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I will be moving to a new-to-me house next week leaving behind my built-in Sub Zero. To date the house has had a conventional fridge with that 36 inch opening.

Having had the shallower counter depth fridges for years, I don't want to go back to the deeper fridge. Does anyone have suggestions for a decent fridge that is counter depth and is easy, conveniet to use.

Reading reviews of various ones, I end up confused. Samsung seems to have the best but then there is LG, Kenmore, Frididaire, etc.

How about the french door models. Does anyone have one they have used long enough to say love or hate it?

I have only decided against the side by side models--just too narrow in the freezer. Besides I have good memories of a freezer on the bottom Philco from back in the sixties that my parents owned. Mom bought a side by side model when she moved and never liked that fridge.

I guess I could go to a wider model but that would involve the expense of changing the custom built cabinets. I've even considered purchasing a no freezer fridge and putting a freezer in the utility room which is close by.

I am beginning to stress as if moving in itself was not enough stress.

I would call a local repairman and ask him if service AND parts are easily available for some models (manufacturers, even Kenmore). I know at one time they were not for the LG; repairs took so long that while it was a good unit it was basically a disposable unit. May not be true anymore.

Separate freezer. In one house we had a separate freezer in the utility room. Though our frig did have a freezer, I found the second upright freezer, being so near, was used more often. I really liked that. It is really something to consider.

I agree with the second freezer if you have room for it. Refrigerator freezers tend to be ice cube makers and convenient storage (always too small) We have a smaller chest freezer in our basement, (manual defrost) and the energy cost of operating is very minimal. Taking advantage of sales and freezing extra items more than covered it's low cost and low operating expense.

So I would just concentrate on a refrigerator that appeals to you and gives you the most space in a shallow configuration. Unfortunately they are mostly all limited life items, seems no matter what brand? (as metwo stated) Talking to a trusted appliance repair shop or repair person is a great idea too. They know the current issues and how the manufacturers cover repairs/parts and such.

We purchased a GE Profile counter depth french-door fridge with ice/water (model #PFCS1RKZSS) to replace our side-by-side Whirlpool Gold. In the process, we researched just about every make/model available that would fit in the space. We came to the conclusion that every mid-range brand has "issues" and "strengths".

For example, the GE Cafe (#CFCPINIZSS) has a tendency for water to condense on the bottom of the door gaskets necessitating that the owner turn off the Energy Saver feature. The KitchenAid Architect Series II (#KFIS20XVMS) doesn't offer crushed ice but magnets will stick to the exterior. The Bosch (#B26FT70SNS)has icemaker issues as does the Whirlpool (#7204). The Electrolux (#EI23BC56IS)dimensions are so much larger than all the other counter-depth fridges that it really should be labeled as a full size fridge. Hubby wouldn't consider the Samsung since he feels they should stick with making TV's. Kenmore had numerous poor reviews that made us strike them off the list. Maytag and Whirlpool didn't carry a fridge that met our basic requirements. Both LG and Frigidaire had a nice model in a fridge, but their oven, cooktop, and/or dishwasher didn't work for our needs (I wanted a "suite" of appliances by the same brand).

With regard to the GE Profile fridge we purchased (we've had it about a month now), the freezer space is definitely smaller than the side-by-side's freezer so it would be very helpful to have a separate freezer in your utility room. However, the pull out shelf within the freezer is handy to store small stuff that would otherwise get lost. The icemaker is slow to dispense and the genius who designed the space to store a carton of eggs made it 2" too small. However, the interior shelves allow for multiple configurations and seems to store everything to my needs so far.


I hope this helps.

Thanks all. I am going to have to go and actually look and compare these fridges. I do know we will have a freezer in the utility room. Having had the large freezer has spoiled us. I don't know any appliance repair folks in the area I am moving to although this is an excellent suggestion.

The good?? thing is our household goods will be slow getting to us so I have a week to basically appliance hunt.

I wish it was in the budget now to re-do the kitchen. This would take some of the anguish out of finding a model to fit a pre-set space. I will have to replace all the appliances soon as they are aging and the countertops and backsplash are worn looking. Of course, the cabinets proper are in great shape.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gwenda,

We have had a Fisher Paykel for several years now. It does not have an icemaker. We did not desire one. We have another fridge that has one and frankly don't use the ice from that one. Periodically I throw all the ice into the sink. When we have a party I buy a bag of ice. So much easier.

When we bought the current house it came with ice and water access in the door. We never used it except to clean it. I guess we are odd. Ice cube trays would meet my needs. My fridge in my last house was from the 1950's but I really did hate defrosting it! Took all evening and all my towels wiping up the floor!

Seriously though, we like the Fishel & Paykel. The freezer is on the bottom and the stainless finish is on all 3 sides. We did not want black sides.

Wow Kiwikiwi I don't know where you live but in the heat of our Texas summers we really appreciate an icemaker to chill ice water, ice tea and other chilled beverages.

I do like to have a lot of space in my fridge for prepped food when I give parties, have week-end guests, etc. Guess this is one reason I am considering a no-freezer refrigerator in my kitchen, a built in icemaker near the sink, and a chest or upright freezer in my nearby utility room.

You have given me some thoughts about the black sides on most ss appliances. I believe the way my future kitchen is set up the sides won't be visible if I use a counter depth. Otherwise the black sides would bother me.

We have a Jenn Air SS counter depth refrigerator with french doors and a bottom freezer.

The freezer has a nice ice maker and there's a filtered water dispenser inside the main part on the side wall.

I do like the refrigerator but you give up a lot of space being only counter depth. The french doors are great because you can fit important,large items like pizza boxes inside.

When we got the new refrigerator, we moved the old, huge refrigerator out to the garage so I have a lot of refrigerator space. But, if I didn't have that extra refrigerator in the garage I wouldn't be happy with the counter depth one in the kitchen. There just is not enough room for everything...like left overs, condiments, milk, iced-t etc.

All that said, I've been very happy with the Jenn Air brand, we've had it for 2 1/2 years and have had no problems with it at all.

We bought an Electrolux SS french door refrigerator last year. The freezer is on the bottom. It has a special drawer with its own temperature and a lot of very nice features. I also have an Electrolux dryer for several years. We are happy with this brand. We didn't want a water or ice dispenser since that is the number one reason for service calls. I don't need the bother.