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Please help! Bottom freezer fridge: single door vs. French door?

17 years ago

I'm pretty sure I want a single door, 36" counter-depth, bottom freezer fridge (freestanding). But there's no denying the FD's popularity, and I've seen few posts with opinons offered about counter-depth, single door, bottom freezer freestanding models. It appeals to me because you would only ever have to open 1 door, instead of 2 on the FD. Am I placing too much importance on this feature? DW likes the look of the FD, but I have some concerns about the long-term integrity of the door seals in FD models, based on posts here. I like the "clean" look of the single-door design, too.

Other posters: Did you buy a single door, bottom-freezer model over an FD? If so, which brand did you get? I would welcome feedback from others wrestling with the same issue!

BTW, we have no space constraints in front of the fridge, so the shallowness of the FD doors is of no inherent advantage. The fridge will be bounded by wall ovens to the left, a wall to the right, and open space in front.

Thanks!!

Comments (23)

  • 17 years ago

    Well my personal preference is the one door regrig with bottom mount freezer. The FD is too much like a SXS that I hated. I like having loading/unloading counter where the door opens and I have never had a space where I could have a refrig in the middle of a cab/counter run. Now granted I have a preconceived opinion but recently at a friends house - in the process of helping I found getting things out of or putting things away in the FD inconvient. I never opened the correct door the first time.

  • 17 years ago

    We bought the CD, single door, bottom freezer KA SS because we just couldn't see having to open 2 doors to get what we want out of the frig. Why??...what purpose other than some people prefer the look of the FD and/or that they don't have adequate clearance for a large single door opening. Plus, with the single door, you don't necessarily HAVE TO open it all the way. We tend to stand to the side, open a bit and grab what we want. With FD, you HAVE TO stand in front of it, and "more than likely" open both doors to get what you want (unless you memorize where you place things for one door action - who does that?). I tested this theory before purchasing. It's like the trash pull outs. Why get the kind you have to open the door, then pull it out, when you can get the kind that pulls straight out eliminating a step, a minor step, but a step all the same. I don't care for the look of FD, and like the cleaner lines of a single door as you do. Your reasons for liking the single door, as you can tell from my post, are exactly what we thought too.

    So far, we like the frig alot. The freezer holds an okay amount of food, but we also have a backup in the basement.

    There are plenty of people on this forum who have FD and love them all the same for their own reasons. To each his own.

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks for the feedback! Any other single door/bottom freezer owners out there who will chime in?

  • 17 years ago

    Also a french door owner, not CD though. I bought a Samsung french door bottom freezer, have only had it since Friday, but I already love this thing! I am an organizer & I love the freezer compartments/drawers. I hated my old Kenmore top mount (made by Whirlpool), everything had to be stacked on top of & I couldn't find anything! With the new fridge/freezer, I can see everything in both compartments at once.

    The one thing I thought I would like, which I don't is the watre inside the fridge. It's a great feature & not messy, but I don't like the taste of the filtered tap water, EWWWW! Water in Phoenix stins anyhow & this is not much better.

  • 17 years ago

    Remodeled a tiny (8' x 13') galley kitchen and had our architect pack in every square inch of storage, counter space. Had to go BF FD, got a 25 cu ft Kenmore Trio which was about the only one made at the time.
    Opposite is our KA double oven; with both oven and fridge doors open, there's 3/16" clearance between the doors!
    Fortunately, they're at the back end of the kitchen. 8-o)

  • 17 years ago

    I had a bottom mount, single door Amana for ten years. It was fine, but it does require a lot more space than the French door for clearance purposes. We reconfigured our kitchen, putting in an island and had no choice but to go with the French door (I hate side by sides). I like the looks of the French door better than the single door but cannot tell you yet if I find the double doors annoying or not. I tend to agree with cearbhaill, you will get to know where things are and anyway, what is this the difference if you grab both handles and open the doors at the same time. Doesn,t seem to be a big deal for me. We got the Jennair but if I didn't need counter depth, I would have considered the Samsung. Appears to be much sturdier plastics on the inside.

  • 17 years ago

    Dottie, That is the exact reason I chose the Samsung. The drawers seemed a lot sturdier than the others & ran on a roller system. Let's see, after nearly 4 days I am still happy. :)

  • 17 years ago

    I have the FD CD fridge and love it. I rarely have to open both doors because I usually know where everything is in the refrigerator and I like having the wide space for platters. I have a galley kitchen, so the clearance space was a big issue for me and I hated the side by side that was here. I find that it holds about the same amount as my old fridge, but there seems to be less freezer space. I also find it much easier to find things, since nothing gets pushed to the back. I have a KitchenAid, and fwiw, I love the filtered water (inside)!

