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Besides keeping the milk cold and the meat frozen, what could possibly warrant a price like that?
I think refridgerators are about the ugliest piece of "whatever" we have in our homes. I see nothing appealing about these huge boxes in our kitchens.
be it regular, french or side by side, they are ugly.
I wish a fridge could be built into the wall like a closet and it has a door like a closet, only it is a fridge.
I do like the bottom freezer drawers however, because as other posters say, you are not in the freezer as much as the fridge, and it is easier to see at eye level.
I have an amana fridge (black), regular top freezer, it is 20 years old, still looks new though, and has never had a problem. I do like though that my freezer has a light in it. But if I would have known then what I know now, I would have gotten a smaller fridge I didn't need such a big fridge and freezer. who knew?
I'm surprised that so many people don't mind the bottom freezer. It's totally toooo awkward for me. 1) you have to bend over, 2) you have to store things piled on top of each other and dig stuff out when you want something. You can't really SEE what you've got in there.
IF anyone ever sees a French door (side by side) -- with the freezer still on the TOP -- NOW THAT is what I'd buy in a heart beat. But as long as the freezer is on the bottom no way. I use my freezer way too much for that bending over, pulling out the freezer drawers, or reaching into the back.
WHY do manufacturers not have that option?
Because then you have to bend OVER for the fridge part and you have to open BOTH french doors bending over?
I guess it depends on what someone eats and how they use the refrigerator. If you're going in the freezer for snacks and all your meals then yes, you may not like it on the bottom.
Think about removing a heavy 13 inch pan bending over or a gallon of milk or grabbing several fruits/veggies.
So you'd rather bend over 4-5 times a day for the fridge compartments? To be on the floor? The vegetable and fruit drawers are something I access several times a day. Do you actually go INTO the freezer several times a day?
I freeze smoothies for when I"m in a hurry and it takes me 3 seconds to reach down into the freezer to get one out. I may not even go INTO the freezer for an entire day or even longer.
The bottom freezer has drawers it's not just some deep vacuous space. You put your meats in one drawer and your other stuff in the other drawer and everything is in plain view.
The cubic feet are basically the same so your food is no more hidden in the bottom freezer than the top. In fact, the TOP freezers don't have drawers like the bottom so you're actually digging around more with a top freezer.
It boils down to how many times per day you go into each, I think.
We decided against the french-door models because we had no desire to bend over and dig, which would have been a requirement. However another reason, thought about later, was that, eventually, the standard manner to use the UPPER doors would be to open both at once (*), completely eliminating any reason to have two doors leading into the non-freezer compartment (unlike side-by-side, the french door models do NOT allow tight fit w.r.t. depth - the freezer "door" opens as wide as a regular full door).
(*) This is so because, inevitably, one is going to open door A and find what you wanted is behind door B and vice versa. This will happen often enough that you will simply start opening both doors at once for anything but a staple like milk.
I thought I hsd responded this one but do not seeit. I cannot tell you how many times I go into our french door and say "I hate this" The double doors on top serve no useful purpose other than to get in the way. When I open the right door what I want is on the left. When I open the left door what I want is on the right. Trying to put large items in is difficult since you must hold two doors open to get stuff in. Plus the door is always in the way when you want to use the counters on either side of it. We had a single door bottom freezer before this one and it was much better and easier to use. We only went with frech door for capacity reasons but now I regret it. Never again. Jay
I thought I hsd responded this one but do not seeit. I cannot tell you how many times I go into our french door and say "I hate this" The double doors on top serve no useful purpose other than to get in the way. When I open the right door what I want is on the left. When I open the left door what I want is on the right. Trying to put large items in is difficult since you must hold two doors open to get stuff in. Plus the door is always in the way when you want to use the counters on either side of it. We had a single door bottom freezer before this one and it was much better and easier to use. We only went with frech door for capacity reasons but now I regret it. Never again. Jay
This is exactly why I chose a standard top-freezer model again. After staying with a couple different people who have french-door fridges, I said I wouldn't buy a FD. Also, I got my new fridge for $600 on sale a week before Thanksgiving. No $1,500-$3,000 fridges for me.
