I love love love my frenchdoor. No problems keeping the door closed, mine does have an alarm that sounds when the door is left ajar.

Count me in on loving my frenchdoor . Lg in white. Also has the alarm in door,

You got another vote for the FD....I really like my Viking with an alarm. I like it much better than my old side by side.

We have a 36" French door Kitchenaid and so far we've been very happy with it. I have three kids and a tons of neighborhood kids that visit very often, they are in and out of the fridge all the time .. we've had no problems keeping the doors closed. There's also a door alarm if a door does get left ajar.

I have the 29 cu. ft. Samsung (full depth) and love it. It also has an alarm.

We have the 36" GE Profile with water on the door, and LOVE it! No complaints, and the LED lighting is spectacular.

Have the Maytag with the alarm and icemaker/water in the door. Love it.

My sister, a Mechanical Engineer with a Master's in Ergonomics, is getting a French Door fridge in her kitchen reno. French Door fridges are a cube stacked on a cube. Compared to side-by-sides, cubes manage space more efficiently. Each rack/shelf/level has more surface area, but in side-by-sides you bump into walls when you have mid-size or large things to place on a same shelf. The upper cube has two small doors not one big one, and that too is an advantage. Cubes are also more efficient for the cooling system, compared to side-by-sides, so their structure saves money by lowering operating costs.

David

I've had

--a 36" counter depth sxs in a galley kitchen with counter on one side and 48" across to the other counter which I really liked. It was at the end of the counter next to the door to the dining room, which was not the main door into the kitchen. We now have this same fridge with no counter on either side, but an island 42" across from it and still like it.

--a 30" bottom freezer single door with counter next to it in a U-shaped kitchen with the fridge and counter across the open part of the U which I loved. It was very near the main door into the kitchen from the laundry room/garage/outside door, but there was another door into the DR/LR so you didn't have to come into the kitchen that way.

--a 33" French door in our lower level walkout galley kitchen with a counter to one side and 48" across to the opposite counter. This is next to the only way to get into this kitchen, which is why we got the French door. I love the bottom freezer, but the doors seem bulky, and I usually open one side or the other. I don't use this one that often, but because the doors have to fit tightly together, I find it mildly irritating to use. (I've gotten used to remembering to close them completely.) I often think that I wish I'd gotten the bottom freezer single door fridge instead.

So, my suggestion would be to go to an appliance place, open and close all three kinds of fridge doors, stand in your kitchen and think about where people usually will enter it, and if going around the island makes sense if you have the larger single door open.

Anne

We've had a french door for about 18 months now, replaced a Maytag that was a real lemon. I do love the FD. The layout is great, and I especially love the freezer space, and that the refrigerator shelves are so adjustable.

We did replace the ice maker shortly after we purchased it, and it was a challenge to get the temps adjusted so that things don't freeze on the ice maker side of the fridge. Another thing I've had to get used to is pushing the door closed. If I don't physically shut the door, it will hang open. There is an alarm, but I would prefer that the doors were self closing.

When the housing market improves, we will be selling our home (6500 sq ft) and building a smaller one. DH wants to get something different, but I am inclined to get a FD again.

We have a GE French Door Fridge with two lower freezer drawers. It is standard depth instead of cabinet depth.

While I won't say that I absolutely love it, I will say that it is the best possible combination of tradeoffs I have seen.

I would absolutely prefer a single door over the french doors but the french doors allows better flow while still being close enough to the island that we can loan/unload easily.

We have a french door Amana and we love it.

I was debating between these 2 styles of fridge myself. The single door just seemed to open up too wide. We ended up w/ the FD. At first I didn't know quite how to arrange things up top, but moved some shelves around and figured outthe perfect arrangement. I really like the gallon storage in the doors. I love the baskets in the bottom freezer.

We have the water in the interior set-up and I love it (we are not big on ice here). It doesn't drip at all and I can hold a pitcher under to fill.

The doors just need a little extra push, but you get used to that. The alarm is great, we are all trained now.

