Usable Freezer Space in Undercounter Fridge/Freezer Units

13 years ago

I recently purchased a house with a small kitchen space. Due to that and a couple personal/design preferences I'm looking into maximize the utility of my undercounter spaces.

My volume requirements are pretty small, about 6.5 cubic feet of fridge space and 2.5 cubic feet of freezer space, which means two units. What I had envisioned before I started doing research is one sole refrigeration unit and one fridge/freezer. Little did I know that the fridge/freezer units would be so hard to come by!

The Sub-Zero 700BC is a little light on the freezer side at 2.1 cubic feet, but I could probably make it work. But even if I doubled it up, I'd still only have 5.9 cubic feet of fridge space, and the price tag would be depressing.

The KitchenAid KDDC24CVS advertises 2.4 cubic feet of freezer space, but in the glamour shots on their site, half of that is taken up by the ice maker, and I have a suspicion that's what is keeping things cold, meaning I'm only getting a fraction of that for usable space.

I've looked at Perlick and two unit wide fridge/freezer they have, but at 6 cubic feet per unit, I'm just under what I need for fridge space and way over what I need for freezer space. I'm also a little concerned about their commercial origins leading to a noisy unit that isn't terribly appropriate for fresh food.

A guy at a kitchen store suggested Marvel, they look fine as far as fridges go, but not so much when it comes to freezers.

From the mostly negative reviews I've read here on Summit, I'm not going to consider them as an option.

Anything else I should be considering?

Anyone know for certain whether or not I need a huge bucket of ice to keep the KitchenAid freezer unit cold?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

captsmethwick
13 years ago
Have you looked at the Fisher/Playkel CoolDrawer? It doesn't perfectly meet your requirements - at 3.1 cu. ft. but it has the interesting feature of being able to be either fridge or freezer. This could be your freezer?

We checked it out extensively last year (for our butler's pantry) and found that its internal capacity was quite usable. The downside is its dimensions for an undercounter unit: at 25"h, one cannot stack 2 units other than in a wall cabinet. Stacked, the top of the high drawer would be over 4'h!.

We ended up with an Electrolux drawer fridge due to its size capacity - 6.0 cu. ft., 24"w and its undercounter height. We've used it for a year now and are very happy with it.
ulinesalesguy
13 years ago
You are probably looking at 2 units, simply because of the limitations of the standard 24" wide unit. For example, the U-Line refrigerator/freezer has 4.2 cu. ft of refrigerator space, and 1.5 cu. ft of freezer space (these are certified measurements...you may want to ensure whatever measurements you are getting are certified). For this reason, you will need a 15" refrigerator to go with your 24" unit to get to your needed space (it would add another 3.0 cu ft. of space)
Related Professionals
Ossining Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Owasso Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Roselle Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hopewell Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Athens Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Lomita Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Overland Park Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Pearl City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Turlock Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Vashon Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Wilmington Island Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Aspen Hill Cabinets & Cabinetry · Foster City Cabinets & Cabinetry · Lockport Cabinets & Cabinetry · Newcastle Cabinets & Cabinetry
davidro1
13 years ago
amphibious, I'll guess you mean
2 appliances,
both under the counter:
"... about 6.5 cubic feet of fridge space and 2.5 cubic feet of freezer space, which means two units. What I had envisioned before I started doing research is one sole refrigeration unit and one fridge/freezer. Little did I know that the fridge/freezer units would be so hard to come by..."

The more motors, different cooling circuits and separator walls you try to cram into a small space, the less space you have left over to call fridge or freezer.

I got a 36" unit, for that reason. More real space left over, after the insulation and mechanical stuff.

Your perceived space needs are actually in a range, quite elastic. Go for a fridge unit and a freezer unit.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
captsmethwick: hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it. Very very cool. The price is a touch high, but definitely fulfills my requirements for the freezer side. I'd probably match this up with a standard undercounter fridge unit, unless my wife will allow me to get three of them. ;)

ulinesalesguy: for absolutely no specific reason I hadn't looked up U-line. I'll go take a look at the offerings. Thanks for the tip on the certified measurements.

davidro1: I've seen several of your posts about undercounter refrigeration, you seem quite knowledgable. Which 36" unit did you buy? I'm definitely still in the discovery stage of my refrigeration search.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
ulinesalesguy: The Combo Drawer C2275DWROL says that it has 2 cubic feet of freezer space... but again, an ice maker. Is ice required to keep that portion of the unit functional as a freezer?

Thanks.
ulinesalesguy
13 years ago
Ice is not required to keep that portion a freezer; in fact, you can turn off the ice maker, and pull the ice bucket out if you want an all freezer in the bottom drawer