Leasa,
Look at Sansung. They are in the same price range as standard fridges, but depth is counter for most of them. I bought a bottom freezer and love it. Had the same issue as you with a doorway. Also, no handles makes a big difference.

I'm going out on limb and say that all counter-depth units stick out beyond the counter, at least the thickness of the door. We went with the 25 cu ft KitchenAid, in stainless. It's working out perfectly, for us. A standard unit would NOT have worked at all. If you need, I'm willing to take measurements, and even post a photo.

Here are some freezers that are no more than 25 inches deep (standard counter depth is 24 inches). Several are expensive models intended to be built in, but a few are freestanding. Of those, at least one is for undercounter installation and another is closer to full height.

Here is a link that might be useful: Counter-depth freezers at AJ Madison

We got a Liebherr, which is true counter-depth. The depth includes the door but not the handles. Those couple of inches really made a difference in a 9 x 9 sq. ft. room. The capacity is less than others, but the fridge is laid out very efficiently. Here are a couple of pics.

Looking into kitchen and side of fridge

Tina

I also went with the architect series kitchenaid 25 cu feet. Nice fridge, stayed with all kitchenaid appliances, but a GE monogram hood.

Just remember that in most cases -- the height is taller than a "normal" fridge so if you have existing kitchen cabinets........ this may be a problem.

Cathy

You could check out the Fisher-Paykel fridges. They are counter depth and not too tall.

cocooner

Thanks for pointing that out clink. The Liebherr is definitely taller than an average fridge, but not as tall as a Sub-Zero. FYI, our kitchen ceilings are only 6 ft. 11 inches high!

Tina

We are very happy with our Fischer Paykel CD bottom freezer fridge, though as it is only about 18 months old I can't comment about long-term reliability. We considered Samsung and Liebherr. At the time, the Samsung had severe compressor problems.

Things we love about the FP: near-silent operation, large veg. bins with a simple and effective humidity control approach (our veggies actually do last longer as promised), and no trashy plastic drawer glides and shelf trim--all of which broke constantly on our Amana and Whirlpool.

Things to be wary of: the metal of the curved door is thin and can dent, we have just discovered that the top edge of the freezer door is plastic and can chip (we'll be dealing with service for the first time with that), and, above all, the FP requires a non-standard amount of airspace around it. We provided our KD with all the specs--if we hadn't there would have been fit problems.

Tina,
Your house is sooo cute!!

Thanks a bunch, gollygwhiz!

thanks everyone for the replies.

It is nice to hear about other brands of fridges. We live in a remote area and having the name brands opens the possibilities as a store that sells fridges asked for the brands and will try getting one for us.

Tina that for the photo, your home is really wonderful!
Leasa

This counter depth fridge thing is driving me nuts- I wish I had never heard of them! It galls me to pay more money for less cubic feet.
I have to have a freezer on the bottom- I've had them before and cannot go back to the old way, and SxS's sort of annoy me in the narrowness of the space. In order to rearrange my kitchen the way I want to I have to have a counter depth model, so I just bit the bullet and ordered the Maytag 3-door yesterday. I'm remodeling on a budget to start with and I felt terribly extravagant for going this way, but space is so limited I felt I just had too.

Could someone please say "there, there- you did the right thing"?

I bought the Maytag also...but I live in a suburb near Cleveland and have lots of stores to choose from...I started at the maytag store and went to HD/Lowes/etc...got the lowest price I could and then went to Sears...they matched the price, gave 10% off the difference which was a good amount since they were the highest. Then when it came in a day late, they gave me a check back for $50. plus tax!
Since I've had it a couple months...I'm so happy I did it...I did the right thing and you did too!

what are the model numbers of the fridges you folks got? I have to bring in the brand and model number to the store.

Thanks!

Maytag #MFC2061HEW White...