We have the Thermador Freedmom French Door with the freezer on the bottom. I love the freezer on the bottom. It is so easy to find everything and it is soooo much better than the side by side we had before where nothing fit and everything got lost in the back.

I like the French door because someone can walk by while the door is open in the fairly narrow aisle. What is slightly annoying sometimes is that in order to open the drawer where I keep cold cuts etc. I have to open both doors. And because we have the freezer on the bottom, the top shelf in the fridge is quite high up. I would imagine that if you are short, it would be kind of hard to reach the top shelf. But overall, I am very happy with our choice.

I love my LG counter depth French door fridge. My fridge is across from an island, and I needed a narrow clearance door, so a one-door fridge would not have been an option (and I have always hated side by sides).

I have never liked water/ice in door and do not have that feature. I can get a whole pizza, sheet cake, or lasagna pan in my fridge. There's an alarm, which effectively trained my kid to close the door well within the first few weeks (it was better than "DS, get up and close the door and turn off that darn alarm!"). I'm very conscious of an aching back, which works out very well with a French door -- no need for bending and stooping to get anything out of the fridge. The freezer has two roll out trays, which also minimizes the bending & stooping.

Jerseydeb, I'm not sure about your hair stylist's authority, but my FD fridge shelf supports are very unobtrusive brackets.

FDs are more energy efficient than side by sides, which for me trumps almost every other reason for purchase.

I am getting a single door. My counter landing space for the fridge is right next to it and I didn't want to have to pull something out and reach around the fridge doors to set it on the counter. If your landing space is an island or peninsula across from the fridge this would not be an issue.

Just a quick response to some of the comments regarding the negatives of a FD:

I moved from a large side by side less than 9 months ago to a counter depth FD, so have recent experience with both.

I chose a FD this time to allow for more aisle clearance between the door-swing and my island. It's great for that.

Regarding having to bend over to retrieve things from the bottom freezer: I had to do that all the time in my sxs when I wanted to access my veggies/meat drawers anyway. In fact, I went searching for the head of garlic or lone lemon in the back of the veggie drawer way more often than I search for anything in my bottom mount freezer. And in my old freezer section, I still had to bend down to access the basket at the bottom, which was the only place to store items of any size.

Plus, at least in my freezer, there is a top 'tray' drawer inside so that frequently used items are higher up and easily visible. Now, the freezer section under that is large and deep, but not so much so that things get buried or lost. Plus, it's nice to be able to fit a large frozen pizza in there without turning it on its' side.

Also, at least on my Fisher-Paykel model, I love being able to marinade a large tray of ribs or whatever. It's so convenient to have that super wide shelf for those huge deli-trays, pans of lasagne, etc.

And my shelves don't have any center supports to get in the way. The fridge shelves are supported on three side and have a 'frame' that I'm sure offers extra strength.

And again, just using my experience as an example, I have almost double the door space for condiments/milk/2-liter bottles, etc. in the racks on the doors. In fact, it really allows me to be much more organized and allows me to store a lot more on the shelves than I expected to be able to.

I was worried about choosing a FD model that was counter depth because I thought that I would miss the cubic feet of a standard depth, but actually I can store a whole lot more in this fridge than in my last standard depth sxs.

I chose a model with water in the door but not ice (I didn't want to give up the shelf space for the icemaker). I miss the convenience of the ice dispenser, although it's really no big deal to pop open the drawer to scoop some ice from the freezer bin. It was a trade-off that I was willing to make.

Also, my FD is designed so that you have to open both doors in order to open the veggie/cold cut drawers. Next time, I would look for one that did not have the wide single drawers, but had split ones instead. When I first got it, I pictured myself using that space for large items and thought the extra-wide drawers were a plus. But I have found that I have so much more room to store long/large items in the main part of the fridge that I never use the drawers for that.

To the OP, if you are debating between the single vs. FD, not many of the points I made above will help you much, because many of the pluses of a FD also would apply to your single door/bottom mount freezer unit. I just wanted to share my recent experience and hope I didn't confuse you too much! : )

Sandy

Not to throw a bucket of icewater on FD's, but I looked at them & passed. You lose about 40-50% of the freezer cubic-foot space as compared to a same-total-cubic foot side by side.

