, and a freezer drawer. We don't need much freezer space (and we our old frig/freezer is in the basement if needed). I particularly like the elongated shelves for when we entertain.
ReplyDeleteI used to have side by side, but after I switched to the ones with drawer, I will never go back. I truly love the convenience of a drawer and what seems to be much bigger space. We have a samsung with the dispenser, and I love it! We've had it for almost 5 years, no problem whatsoever, love the dispenser too and the different ice function. We were choosing between LG & SAMSUNG bec. based on consumer reports at that time, they were the best, and I do believe so too! Anyway, you might be interested in the new JENN-AIR Obsidian... if you haven't seen it, check it out here...http://jennair.com/obsidian-refrigerator. :-) good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe have a french door fridge and we love it! I wasn't sure how I would like it, but this one came with our new house. I feel like it gives us more room and makes things more accessible.
ReplyDeleteI'll just say that if you do decide to get one with any kind of ice maker, go for the extended warranty. When we bought all new kitchen appliances in our previous home, the salesman told us flat out not to bother with the warranties on anything but the fridge because, he said, the ice makers ALWAYS crap out after a year or so. Sure enough, ours went just after the standard warranty expired, but we had luckily purchased the extended warranty which covered the very costly repair. I now have a Samsung with the freezer on the bottom and the extra drawer in the middle. I like it fine and have had no problems with it.
ReplyDeleteWe love our french door with the freezer drawer on the bottom. All the shelves are removable. And there is something about opening up both doors that makes it feel so much more accessible and "open." However, we don't have water/ice in the door. The ice maker is in the freezer drawer. We have a KitchenAid and we love it!
ReplyDeleteWe bought our Samsung fridge from Sears two years ago.....had nothing but nightmare getting it delivered without scratched doors....took 3 sets of doors. The servicemen were like the 3 stooges and tried to tell me it wouldn't fit in the space....I knew it would and insisted they try. It fit of course! I will NEVER shop Sears again for an appliance. I do like the configuration of our fridge...with french doors on top and freezer on the bottom. I too have a full freezer in the garage. Not sure I would get it if it was the ONLY freezer I had. I love the door storage areas for milk and dressings etc. If you buy Samsung....just don't do it through Sears!
ReplyDeleteI'm in an apt and have a side by side with the ice/water dispenser in the freezer door. If I were in a home, I'd prefer having more space in the fridge section, especially since you have another freezer. I think the Samsung brand is excellent! I don't like stainless steel...shows everything! Last place had black appliances and that would be my choice.
ReplyDeleteOh, and go for the extended warranties!! Seems nothing lasts anymore....
xo
Pat
Appliances these days are not made to last.....just buy new because repairs are so costly. Sad sign of the times. If I bought again,l I would go for a higher end appliance for durability.
ReplyDeleteDo I want french doors with the freezer drawer on the bottom? YES, especially if you have a separate freezer. I love this style.
ReplyDeleteDo I still want an ice/water dispenser in the door? Would I miss it if I didn't have it? Yes, get it. Our icemaker is in the freezer (pull out the freezer drawer to get ice), but the water dispensier is inside the refrigerator. I wanted a clean look when I bought mine. Everyone hates it, and complains about how stupid the design is (I guess they forget that I picked the darn thing out...)
Avoid GE Profile like the plauge. Mine is still running (only thanks to an extended warranty, and the handyman leaving me with a free icemaker to install after the warranty ended). We've also had the motherboard replaced (under warranty $800).
I just bought a Samsung French door with freezer on bottom. ( from Sears) I did not want the water and ice in door. It has filtered water on the inside of the fridge. I LOVE this refrigerator. It has a ton of space, platter drawer I use for cheeses, lunch meats and lots of space in the doors for gallon jugs. The lights are super bright too. I have another freezer so I didn't need a ton of freezer space. The doors close very easily and completely. They have never not closed. I would recommend this refrigerator!! Samsung model# RF261BEAESR
ReplyDeleteWe have the Samsung french doors and our fridge is the 4 door. So we have a big middle outside drawer, and boy is it handy! Especially with the holidays! We love it! We just bought it in Nov. The ice maker works beautifully, and the water feature does as well. I feel you would truly miss the outside ice cube and water feature if you exclude it! The freezer has plenty of space and even has a drawer inside the freezer as well. I do have an extra smaller fried in the garage for extra drinks and such, so if I am ever in a pinch, I put extra freezer items in there! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLove my french door with freezer on the bottom. So much room and easy access. Makes a ton of ice in the freezer drawer, and I keep a pitcher of filtered water in the fridge so always have cold water. It is a Kenmore, I have had it for two years with no problems.
