what size fridge?

15 years ago

Currently we have a 28" width top freezer fridge and it is fine for our family of two adults, a 3 y.o., and a 6 y.o. We are remodeling the kitchen in our new house, and I'm trying to decide what type fridge to get. Although the current fridge is ok, I think we could use more space. Sometimes I find it is overstuffed and tough to find things. . .especially when we are diligent and plan a week's worth of meals rather than making several grocery trips during the week. As my children grow, obviously they will eat more and when we have our nicer kitchen that we are planning, we will be doing more cooking and also more entertaining (we don't do this now as much). We do really like to cook and hope to do more in our new place.

I was reading that counter depth fridges are too small for a family our size (I was looking at the ones at IKEA and it seems that the 28" top freezer and the counter depth have the same cubic capacity), and I wonder if this is going to be the case. I guess the advantage of the counter depth is that you have better access to the contents of your fridge. My mother-in-law has a huge Sub Zero, and I feel like (although she entertains a lot and probably needs the capacity at holiday time) she might not know everything that is lurking in the back. I prefer to run a "leaner" fridge, meaning I feel overwhelmed when there are a bunch of leftovers or forgotten ingredients that I don't want to waste. We also have an older fridge in the basement of the new house that was left there, and we could always plug that in for a week if we host Thanksgiving.

So we am considering the Nutid at IKEA that is a French door bottom freezer with a 17 cubic foot capacity or IKEA's nutid counter depth (although we don't like the ice maker/water in front) which is 14 cubic feet. It would also help with the kitchen design to have the counter depth.

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Comments (3)

artemis78
15 years ago
The Nutid capacities you listed are just the refrigerator space, not the whole fridge. When you read cubic feet for a refrigerator, it typically refers to fridge + freezer, so doing the math for the IKEA models will help you compare them to other options. They're actually 24.8 cu. ft. and 23 cu. ft. respectively, which are pretty standard sizes (23 is on the roomy end for a counter-depth model). If it helps, our old 30" top freezer model is 18 cubic feet total, so yours is likely about the same or a bit less. If you think that's workable but would prefer a little more space, sounds like either of the IKEA fridges would easily meet your needs. HTH!
Robert356
15 years ago
I like the counter-depth style, with a bottom freezer. I think you lose a lot of capacity with french doors, so my fridge has just one huge door.

Trouble is, it is a Viking brand. Had to be rebuilt within the first two years (warranty), and then they came out to replace the hinges on that huge door (apparently they broke and the heavy door caused damage and injury).

So, although I like the design, I cannot recommend the brand. I do have a GE side-by-side fridge in the garage (new) and I'm often bending and reaching to get things from it. Not so much with the Viking, except when I need frozen items.
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pooks1976
15 years ago
I went with the Kitchen Aid 19.8 cu. Ft. counter depth French door. It has less cu. Ft. then my old one, but is wide instead of deep. I didn't have the space for the taller model. I actually like the space better, because the back of my old fridge was where good food went to die. I can see everything now.

The freezer is nice for things we access daily, but we store most of our frozen stuff in a separate freezer. The only thing I don't like about the style of the fridge, that I completely missed when I was looking, is that a lot of shelves are too high for my daughter to reach. I have to keep things she would want on the bottom shelf.

The Kitchen Aid model I have is loud, so I wouldn't recommend it.