I do like how FD units look though.

Wow, just got back in. So nice to see so many resonses. I'm not sure what to do. I really think the FD is the way to go, although I think function wise the singe door gets the job done better. With our clearences and walkways I want the door to be accessed from two directions. If I get a one door, you have to walk a certain way to open the fridge.

Thanks so much!! I am happy to hear so many positive responses.

We just ordered the new KA FD counterdepth. It's taller, offering more space, & has the hidden hinges on top so it will appear more "built-in". I know I'm going to love it so much more than the Amana single door bottom freezer I currently have--it works fine but the top shelf on the freezer doesn't pull-out! Very tough to retrieve/place items.

I was looking at the 72 inch. My cabinets are already made though. Is there any way to shave off a couple inches? I love the idea of a little more space.

Love my Kitchenaid fd. No fancy alarm, I just eyeball it the old-fashioned way. ;-)

OK, first off, many of the "negatives" talked about here are not specific to FD models, they're specific to bottom freezer models. Others are specific to any non-SxS refrigerator, top or bottom freezer. And, some of the negatives are actually positives to me.

If you're sold on a bottom freezer, then you need to focus on the +/- of FD vs single door.

The comments I'm going to make may be specific to my model, I have a "GE Profile Energy Star® Counter-Depth 20.9 Cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator with External Water Dispenser" (bottom freezer), Model#: PFCS1NJWSS

FD vs Single Door:

Main advantage of single door over FD:
You have the entire expanse of the door for storing items, no interruption of space or space taken up by the structure needed for the double doors. This provides more "gallon door" space as well as generally overall more space in the door for storage.

Another advantage is that if you have limited counterspace around your ref, and your door hinges are reversible, you can arrange for the door to open so the hinges are on the side opposite your sole counter. (If you have counter on both sides or in front, this is no longer an advantage, it could even be a disadvantage as a single door is much wider to get around if you want something on the counter on the hinge side.)

Main advantage of FD over single door:
The doors take up much less aisle room when open, even with someone standing in front of the refrigerator.

Another, advantage is that you only have to open one side if you know where the item is stored (e.g., I store my fruit in my left crisper, veggies in my right (meats are in the meat/deli drawer on the bottom that's the entire width, so I have to open both doors for the meat drawer). A disadvantage, of course, is that if you don't know where something is you may have to open both doors! But, if you keep your refrigerator fairly well-organize, you'll quickly know where a particular item is. Why is this an advantage? B/c less warm air is let into the ref when only one door is open, thereby keeping things cooler and saving on your electric bill.

Now, if you're still questioning bottom vs top vs SxS , there are a lot more advantages to top/bottom over SxS and, IMHO, to bottom over top.

First off, those brackets...

Non-SxS refs today have split shelves, regardless of freezer or door configuration (top/bottom, FD/Single door). My refrigerator does have brackets that fit into slots in the back to hold up the shelves. My shelves also all pullout for easier access (and one can be a full-depth or half-depth). Do the brackets get in the way? They do a little bit...but only in the very back where the bracket "plugs into" the back wall and only the top couple of inches...the rest is unimpeded by them. Even those 2" or so in the back are easily worked around.

SxS refs, OTOH, have shelves that are so narrow that they usually aren't split, so they're braced on the back and, while most still do have brackets, those brackets are next to the side walls...they still do interfere w/items, but most things can just be pushed up against them.

Next, the freezer drawer...

There is really no comparison b/w chest freezers and bottom freezers. First, chest freezers are a lot deeper than freezer drawers. Second, freezer drawers have 1 or 2 drawers above the bottom bin (Mine has 2). In the top drawer, I store my boxed veggies & other in-use items (open bags); in the next I store my frozen meats flat so I can see what I have (this drawer is rather shallow). The bottom bin is where I store bread, bagels, and other bags, but it is not that deep. With my old top freezer, more stuff got lost in the back than I care to admit (meats, especially, for some reason).

