<p>I’ve been watching the evolution of the French Door refrigerators for the past few years. It seems that the first set had several problems - ice maker malfunctions, doors not closing and reliability issues. It also seems that most of these kinks have been worked out and the reliability has improved. </p>
<p>So…walking through a big box store yesterday I saw that the Black Friday prices were already in effect and the French door models were discounted anywhere from $500- $800. And…I am very tempted. We would be replacing a 12 year old side by side Kitchen Aid which has not given us one single problem. </p>
<p>Some very honest sales people have mentioned service and support issues with LG and Samsung so I’m inclined to take these off my list of possibilities. If we are going to purchase this item I need to decided in the next few days or basically wait until the next Black Friday.</p>
<p>Any insights, happy stories and horror tales would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I don’t have any experience, but I’m curious. Would you be willing to share why you want to go from a side by side to a french door? I guess I don’t understand the attraction to having two doors to open instead of one. I’m sure I’m missing something that everyone sees.</p>
<p>I like the idea of the refrigerated section being at eye level. The fridge portion probably gets opened 10 times for each time the freezer is accessed. Also, since DH hunts and fishes we have two supplemental standing freezers and the freezer section of the kitchen fridge is mainly used for left overs and quick grab items.</p>
<p>The French door models seem to make finding the items a bit easier since they are at a better viewing level and occupy a horizontal instead of vertical space. I’m not convinced there is actually more space in the French door versions especially if there is ice via the door since the ice maker takes up a good portion of the fridge space.</p>
<p>We have Kitchenaid French door. Love being able to see at eye level. Can also put wide sheet cake or catering tray in (something we couldn’t do with old side by side). H insisted on the one with ice & water dispenser–I could have lived without. But this does take up
door storage. Overall, happy with it.</p>
<p>I love my freezer-bottom French door. The biggest advantage is that each door doesn’t stick out too far when opened. I have a narrow galley kitchen, and having a conventional fridge door open blocks the whole room. Mine has an automatic ice maker in the freezer portion, but no water dispenser. This setup maximizes fridge space and minimizes energy use.</p>
<p>We’ve had a French door fridge since 2006. I give the fridge on top an A+. The bottom freezer gets a B-. That’s because it’s not much more than a really big drawer. If you don’t make use of the organizing features, it can become the black hole of your kitchen. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve had a bottom freezer for about 10 years. Infinitely better than a side-by-side, which usually has no room for anything big on EITHER side. Unless you are someone who mostly heats up frozen meals, instead of cooking, an eye-level fridge is much better. </p>
<p>Now I really want a french door model. I like the interior organization, and prefer not to have the big door. My mother recently got one–IIRC it’s a Whirlpool model from Sears–and loves it. One caveat: I would definitely NOT get ice/water through the door with a bottom freezer model of any type. It takes up too much room in the fridge portion. (Actually, I’ve never wanted the through the door stuff anyway. I regard it as just one more thing to break down. An ice-maker in the freezer, OTOH, is a necessity. )</p>
Freezer is not user friendly and it has far less usable space then our old standard top freezer model that had fewer cubic feet of space; I am not digging the drawer!
Fridge doors need to be intentionally shut or they don’t totally close
Overall, it seems to have less space than older fridge despite being bigger</p>
<p>Pros:
Love the height of the fridge compartment
Wide shelves!
Very up to date look</p>
<p>If I had a freezer in the garage or basement, I would LOVE my newish fridge. Since I don’t, I am not very enthusiastic, but I am not disappointed either.</p>
<p>I am on my second French door fridge. I like the 2 door as my fridge sits next to dining room entry and opening one door allows for passage. I use the fridge much more than the freezer and like having it all at eye level. Wouldn’t ever want to bend for the crisper drawers again.
Check the way the doors close in the store. Some require a specific sequence that you might not be able to count on all household members to follow.