Mine is Maytag #MFI2067AEW

If the wall behind the refridgerator is a stud wall you may be able to inset the refrigerator into the wall. Basically it is removing the studs, putting in a header to carry the load of the removed studs and then finishing the back side of the other wall and putting the refrigerator into it's new niche. Sometimes you can set the whole refrigerator flush with the wall depending on what is on the other side of the kitchen wall.

I would love to know how these tall refrigerators work out. Access to the upper shelf would seem difficult and to have limited types of storage, and the capacity can be smaller to begin with.

My dad is and appliance repair man and says they are often more expensive to repair as well as generally more expensive to buy.

Thanks, Chelsea, that's interesting about the repairs. I found two Summits today (a 24x24 and a 28x24), very similar models but not the 24x24x80 inch (cp171). I have to say these two models were realllly nice! They were the 480/485's in stainless and had a nice high-endish look on the exterior (cp171 doesn't look quite so nice from a photo). Could go in a very nice small kitchen. The interior drawers were pretty light and flimsy, but would seem to be sufficient. I decided the capacity is definitely doable for one or two disciplined people, unless you entertain a lot or something. Expensive for their size, but affordable if that's what you need.

I bought a counter depth bottom feezer when we redid the kitchen a few years ago. I love the freezer bottom (though the freezer space is smaller)and would not go back to another style. HOWEVER, I will never buy another kitchen aid appliance again.

I ended up getting the Summit FFBF280 and it is beautiful! My kitchen looks huge now : ) I got ordinary white but the SS version is handsome, as I saw that one in real life. This one does not look like its online pics. I decided to get the 28" wide model at 13.8cf instead of the 9.8, as it was only $75 more where I purchased. Very glad I did, so I don't think I'll have to worry now about running short on space. This is smaller than my other refrigerator, but I think it will keep me from losing and rotting food in there. It's also a bottom mount freezer, so I can view everything so easily. Love the 24" depth!! (and its svelte 75" in height).

Very quiet.

Do you have any pictures, squirrelheaven? I'd love to see the white one installed. All the pics I've found have been of the stainless model.

squirrelheaven, I'm interested in the Summit fridge, trying to decide on the 24 or 28 inch. Where were you able to see them? I would love to find a showroom in Va or Maryland.

LG's 24" fridge has the largest surface area per shelf. I compared all of the 24" fridges available in 2008.

This makes the LG fridge with one with the greatest interior volume too.

After a thorough search I found that LG had two fridge height options in Canada. I just bought the taller one, which so far I cannot find in the US. The size difference is not much, but I wanted 8 cu.ft. in the fridge compartment.

Its noise is a gentle hum.

For me too, as posted above
".... This counter depth fridge thing is driving me nuts- I wish I had never heard of them! It galls me to pay more money for less cubic feet. I have to have a freezer on the bottom ...."

LG did not price it higher. One more good thing in favor of it. The counter depth size did not cost extra.

HTH
-david

I have a Fagor (bottom freezer) - it's like a Liebherr, only made in Spain. It IS taller than most, but I like it (and appreciate the extra cubic feet). I'm 5'6", and have no problem reaching the back of the top shelf.

Worth the extra money? Absolutely - but I was doing a whole kitchen remodel, and the way I looked at it was that it was cheaper than buying actual square footage :)

I was googling 'refrigerators that aren't deep' and stumbled upon this website. I am a small home owner, 1-1/2 story house built in 1892 about 960 sq. feet. A small kitchen, small everything, almost no closets, no attic, only storage is in a small, crumbling basement. I do love my original red pine floors though. And I do have a deep yard but the neighbor behind us likes to sit out there for hours facing our way. Installed some pine trees back there 5 years ago and this winter the middle one died and will have to be replaced in spring. As far as the neighbors on either side who are closer I'm fortunate to have a 13 foot tall privet hedge on one side that we lovingly maintain. It's about 75 feet long. One day the neighbor suggested removing it. What??? No way buddy! Thanks for the tips on counter-deep refrigerators. I'm going to look into those brands right now.