I have wasted so much less food since the bottom freezer b/c now everything can be organized. I also have a stand-up freezer in the basement, but that's for those items I buy in bulk that wouldn't fit in any freezer in a ref, SxS or bottom or top (too much bulk/volume).

Reaching the top shelf vs Bending over to get to the bottom shelf...

I'd much rather have a refrigerator where I could pull out the top shelf to access those items than have to bend down to see/reach into the back of the bottom shelf, which is usually fixed b/c of the crisper drawers below them.

Also, ask yourself this: What do you access more, the refrigerated section or the freezer? My answer is by far the refrigerated section!

Caveat: I'm 5'10" so to me I'd much rather have the refrigerator on the top!

Now, refrigerator space...

The ref that wins this one is the top freezer, I think. The bottom freezers are deeper than the top freezers so you do lose some in height. But, my new ref is 71" tall and my old one is around 66" (I think...the top is just above my eyes).

With both top & bottom models, you have the entire width of your ref for storage...any wider items will fit so nicely. There's plenty of vertical room for the 2 crisper & 1 meat drawers plus the one fixed (the crispers attach to) and 2 layers of shelves above.

Miscellaneous

Lights are more useful b/c of the shorter vertical height of the refrigerated sections in the top/bottom....and no problems with the additional width for lighting either.

SxS freezers are too narrow for pizza & lasagna boxes. In our case, we buy those "make your own" pizzas in bulk that my children sell for school and band...they would never fit in a SxS! (We store one box at a time in the upstairs freezer to have available for use...it contains 3 pizzas.)

Icemakers...somewhere you're going to lose space...whether it's in the refrigerator or freezer. In our case, we only have water in the door, so no space lost in the refrigerated section, but we do lose it in the freezer, ditto for SxS and top freezers. (For top freezers, if you have ice in the door like our old one, you lose the freezer space then as well.) For those w/ice in the door (bottom), you do lose it in the refrigerated section, but you then have more room in the freezer!

Closing freezer drawer...that's not relevant as it applies to doors as well as drawers. Our FD has an alarm when the door is left open, our old top freezer did not nor does my SIL's SxS (which she hates and tells me she would never buy again, btw.)

This all I have time for now...off to buy my dad a robe for his surgery & hospital stay tomorrow!

Wow Buehl, thanks for so much detail!! I am definitely sold on the bottom freezer. SxS was never in the running. I think I'm going for the FD and just talked to my cabinet man. He says I could fit the new KA 72 inch 22cf. It's only about $300 more than the 20cf CD FD.

I know luckloo ordered it, but does anyone have it yet?

I learned after living in Florida with a boat for about 6 months that I need a 2nd fridge for fish & bait, cold beer, ice, and bulk items from my trips to Costco. My mom has adopted it as "her fridge" for stashing "her food", so we're in this 2nd fridge many, many times a day - nearly as much as the primary fridge.

My 2nd fridge is a Whirlpool FD from the Sears Outlet and it's....okay. It does not have an alarm and the left door gets stuck open more often than I like, probably once a week. You have to give it a pretty good shove to get it closed.

I do like how I can organize the freezer even though it only has one shelf drawer above the main drawer. It holds a lot. I do like how I can adjust the shelves independently side to side, to fit different sized soda or beer boxes (12- or 18- or bottles), carton or jug milks, 8 quarts of chicken broth to defat, etc.

Since it's in the utility room, there is no "drop zone" (except the top of the washing machine when there's no dirty clothes stacked there) and that stinks for loading and unloading the thing. If I had an FD as a primary fridge, I'd suggest making sure you follow the rules for a SxS as far as locating it, but you'd probably need a drop zone on each side, since both sides are refrigerator.

Good luck!