ReplyDeleteWe recently had to purchase a new fridge when the compressor began to fail in our old side by side stainless fridge. We purchased the Kenmore "fingerprintless" French door fridge. I love the finish because it is not the plasticky-looking faux stainless steel look, but truly has a nice stainless appearance that is very easy to clean. We love the spaciousness of the fridge portion and the configuration of the freezer portion. Ok, so that being said, here are a couple of things we dislike. 1. The ice maker in the door of our fridge is extremely small and though we have an "ultra" ice feature which is supposed to make ice more quickly, you will still run out of ice very quickly if you entertain at all. 2. We have one shelf that will slide back out of the way to accommodate tall things like beverage containers. It does not provide enough room for our taller items like milk, juice, or crazy-over-the-top Salsa jars....a must have in this Colorado family's fridge! Ha. Overall I have liked it much better than our old fridge especially not having to constantly remove my teenagers messy smudges on the outside! Blessings from Colorado and much luck in your hunt!
ReplyDeleteI worked next to the morgue in a hospital for years, do not understand the love affair with stainless. I am crazy about my black refrigerator just not the side by side feature, but can't seem to kill it! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of freezer on the bottom. And I also sort of dislike my current fridge - it opens on the wrong side (like I have to walk around it to open it, so weird) and there are no drawers for cheese. And I like a lot of cheese. But I can't justify tossing a perfectly good fridge otherwise, you know? Good luck! Kind of a fun new purchase :)
ReplyDeleteI had a French door with freezer on bottom and have switched back to side by side. We actually just purchased the new Samsung with the cool door that opens just to reveal beverages etc... LOVE it. The stainless does not show fingerprints. We use the special door A TON!!!! I am not super crazy about the ice machine part, but it works well. I also will say I LOVE Samsung. The corporation is incredible. I have their washer and dryer. Just after buying washer and dryer had to have three calls on dryer-a noise. On the third call for service I got a call from Samsung corporate telling me they were notifying the store I purchased from we were to get a new dryer. And we DID! I was called when I purchased my new fridge and told the same thing. I haven't had to have any service on it though.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I know it's going against the grain, I will never purchase another SS appliance! I am way too busy to try to clean one of those things without getting streaks in it...surely there's more to life than a "streak free" fridge. Is your refrigerator counter depth or does it stick out from the cabinets about 2 or 3 inches? That's a dilemma I have and may be what's causing your fridge to be so close to your island. The counter depth is more expensive, so next time I purchase, I'm going to give up the SS in favor of the counter depth.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what you do I say definitely go with the freezer on the bottom. We have that and it has made such a huge difference - more usable space in both the fridge and the freezer. You will love it.
ReplyDeleteWe have a side-by-side Whirlpool that we haven't been too impressed with. The ice maker is slow and noisy, and we're having trouble with the water dispenser now. It's not even 1.5 years old yet. My parents purchased an Electrolux french door a couple years ago and had the worst time with their ice maker. After multiple repairs, Electrolux eventually replaced the fridge. The one they have now has been better. It has two ice makers... one in the door for the ice dispenser and a larger one in the bottom drawer.
ReplyDeleteWe love our KitchenAide french door frig. It's counter depth and has a filtered water dispenser right inside the door which we love. Ice maker is easily accessible in the below freezer. Our old frig had a dispenser on the outside and I really like that it's inside now.
ReplyDeleteMy mom has a fridge with the freezer on bottom. I don't mind the fact that there is no ice dispenser, but, when you open the freezer part where you get the ice out the drawer won't stay open, it automatically starts to go back in when you aren't finished getting your ice. I think it is really annoying. I don't know if they are all like that, but if they are, I would not buy one because of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen we purchased new appliances for the bungalow kitchen we went with a SS LG bottom freezer fridge. We had one caviat: there HAD to be an ice dispenser for Naomi. Heres my two cents. I hate SS. Always have. I wanted white appliances, but the minute the salesman said "oh youre going for a country kitchen look!?" Naomi lost it and demanded SS. I love the bottom freezer. We switched over from a side by side in our last house. Loooooove the room in the upper fridge. We have so much room now. I could absolutely live without a water and ice dispenser on the door. I actually wanted a single door commercial looking one, but Naomi felt it wasnt quite large enough. All that said, I like my LG, love the bottom freezer, coulda def passed on SS, and coulda passed on the in door dispenser. Good Luck with your decision love.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shavonda! I'm actually contemplating white now that all of my cabs are bright white. I don't love SS either but don't really care either way. Just wondering if the white fridge would look ok right next to the SS micro and oven. I think it would be ok, but ??? I told my hubby I could spray the front of the oven and micro. He wasn't too hip on that idea. ;) I totally think it would work, though!
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