I have the Liebherr 36" wide French door fully integrated model. My kitchen is open to the family room, so quiet operation was a must when I decided to replace my 36" SubZero side by side three years ago. The Liebherr unit is much quieter, very energy efficient and well laid out. I especially like the "cocktail lounge" type ice cubes as opposed to the SubZero's crescent shaped ones that slide around in the glass. I highly recommend the Liebherr model.

We have a Kenmore badged Samsung SxS that we just bought 6 months ago. It has the ice maker in the door. It is very quiet. We also have an open floor plan & the only time I know it is running is when the ice dumps into the bin. Other than that, you really can't hear it. I only notice the ice late at night when I'm up reading & the TV isn't on. If the ice maker is in the fridge or freezer compartment in the model you're looking at, you may not hear it at all.

Hope this helps!

I'll second the Liebherr - very quiet and love the layout and ice.
Billy

My Sub-Zero is very quiet, and it doesn't run very often, I have a 2010 model year unit. I really don't even notice it when it is running. The only time I can hear it is when the ice maker is filling which is a few seconds here or there. If you go with a company like Northland fridges you're going to notice when the condensers are on.

For French door models though, I am not too informed on the subject. I recently put a Samsung French door into a rental property that I own, but I don't know if it is very loud or not. I would assume it isn't too loud since I haven't heard anything about it from the tenants that live there now. That fridge seems pretty nice for the price.

Thanks for your advice folks. I live in Iowa and there doesn't seem to be a Liebbherr dealer here. I'd love to hear from someone who has a GE Cafe FD or Jenn Air FD.

FWIW you can get Liebherr anywhere: I used a dealer 4000 miles away.

During our whole house reno, we stayed in a house with a GE FD fridge. Internal water, but not hooked up. My initial excitement as finally using a FD fridge faded quickly with two doors to open and close. Good thing I had a chance to test one out before I bought my new fridge. Can't stand FD fridges now that I've used one.

The temperature of this unit was all over the place. For no good reason first thing in the morning it would be five degrees warmer...or maybe colder with frozen lettuce. No rhyme or reason to it. As to noise....I wouldn't exactly call it quiet. The galley kitchen was semi-open to the family room. The fridge was at the far end of the kitchen and my chair was at the farthest other end of the family room. I had to turn the TV up and grit my teeth while the fridge ran as it was so loud. Overall, I was not impressed with the GE fridge. So glad I love my new one.

Thanks for the info, colin3. I don't think I could buy a refrigerator without looking at it in person, though.

I appreciate your comments, breezy girl. What kind did you end up getting?

One of the longest running threads here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Does a reasonably quiet refrigerator exist?

I bought a 36" built-in bottom-freezer Kitchenaid, sight unseen on eBay for a great discount. Keeps perfectly exact temps, has never frozen any greens, and (crossing my fingers not to jinx it) is very quiet. I only hear it when it runs water to the ice maker and then when it dumps the ice. Its only been about six months, but I am extremely happy with it. Well worth the extra cash. My newly reno'd house layout is very open so quiet was important to me also.