My last two fridges were bottom freezer, single door. I have a top freezer right now in the apartment that's housing us while building. I wouldn't have a top freezer again if someone gave it to me! I'm 67, and would much rather bend to get things out of the freezer (occasionally) than out of the fridge (20 times a day!). I wouldn't consider a SxS because both fridge and freezer seem very small and narrow to me.

My DS and DDIL have a Samsung FD and love it. Based on their recommendation, on the fact that I like a bottom freezer, and on some special Samsung features, we're going with the Samsung 29cf FD in the new house. Hope we like
it!!

I think choosing appliances is the MOST challenging and frustrating thing!!

Arlene

Ok, after reading some comments above, I had to chime in. Bottom freezer is new-fangled and difficult? To me, bottom freezer is old-school. Maybe I grew up in the wrong time and place.

If you have issues with the doors closing, re-distribute the food. I started out with lots of heavy things in one door and lighter things in the other. The heavy side practically slammed itself shut, while the light side sometimes needed an extra nudge.

I have the JennAir CD FD and love it. Best money spent in the entire kitchen.

I am definitely loving the FD fridges and want one for my kitchen. I've been looking at the GE models, with at least the water dispenser on the door (I've always wanted that!) I like the GE model because of the little bar/lock thingie between the doors (I'm sure I'm not describing that in the most articulate way . . .) I like the 2 bottom drawer model the best I think.

I have some concern about some of the bad feedback I've read about on line. I'm sure there's some of you who love yours, right?

Also, do you recommend buying at a big box (lowes, HD, etc) or a smaller, local dealer? Should I get an extended warrany?

Thanks, all!

Positano--I believe I have the fridge you switched to--the KA 72" FD CD--water inside. LOVE IT. Love the alarm since now that we have the soft close drawers we expect everything to close like they do, so DH and kids leave the doors ajar all the time!! No need to repeat all the pros others have stated, but I can attest to that exact model and we're really enjoying it!

I love my French Door LG Refrigerator since I am very petite and finally I can find everything in the freezer and not have to worry about getting a step ladder to reach what is in the back of the freezer on the top. I also find the two doors wonderful for only opening the door where I keep my milk and my little dog's bread and medicine in the morning.

I only wish I went with the bigger size despite the tight fit since I love stocking up on freezer items. I only have water on the door but wish I had crushed ice.

Janefan....first of all. I love your kitchen!! All your choices work so well together. And the pendants are perfect. I haven't switched yet to the 72 inch. If I do I would have to hang my cabinets an inch higher since they are already made. I think that would give me a backsplash of 18 3/4. We just added light rail so it gives me a little more height. Not sure if that is too high though. I love the added space with the bigger fridge and the fact that there are no hinges on top, so it looks more built in.

Can I ask what is the distance between your fridge and island? The depth of the 72inch fridge is an inch bigger than the 20 cf cd fd with the doors.

Your help is really appreciated!

You just unknowingly solved a minor mystery for me! Though not bothered enough to make a stink about it, I do think my fridge sticks out too far for a cd--didn't know that model is an inch deeper!! Shame on me for not researching that better, though I probably still would've gone with that model.

Anyway--the distance between my fridge and island is 52". Hope that helps.

Glad I could help. Well, I think I've changed my mind once again. I think it's too much to raise all my cabs to get the bigger fridge. And my ailes aren't as big as yours so I would hate to lose another inch in the door sticking out. I do have a backup fridge in the basement. So, I'm going with the KA FD CD 20 cf.

Thanks to all!!!

Bumping this since there have been several questions recently asking about types of refrigerators & pros/cons.

We got one of the first models of the LG french door when it first came out about 3-4 years ago. For us, it worked well in the renovation...we even ordered the cabinet depth model, and enclosed it in a wood case on the sides to match the rest of the kitchen for a built-in look.

Pros--it was a good price, it fit the space well, and the doors don't take up too much room when opening, it looks great. For a cabinet depth model, it still holds quite a bit. The interior space of a FD fridge is amazing. It looks cool.