The freezer drawer is a bit of a black hole unless maintained. Also, if not careful, some items could leak and if there is only a wire basket there is nothing to catch the leak. I suggest putting a thin tray liner in before the food if it doesn’t come with one. Good luck with your search.</p>
<p>I have a lot of friends who work for a major appliance manufacturer here in Iowa and they all say “Ice in the door means ice on the floor”. None of them will buy an in the door ice/water dispenser – too many maintenance issues.</p>
<p>I have had my French door fridge (Maytag) for a year. I really like it. Do look at how the freezer drawer is configured. Mine is divided in two and has sliding drawers on each side to make four compartments, which I like. </p>
<p>Ours also has the ice maker and filtered water dispenser–love, love, love that. We have not had that feature before. It also has a milk compartment in the door that has a hole where cold air blows in when the door is closed.</p>
<p>The wide drawer at the bottom of the fridge is wonderful too. I use mine for cold cuts and cheeses, which are really easy to see.</p>
<p>We did a complete kitchen renovation a year ago and I replaced a 20 year old side-by-side with a french door refrigerator. I love being able to see everything when I open the door. In the past, fruits and vegetables would often rot (and smell) because it was a pain to bend over and check out what was in the crisper. </p>
<p>I did not get the exterior water/ice dispenser. I had that before and I really didn’t like it. The ice would fly all over the place if you weren’t careful. The water discolored the dispenser area over time. My new refrigerator has a large ice maker and there is an interior water dispenser in the refrigerator which doesn’t take up any room. </p>
<p>The freezer area has 2 large pull out baskets as well as a fairly large stationary shelf. I haven’t “lost” any more stuff in this freezer than my other one. </p>
<p>My french door refrigerator is the same size as my old side-by-side but it seems bigger and is certainly more space efficient.</p>
<p>Our second home came with one. i really like it, but I will echo what others have said–the doors don’t always close. When we have company, which is a lot of the time because it’s everyone’s vacation home these days, i have to caution people (especially my mom) to make sure it’s really closed.</p>
<p>The freezer is not very big, but when we move down there permanently, we’ll bring the stand-alone freezer that’s up here.</p>
<p>Sometimes we don’t always close the doors properly. However, our refrigerator has a nice little chime that sounds if the doors aren’t closed all the way.</p>
<p>I’m going to be the odd man out here. I will get another side by side. NO…I can’t fit the pizza box in the fridge, but I’ve learned that I don’t NEED to do that. All of my French door friends have the same “complaint”…no matter which side they open, the food they want is on the OTHER side. </p>
<p>Oh…and I also don’t want stainless steel appliances.</p>
<p>Back from my Lowe’s/Home Depot/Costco/Fry’s/Best Buy information gathering session. My brain hurts! I’ve learned a lot and decided I won’t be making a rash decision based on Black Friday pricing. Here are some of the things that I encountered:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>More than one sales person has again cautioned against LG since parts and service are still an issue. That being said, they make very nice looking and feature rich models.</p></li>
<li><p>All the Maytag models I tried have door closure issues. Our side by side simply closes on its own. I know that the French door models do not have this self closure feature but the Maytag seemed particularly problematic. When one door was pushed closed with enough forced to ensure a complete seal, the second door often ‘popped’ just enough to be of concern. I cringe at the thought of having to put DH and DS through ‘the proper used of the refrigerator door’ training sessions.</p></li>
<li><p>Today’s stainless steel is not the same as the 12 year old side by side’s stainless steel. The stuff all feels like plastic and just what exactly is ‘stainless steel style’ finish. The new SS vs the old SS seems like the difference between natural hardwood flooring and Pergo. I noticed many of the SS floor models had creases, dents and scratch marks.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, compared to my current side-by-side, the shelving, plastic and roller pieces just seem more flimsy.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Okay, I’m starting to sound like one of those ‘it was always better in the olden days’ people. I still very much like/prefer the larger and at eye level refrigerator compartment and will go back to the process after the holidays. Any and all insights are appreciated.</p>
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