French door or side by side refrigerator, help please (apartment, how much)

[cooldiv]

Hi all,

I am deciding on the refrigerator for our new home and contemplating between French door or side by side ones.
I know the obvious answer is whichever works with my budget and my family's requirements.

I do not use the freezer section so much, just frozen bags of veggies and fruits and of course ice creams.
That makes me feel entire side for freezer in side-by-side is kind of waste.
I need more refrigerator space than freezer space.

I am using side-by-side in my current apartment so I know about it.
Have been to the stores to see both models, loved those with 4 doors French which has tons of space combining the top two and middle drawer.
and now I am confused, is it really worth putting that extra 1000+ on the French door?

I am also looking for good deals, so any suggestions on best stores to buy will be appreciated.

Please share your suggestions and experiences.

Thanks

[Schumacher713]

That thousand dollar question is something only you can decide. To be honest if I could spend 1000 bucks to trade my side by side for a french door I would do it right now. The problem for me is it will be more like 2000. I rarely use my freezer and I am constantly low on fridge space except at the very bottom.

[marksmu]

I just bought a big Samsung brand new from Lowes about 2 months ago for $1400. Just don't get suckered into buying the refrigerator with all the options, tv/radio/blender/ice-cream maker, etc...just get the basic model and there are plenty of French door style models for well below $2000

[nervouslaughter]

Originally Posted by cooldiv

Hi all,

I am deciding on the refrigerator for our new home and contemplating between French door or side by side ones.
I know the obvious answer is whichever works with my budget and my family's requirements.

I do not use the freezer section so much, just frozen bags of veggies and fruits and of course ice creams.
That makes me feel entire side for freezer in side-by-side is kind of waste.
I need more refrigerator space than freezer space.

I am using side-by-side in my current apartment so I know about it.
Have been to the stores to see both models, loved those with 4 doors French which has tons of space combining the top two and middle drawer.
and now I am confused, is it really worth putting that extra 1000+ on the French door?

I am also looking for good deals, so any suggestions on best stores to buy will be appreciated.

Please share your suggestions and experiences.

Thanks

I have the four door French. Love it. Got it at Lowes on sale. The middle door tray comes in very handy too. My prior fridge was a side by side. The 4 door is way better for me.

[crone]

If you use big trays of stuff, or cook many turkeys, get the french door.

I have always had a side by side. My daughters preferred the freezer at the bottom. Now I know why. My next one will be a bottom freezer with one door.

While shopping, ask how long the gaskets last on those french doors and how much to replace. I had to replace the door gasket on a frig and could almost have paid for a new frig. Probably should have.

[skyegirl]

I hate my side by side, absolutely NO room. If you live alone, fine. But, if you have a family, or plan to, drop a few more bucks for the French. Trust me.

[TheOverdog]

I have a side by side - freezer on one side and fridge on the other. I like it and find it functional vs old model with fridge on bottom and freezer on top.

Relatives have a french, with the freezer drawer (and another small drawer) on the bottom.

I have young children (2-3 year olds), they love this model as they can get ice cream and frozen treats themselves. I don't much care for it for that same reason. They are not strong enough to open my side by side yet. I also find it ungainly to search for frozen food in a giant drawer - sort of like trying to find a pair of matching socks in a full dryer.

[longhorn96]

I'm in the same boat--new home, need to buy a new fridge for it. I grew up with a side-by-side and while I love the organizational shelves in the freezer side, I have always hated trying to fit a 9X13 (or bigger) pan or container into the fridge side.

Personally, I do use the freezer a lot but also prefer the flexibility that many of the French door models offer for both fitting larger and smaller items. So, after much consideration, we are going to spring the extra $$$ for the French door fridge. Is it worth the extra dough? I don't know, but I've already had top-freezer models (hate them--everything falls out of the freezer when I go to retrieve one item!) and side-by-side (see my gripe listed above), so I might as well get the French door, which seems to combine some of the features I want from both into one unit.

[texasnutmeg]

Do ya'll with French door models with an in-door ice dispenser find that the ice melts too quickly? That was a concern of mine when we were trying to decide. We ultimately bought a side-by-side.

[cooldiv]

Originally Posted by crone

If you use big trays of stuff, or cook many turkeys, get the french door.

I have always had a side by side. My daughters preferred the freezer at the bottom. Now I know why. My next one will be a bottom freezer with one door.

While shopping, ask how long the gaskets last on those french doors and how much to replace. I had to replace the door gasket on a frig and could almost have paid for a new frig. Probably should have.

thanks crone. i do not cook meat at all, but i sure do need enough fridge space for large pots.
i will surely ask about the gaskets, i had no idea about that.