Cons--being the first generation LG, the interiors were rather cheap. The veg drawers kept breaking and falling off the sliders. This year's model has been completely redone inside, and is much sturdier. The SS on the LG's is pretty thin and cheap, and hard to keep clean. The cabinet depth still has to stick out the thickness of the doors for clearance around the wood side walls of the cabinet. Customer service at LG is pretty spotty, compared to Wolf and FP, who I have for other appliances. The unit puts off a lot of heat which has to be vented somewhere, so make sure you allow enough air gap if you enclose it in a cabinet.

I have probably the least expensive kenmore french door bottom freezer fridge there is and I totally LOVE It. Had a side by side before, could never fit anything in it, not even a lasagna pan in fridge or frozen pizza in freezer. Had to dig down deep in the freezer side and lots of stuff got lost down there. And it was just too skinny!

With this new fridge, I can see everything in my fridge at a glance. I am in and out of it dozens of times a day with no strain on my back. I go in the freezer less often, and when i do, everything is easier to find. Freezer and fridge both hold MUCH more and are much more accessable than my old (not terribly old) side-by-side or any top freezer one i've had in the past.

I opted for just an icemaker in the freezer, no water or ice in door, because I dont like the way it looks and also didn't like it taking up so much fridge space. Without it, I have tons of space.

My cheapie also has a thermostat in it and alarms in both fridge and freezer to tell me (or, more often, dh) I've left the door open. not necessary but way cool.

Sorry, but we're redoing our kitchen, and just got our 36" FD fridge and I hate it! (It's a Fridgaire--but my comment applies to all FDs.) Who designed the freezer for these things? While it can hold larger items than a SxS, it's basically a pull-out chest freezer, without shelves or compartments (except the shallow top slide-out shelf), so everything gets dumped into the deep bin on top of everything else; beats me how you can keep it organized or find things without bending over and scrounging through it all. We used to have an Amana bottom-freezer fridge, which I loved. So I figured an FD with the freezer on the bottom would be good, too, but our old fridge had regular opening doors with compartments on the freezer door, shelves inside, and a large slide-out bottom basket drawer. It was a smaller fridge (33"), but fit much more inside both the fridge and the freezer sections, and things in the freezer were easy to organize. Also, the ice maker on the door of our new fridge takes up a ton of space inside the refrigerator--who needs it? A low-tech ice cube tray or two in the freezer works just as well, in 1/10 the space. Strangely, the fridge models WITHOUT the ice makers cost hundreds of dollars MORE! Go figure! I wish they still made our old model Amana; I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Your complaints are about the freezer, not the FD. Single-door bottom-freezer fridges have the same issues.

angelsmommy, there are many configurations of French door/bottom freezers to choose from. It sounds like you didn't choose well for your needs or for how you work. Some bottom freezers in French door fridges do have slide out drawers and/or shelves and compartments. And if you don't want or need an ice-maker in the door, why in the heck did you pay extra to buy a fridge with one in it? There are many out there with just an internal ice-maker without the door dispenser. And there are many others without an ice maker at all so you could have used ice trays.

A quick check at the HD website shows that French door fridges with a door dispenser start at $1700, those with only internal ice makers/dispensers (nothing in the door itself) start at $1540, and those without any ice-maker/dispenser start at $1440. I think you should practice your price-checking skills.

Note that these bottom-priced models don't have the organizational features for the freezer you would prefer so you would have to pay more for that. But as long as you're searching in the same line of cabinets, you will never pay more for a no-ice feature than one with ice. Of course, pricing and value across different lines will vary. Don't compare apples to oranges but apples to apples.

This is what the drawers look like on our $1700 full depth, French door fridge..

I will never, ever own a French door fridge. I think they are awful. A lot of my clients have them and I think they are a terrible design for a refrigerator. And many of them, when you shut one door, it causes the other to open.

Oh, I just really do not like them.

We have just replaced our side by side with FD for over a month now. We didn't have the privilege of having the time to research when our side by side died. We relied a lot on the reviews online while in the store. We ended up with the Whirlpool WRX988SIBM, my 6 yr old loves the middle drawer- that's where he keeps his snacks and drinks.