Marketing. Those $7,000 units sell simply because there are people willing to pay the price.

Recess a standard size one, the counter depth ones are a ripoff, alto not quite a big a "Ripoff" as the "Built in, or fully Integrated ones".

The appliance manufacturers found out that folks were willing to pay a premium for these style fridges and charge accordingly. Back in 2006 I bought a built in (not fully integreated) JA 48" fridge for $4588. That same fridge is close to $10K today, thanks mostly to other companies following SZ marketing strategy of "Strong Arm Fixed Pricing".

Strangely enough, BBQ's are the wame way. You can go to home Depot, find many Many!! bbq's on carts, including name brands, (Webber) etc etc for well under $1000.00 but if you want a built in, which I have, You can easily double or tripple that number, some even more that $5000.00, Yikes!
Anyway, I got one for just under 2 gand , (Installed), not great, but could have been a lot worse.

The only thing that will bring these prices of appliances out of "FantasyLand" is smart shoppers like you, and some day folks children on here should thank the savvy buyers such as yourself, otherwise there will not be a wheelbarrow large enough to carry the money to buy just ONE kitchen appliance, nevermind the whole set!!!!

Gary

If your heart is set on a more expensive fridge, watch for a deal. Check with local appliance stores for a clearance floor model. Watch CL or eBay. I found my ungodly expensive 36" built-in KA for $3500 free shipping on eBay. I'm very happy!

I fell in love with the built-in look and don't quite know why. It's certainly an overbuy for my price range of house, but I had to have it. I got a floor model KA built-in similar to Breezygirl's for around the same price. So it didn't end up being all that much more expensive than a counter-depth one, most of which look a little bloated and stubby to me.

Putting conspiracy theorist aside, the market for built-in fridges is a tiny part of the market.

Standard fridges have economies of scale while built-ins do not.

If a Sub-Zero 48BI could be made profitably for $4k Samsung,LG,or Haier would glady make it for you.

Depending on what exact fridge you are looking at some do have some very nice features, premium shelves,lighting etc but not enough to justify the price. You are paying most of the premium for getting size and built-in installation and a little for features. Marginal cost increase as you go from worst to best.

Although you did not specifically say so, I'm guessing that you are debating between buying an expensive built-in fridge (possibly a Subzero or Liebherr or possibly one from a mainline manifacturer) and buying a larger capacity free-standing SxS or FD?

This topic stirs periodic airings of passionate opinions. Often the question is asked about a particular brand (such as, is Subzero worth it?) but sometimes it is asked about a type -- say, counter depth (CD) versus built-in. The responses inevitably range from the passionately for and against to the bemused to the slightly snide. I've linked to the most recent thread that I could recall. It began by asking this question about Subzero but it pretty much hits the full range of opinions about what factors are "worth it."

My personal preferences would lead me in this direction:

(1) A recessed, full size $2500 to $3500 fridge will have a lot more capacity than built-ins which cost upwards of $7k. Do you shop at Costco and need to stash a 55-gallond drum of mayo? Do you have kids or a lot of company, or both?

(2) How much trouble and expense will it be to have the fridge recessed. Depending on the house design and where you are in the construction, it might be little or nothing extra or it could be a whole lot of expense or somewhere in between.

(3) The recessed standard fridge is much easier to pull in and out for cleaning and/or work and/or replacement when it inevitably breaks, as they all do at some point. (Uh-oh, there goes the chronic-old-fart warning klaxon. Gotta run.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Is Subzero Worth It?

You could also consider those "twin" units from Elux, Frigidaire, Whirlpool and even Kenmore (rebadged Whirlpool/Elux). The twins are separate refrigerator and freezer units that are each 30"-32" wide installed side-by-side with a trim kit to make them look built-in. You get some of the benefits of a SZ without the price tag. If you're already considering a 48" built-in, then another 16"-18" might not be too much to ask for. Especially since you're building new.

I got the Frigidaire pair for under $2500. And that including the trim kit and tax. So far I've been very happy with them. I keep thermometers in them and glance at them nearly every time I open them. The temps have always been correct.

Food for thought.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigidaire Professional All Refrigerator

Smart, jscout, very smart!!!

You even out did me, when I paid $4588 for a 48" built in and paneled Jenn-air Fridge. Now that same fridge is over 8 grand, and I bet ya very little has changed, performance and feature wise, just the price, since Whirlpool bought Jenn-air and adapted SZ's price fixing marketing strategy.

Gary

When we built, we ended up with two Frigidaire Commercial refrigerator only refrigerators.19 cubic feet of space each. No gimmicky drawers or specialized areas. We bought one in SS and one with a glass door (that one lives in the pantry). They have locking wheels so they can be moved for cleaning and wonderful SPACE. They also keep things wonderfully cold without freezing the food. I have never been so pleased with a refrigerator. So, for less than $2800 (2 years ago) we got over 38 cu ft of space and wonderful quality.

