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matryoshka7

FD refrigerator help - GE 22 cu. foot or??

Matryoshka7
10 years ago

I want to replace my old Amana bottom-freezer fridge with a French door fridge. It has to fit my old 33" opening.

I've heard really good things about the Samsung, but the smaller ones that fit my space don't appear to have adjustable shelves, have 2-4 cu. feet less space than others that will fit my space, and in the one I looked at in Sears (18 cu. feet, I think), the drawers won't open if only one door is opened. There are almost no FD fridges on the floor at Sears that fit my space (and less elsewhere), so I need to rely on incomplete pictures to try to figure out which might work.

The Kenmores seem okay - SIL has one - buy my hubby doesn't like that the drawers in the freezer are made of mesh and don't have any sides - he thinks this allows too much cold air to escape.

On the Sears website, the GE actually has the highest positive rating (but I never see it talked about elsewhere?). It looks like its shelves are adjustable, and that I can fit what I need in the door.

I can't, however, find any picture of the freezer compartment in the GE. Does the icemaker take up a lot of space? (I really don't need an icemaker, but apparently I can't buy a new fridge without one). A couple of reviews say the freezer drawer is hard to open/close and can stick, but other reviews don't mention that, so maybe they had bad luck?

How about the finish? I could go with white or black. What is most important is easy to keep clean.

If anyone has this GE, could you confirm that you can open one door and still open the drawer on that size? If you've had it a while, how has it held up?

Or is there another great FD fridge in this size anyone could recommend?

Comments (11)

  • annkh_nd
    10 years ago

    Does it have to be french door? There are some bottom freezer, single door fridges that would fit your space.

  • Matryoshka7
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have a single-door bottom freezer there now. The problem is that I have a narrow galley kitchen, so when someone opens the fridge door, no one else can walk through the room (which happens also to connect two parts of the house). A French door would be soooo nice!

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    I have it for about 1 year. The drawers already cracked on the track they're running on; one was already cracked/piece brokenoff when it came, so I got a new one, which I'm keeping as a spare until the drawer completely breaks.
    The seal has ripped in the middle. My husband says it's a design flaw and related to opening the doors.
    You can open the drawer when one door is open, but I think that may have broken the track it's hanging on. happens when you don't open the door all the way.
    My freezer drawer does not stick, but there's not a whole lot of space in the freezer, and stuff is even harder to find than in a top freezer.
    The icemaker is about 4" high, 11" wide, same as the similar drawer on the other side.
    Overall, it looks nice, but actually offers less space than our old top freezer model. You can just open one door, but most of the time, we open both unless we get stuff from inside one door or the upper drawer. Space on the inside of the doors is also cramped.
    I have the SS.

  • Matryoshka7
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Darn. Is this the model you have? It doesn't show it as coming in SS, so I'm vaguely hoping you have a different model. The pic shows the inside.

    Here is a link that might be useful: GE 22 cu. ft. FD fridge

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    My model is GFSS2HCYCSS. It looks very much like the model you linked to. I remember that there just weren't that many fridges that fit in my space, especially the low height was an issue.

    Here is a link that might be useful: GE fridge

  • joaniepoanie
    10 years ago

    We have a Kenmore Elite FD CD. Ok , it is 36" so won't fit your space but the freezer drawers are plastic not mesh. One reason we liked this model was the freezer drawers were adjustable allowing for large pans...some brands have fixed dividers. We were told it is made by LG. we've had it for 18 mos...no problems... I like it a lot.

  • Matryoshka7
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yeah, that's the problem. The bigger/wider ones have things like freezer drawers with sides, and all have drawers you can open with only one door open. Same brands in narrower widths don't necessarily share these features.

    The Sears guy told me the great majority of the units they sell are the 33" or less size to replace existing fridges, and yet most of the ones on the floor are the wide ones. Most of the narrower ones can only be bought online. Yeesh.

  • ittybittybungalow
    10 years ago

    Ugh, I feel your pain on not being able to find things in stock, and the right size that you can actually see and touch.

    When our refrigerator died a few months ago, we ended up with a Kenmore Elite FD - not a counter depth, however. It was one of the few refrigerators actually in stock (anywhere) that could be delivered relatively quickly that would fit. I went to Abt, Home Depot, HH Gregg, Lowes and so forth.

    The model number is 72303.

    The width is 32.875" so it may be a bit too tight for your space but wanted to throw it out there.

    So far we have been pretty impressed. Fruit and vegetables keep so much better than our old trusty refrigerator that we replaced.

    A few comments:
    Our bins and drawers are solid - not wire.

    Drawers/bins/shelves are adjustable.

    The meat/cheese drawer requires you to open both doors in order to access the drawer.

    This model was made by LG.

    It did receive a good rating on Consumer Reports.

    Good luck on your quest.

  • Matryoshka7
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you, that is very helpful. This looks similar to SIL's on the top (and I like her fridge part), but it sounds like it's got the nicer freezer drawers. Hubby is hopeful we can squeeze that in to our space. 1/16" on each side! Could at least be worth a try. It's the same height as current fridge, and 1/4" wider.

    Does yours have the strip in the middle for an extra seal, or do the doors just butt up against each other (if you know what I mean)?

  • a2gemini
    10 years ago

    Mat - I was hoping the elux would fit but I think they are all 36 inches :-(
    I know what you mean about the flapper in the middle - I have read a number of reviews that the gasket to gasket leaks over time, so I wanted a flapper.
    When we wanted to replace our fridge - one of the few that fit was the Elux as our upper cabinets caused problems and we were able to just clear with the Elux. We left a bit of space with our remodel for future fridge size changes.

  • ittybittybungalow
    10 years ago

    Our refrigerator has a piece (the length of the door) on the left door which "flips" and seems to serve as an extra seal. I think that is what you mean.

    When only the left door is open, you can access the crisper drawer. When the right door is open it is not possible to access the other crisper drawer.

    The Sears website does have a separate document which has all of the measurements - basically the required space needed for installation. Look under the yellow energy guide logo for a blurb that says "This product comes with: Specifications" click on the specifications and the pdf will come up.

    Feel free to let me know if there are any other questions.