I thought I hsd responded this one but do not seeit. I cannot tell you how many times I go into our french door and say "I hate this" The double doors on top serve no useful purpose other than to get in the way. When I open the right door what I want is on the left. When I open the left door what I want is on the right. Trying to put large items in is difficult since you must hold two doors open to get stuff in. Plus the door is always in the way when you want to use the counters on either side of it. We had a single door bottom freezer before this one and it was much better and easier to use. We only went with frech door for capacity reasons but now I regret it. Never again. Jay
maybe you need to better organize your fridge or remember where you put stuff lol.
i love my french door fridge. it's massive inside (i got the LG 31 cu ft model), it uses virtually no electricity (new models are highly efficient with great insulation), and it stores tons of food. most of what I get is on the right side, and i keep my semi-regular items on the left side (jars of stuff, etc.). side-by-sides consistently get the worst quality ratings (they fail more often because of the design). my doors never get in the way, and stay open when i open them.
the bottom freezer has a big "bucket" with a seperator, which is nice, then a shelf on top fot thin items (like frozen pizzas, popsicles, etc), then another shelf for an ice bucket and other thicker items...so it's easy enough for me to find stuff.
freezer is on bottom because most people use the freezer less than they use the fridge. so bending over for an occasional trip to the freezer is optimal vs. bending over daily for the fridge. i hate when i visit my parents and have to lean down to see what's on the top shelf of their fridge. lol
maybe you need to better organize your fridge or remember where you put stuff lol.
i love my french door fridge. it's massive inside (i got the LG 31 cu ft model), it uses virtually no electricity (new models are highly efficient with great insulation), and it stores tons of food. most of what I get is on the right side, and i keep my semi-regular items on the left side (jars of stuff, etc.). side-by-sides consistently get the worst quality ratings (they fail more often because of the design). my doors never get in the way, and stay open when i open them.
the bottom freezer has a big "bucket" with a seperator, which is nice, then a shelf on top fot thin items (like frozen pizzas, popsicles, etc), then another shelf for an ice bucket and other thicker items...so it's easy enough for me to find stuff.
freezer is on bottom because most people use the freezer less than they use the fridge. so bending over for an occasional trip to the freezer is optimal vs. bending over daily for the fridge. i hate when i visit my parents and have to lean down to see what's on the top shelf of their fridge. lol
It is hard to keep things organized when you have kids who move things around when they go in looking for stuff. Mine too is a large capacity energy efficient model and I agree it is better than a side-by-side but in comparison to the large capacity energy efficient freezer-on-the-bottom it replaced it is very inconvenient. I like to use the counters on either side as a touch down area. With doors that open to each side, I can no longer use them. That is a lot less convenient. Also french doors do not close as easily as a single door. If the door isn't closed exactly right, the refrigerator will beep. Sometimes you hear it, sometimes you don't. Never had a problem with the single door not closing. Also, I do wonder how energy efficient a refrigerator can be when there is a gap right down the middle of it. I know it is sealed but still an opening is an opening and a place for the seal to fail. I think if you had a large capacity single door you too would agree it is better. Not sure why the manufacturers stopped making them and switched to only french door. Seems trendy to me. Jay
A small followup to our fridge purchase - we ended up buying the side-by-side Whirlpool from Lowes even though they didnt have one to see at the store(s); we eventually found, I think, a Frigidaire at another store that IS the same fridge with just a different label on it. Or maybe it was the with-ice/water-dispenser equivalent or something. In any case, THAT fridge gave us a good idea of what we'd get.
The price was $1099 on December 1 when we bought it. It was delivered yesterday. While wating for the delivery yesterday I surfed around various websites to see images of what was coming so I'd know if something was missing, etc. Surfed over to Lowes and they actually had an image on their website...next to the new price of $989. I looked at the price, said something like "Oh poo!", then called up Lowes and mentioned the fridge hadn't even been delivered yet and the price had already dropped 10%. The very cordial Cust Serv rep said "No problem, come on in and we'll refund the difference to you".
So that's what I did.
25 cubic foot side-by-side with NO water/ice dispenser in the door - heaven!
And...it turns out an ice maker for in-freezer mounting is available and ALL necessary electric/internal plumbing is already in the fridge - just have to buy and install the ice maker. And it's the same ice maker that's in my 25-ish year old GE fridge that hasn't caused any problems at all over that entire time. Yay!
I tormented over this very decision for quite a while. We had a traditional top freezer refrigerator. I spend more of my time bent down looking for stuff. Things spoil because they're forgotten.
I finally dragged my husband to look at the side by side and the French door bottom freezer models. He agreed that the French door model is the best for our usage. 98% of our use is in the refrigerator. Even with the small percentage of time we spend in the freezer, the top or bottom freezers don't meet our needs so we need to buy a freezer chest for the basement. The refrigerator is much too narrow in a side by side and I'll feel like I'm searching for stuff still.
The decision is made. We will to buy the largest capacity French door refrigerator available---without water or ice makers. I like SPACE for my stuff. I hate how water and ice takes away so much space. I'm not the slightest bit interested in the one door version. It takes up floor space for opening and isn't as attractive. Two doors won't be a hassle for us.
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