We had a good deep freeze so freezer space was not an issue.

Posted by jscout (My Page) on
Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 8:48

You could also consider those "twin" units from Elux, Frigidaire, Whirlpool and even Kenmore (rebadged Whirlpool/Elux). The twins are separate refrigerator and freezer units that are each 30"-32" wide installed side-by-side with a trim kit to make them look built-in. You get some of the benefits of a SZ without the price tag. If you're already considering a 48" built-in, then another 16"-18" might not be too much to ask for. Especially since you're building new.

I got the Frigidaire pair for under $2500. And that including the trim kit and tax. So far I've been very happy with them. I keep thermometers in them and glance at them nearly every time I open them. The temps have always been correct.

Food for thought.

This has got to be the idea of the year! You just made our dreams of a SZ burned away but you also put cash back in our pockets.

THANK YOU!!

Do you have any pics of your Fridgidaire Twins?

Here is a link that might be useful: Frigidaire Professional All Refrigerator

First up: Fancy sleek low volume designs for integrated or built ins also require additional expensive, complex, door hinge assemblies to work properly. Without that you have the equivalent of a homemade convertible made by cutting the roof off a coupe.

Second: You have to start by costing the factory area and equipment used on a low volume line, plus outside subcontracted assemblies and material against that of your highest volume, most profitable model. If you can't make those numbers match up to or substantially cushion your main effort, why bother?
If it was simple and easy, everyone would do it.
In the kitchen and at the factory.

To go even lower cost than jscout's idea, keep in mind that nobody has ever complained about medium sized apartment fridges. Get two. They are quiet and fully functional. Get two different kinds so that the air/humidity is different in each one. Danby or LG are brands that everyone says work well. And the Danish company Vestfrost makes a fridge-freezer that has two compressors and two cooling circuits so you can defrost the freezer in a jiffy while keeping the frozen stuff in the fridge compartment. (Passive refrigeration is the term for high-humidity air that might need to be defrosted once a year. It is good; you never get freezer burn; everything stays edible.)

Moreover, nobody has ever complained about any brand of chest freezer that you can get for $200 to $500 in any store. Put one in the basement, or in a spare room or a large closet.

Since you are building a house; you will have the same sticker shock regarding tile, light fixtures, faucets, toilets of all luxury brands. Why is that Dornbracht faucets cost 2x to 5X as much as a Kohler or Grohe? The price differential is no different than LG versus Subzero. If you are outfiting the entire house with Dornbracht, then you will spend several thousand $ more for the plumbing fixtures than with another brand. Refrigerators, appliances, carpet etc all have luxury brands which will cost you 2x to 10x the standard 'mid to high end' brands.

Go look at the expensive refrigerators at a store next to a standard frig. If you notice the build quality, interior fittings, the hinge quality, the weight of the door etc, and you are willing to pay for the difference AND the cost does not make a difference in terms of all your other financial obligations, then you get the built-in one (or the luxury brand). Otherwise, you get the brand that you can justify for your own finances. No one justifies that 4K for you.

I was willing to pay the differential because it does not impact the rest of my financial obligations. So my decision making has no bearing on how others make the decision. If I had to save more money for my kids college funds or retirement, then I would have stuck with a 2K frig.

My Thermador keeps the temperature quite even. No issues there. There are two condensers so no transfer of odor. This is probably the biggest difference to me. I am using exactly the same food storage method as before and I have little to no smell in the frig or the ice or the frozen food. I can't say that I changed. I think it is the frig. The door seals are heated so that moisture does not collect on the door seals and cause mildew formation, when the standard frigs can be a problem on the seals and mildew.

I like that the built-in ones never wobble and they are built in which makes it look better. (vanity..) Then when you open the door, the interior fitting are always nicer than a standard ones. Unfotunately,it is quite easy to get used to nice things. I will probably never go back to a standard frig.

This is no different than buying a BMW versus a Geo Metro. When you open the door of the car, you notice the cost difference and the build quality. They both will get you there. They both have buyers that are very happy with their products that they have bought.

Whether someone thinks this is a rip off or not, it is what it is. You have to decide what the premium that you are willing to pay is. Why is that you can buy $50 lipstick versus $5 lipstick. The premium is 1000%. It's no different with any other luxury product. There is a price premium of 'luxury brands' and you decide (or can afford) to have that product.

Since you are building a house, there is always a budget. Is this worth blowing 4k of your budget? Only you know. You decide if you want to blow the extra on the fancy tile, expensive faucets, expensive windows, refrigerator etc...

Everyone needs that one thing that will make their heart sing. You decide.