  • 17 years ago

    We are also toying with the idea of a FD bottom-freezer, but not sure how much space you need to open the door. Our fridge will be recessed into the wall and the opening is flush with where the floor-to-ceiling pantry will be. Those of you who have a FD model, how much space is necessary to not bump into adjoining cabinets? I love the look of the FD, but I certainly don't want to ding up the side of my brand new Omega cabinets. I called GE's help line and looked at the appliance specs online, but nowhere does it say how much the door swings open on the left. Help! I need to order my appliances before next week!

    Many thanks!
    dmoh

  • 17 years ago

    Dmoh, I'll try to take a pic of mine for you. The new fridge pretty much takes the entire opening, one side is counter & the other the wall next to the pantry, my "pantry" is a built in cabinet. The right door won't open as much as the left b/c of the pantry, but definitely opens enough to open the pantry drawer & the veggie bin. My old top mount single door hit it too & was less forgiving, I like the french door way better!

    The granite c-tops were new so I almost took out part of the wall, luckily ot worked out okay.

  • 17 years ago

    definitely opens enough to open the pantry drawer & the veggie bin

    faux, does it open enough to remove the bins for cleaning? (I have a KA FD and made sure mine would, but I know every appliance has different requirements)

  • 17 years ago

    Any feedback on the Bosch Integra 36 inch FD BD refrigerator would be appreciated.

    Merci,

    Julie

  • 17 years ago

    DMLove, I know I can take out the veggie bins, I could not in my old WP by Kenmore & actually broke one this way. I have not tried taking out the pantry drawer yet.

    I took pics last night to show the clearance.

    Tight fit, counter this side & the wall to the right.

    Pantry drawer fully extended & door plenty wide enough. You can see the wall to the right with the built in pantry.

  • 17 years ago

    Thanks!

  • 17 years ago

    faux...how much space is between the fridge and pantry? do you have
    a photo of the door closed and straight on please?
    I am considering fridge placement next to corner cab and thinking of
    clearances.
    Thank you.

  • 17 years ago

    Vicnsb, There is next to none! As in I could not fit a skinny finger there. I will see if I have a head on shot from that angle, if not I will snap one for you later.

    It is a very TIGHT fit! So tight I though part of the wall to the right (facing) was going to have to come out as the granite was not going anywhere.


  • 17 years ago

    thanks for the photo...its a great looking unit and it seems to open enough even that close to the wall.

  • 17 years ago

    I'm also deciding on a 36" CD FD or SD.
    We started at the French door, like the short door span and the look.
    But after more careful thought I realized we planned the landing space to the right of the fridge,
    so a single door opens to the left seems better.
    We do have an island across from the refrigerator that I can use as landing space,
    but it's not my main prep area, which is adjacent to the counter that I'd use as my fridge landing space.
    So we may have to switch back to SD, even though we only have 42" isle space and the door will be 36".
    Which one is a lesser evil? That when you put stuff to the right and be partly blocked by the half door
    or blocking the whole isle when you open the single door?

  • 17 years ago

    One other thing I don't think anyone mentioned is the space offered by the bins in the door on single door vs french door. It may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but in our case (with GE Profile), the single door model offered more space in terms of door bins than the french door. I don't have a clearance issue, either, and didn't want to lose any storage space by going french door, no matter how much I liked the look. If you've narrowed your choices down, and storage space is important to you, you may want to measure and count the door bins on both models you are considering.

  • 17 years ago

    I have an LG FD with water only in the door. I love this frig. Both doors have bins wide enough to hold gallons of milk. The large deli drawer is great and I use it all the time. You can make it colder then the rest of the frig which is great for soda and drinks. I decided against the in door ice because I didn't want to loose the space. The ice in the freezer is very easy to access.

    In the past I've had single doors and side by sides. This type of frig is much more user friendly.

  • 17 years ago

    Hello - for the posters who wanted a counter-depth, bottom freezer, single door instead of french door: what did you end up going with? I'm trying to find that same thing with a left hinge/right handle in stainless and am not having much luck.
    Thanks,
    try_hard
    ...
    CD FD

  • 17 years ago

    We are considering all the same issues as this poster. Our fridge will be on the far left of the row of cabinets in a galley kitchen, so it seems that opening a single door left-hinge fridge will be more convenient than an FD.

    I also am very concerned about energy efficiency and durability, so I have some questions about how well the FD models will seal long term. I have no interest in throwing my $2000 fridge out in 5 years!

    We did find a GE model that seems to fit the bill: PDCS1NBWLSS GE Profile Energy Star 21.1 Cu. Ft. Stainless Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator - Left Hinged. We have not bought this yet but are still shopping around.

    We want a modest sized one like this (again to avoid wasting energy for space we rarely need), but there may be something similar in a larger size.

    Good hunting!

    Good luck!