Pam,
I live in a 1-1/2 story converted schoolhouse built in 1890, originally

Beaniebakes - you are a jewel! I was just logging on to post about the HOURS I've spent the last 2 days researching all the different brands of fridges that were mentioned here only to come up empty and then I read your post and VOILA! My problem was not only the depth but also the width due to a doorway. But this one fits! What I've been doing is stacking some large moving boxes in the space where I want to put the fridge and positioning them according to the various size specs. And this one fits! I also found a Sub Zero that fit but that model had pretty terrible reviews. There was also a Miele but that sucker was 85" tall and $7000 (gulp) dollars. This Summit model is within my budget which is great. My fiance's been away while I've been doing all of this so now when he returns tomorrow I'll see what he thinks. If it works out I can finally get that dishwasher I've always wanted, it will go in the space where the fridge is now. Thanks again.

I'm glad you found one. Sounds like those and 18" dishwashers are hard to find.

I love happy endings. Please be sure to share your kitchen photos with us? A small kitchen is super hard to redo, and
seeing your appliances and layout will be very helpful. My kitchen redo is still in the future.

Pam... I'm glad I could help. One other thing just to set the record straight: the door is brushed stainless, but the side walls are not. They are platinum grey, much nicer in my opinion than black side walls that you see on many American refrigerators. At this price point, I don't think you'll find a refrigerator with stainless on all sides. The Liebherr in the photo on the top of this thread clearly has stainless sides. The Liebherr was my fantasy refrigerator, but well above my price range. Mine sits in an enclosure and only the door is visible. It is beautiful, much nicer than in the online photos. There are many positive reviews on AJ Madison's web site, including accurate comments about some of the unit's ideosyncracies, none of which bother me at all.

Good luck with your kitchen redo.

Egads! I have been trying to find time to logon with an update but so busy, then computer problems, then couldn't remember my username and then couldn't remember my password!

Anyway, I just want to say thanks for recommending the Summit FFBF285SS fridge. It was delivered 4 days ago and I just love it. My favorite thing is having the fridge on top, freezer on the bottom - I can see everything now - no more lost items hiding on the bottom or in the back. And I can reach everything easily too and I'm only 5'2''. I went major food shopping yesterday and had no problem fitting everything in with room to spare. Amazing!

I hope to post before and after pictures but it looks like it might be quite a wait until I get the new section of countertop installed. They're coming to measure it tomorrow, ten days after I called to set up the appointment. So by the time they make it and deliver it and we install it... And just this week I picked up the tiles to continue the backsplash over the new section of countertop so... slowly, slowly. I must have patience!

Thanks again for the tip on the Summit fridge, it's really great. I thought I liked my old fridge but I like this one so much better.

For those of you with the summit, how noisy is it?

'then couldn't remember my username and then couldn't remember my password! '

are you me? lol!
yep, we'd love to see pics. I also hate losing stuff in back of fridge. I'm planning to buy some containers so that I can put stuff in them on the shelves and then just slide them out to see what's back there... they do make things specifically for this but I'm gonna look at W to see what they have that will work for me first.

I'd like to train myself to put the same type of items in the same 'bins' all of the time so I don't get myself confused as to what I put where... that's so easy for me to do!

writersblock -- A few reviewers on the AJ Madison site have complained about noise, but I don't find it noisy at all. There's a humming sound when it cycles on but it doesn't bother me. Once it sounded louder than usual, so I turned the setting down a little and it cycled off. I've been known to hug my refrigerator, I love it so much. LOL

I have been using the Equator Conserv CT380Zs (which is the same as the 24" Summit) for 3-4 months and am very happy with it. Definitely not as high end looking as Liebherr, but for almost $2000 less, who can complain? Haven't noticed it making any loud or unusual noises.

Cabinet install tomorrow FINALLY (I have been without a functioning kitchen since before Thanksgiving), then I will post pictures. I have a TINY and I mean very small, 8.5'x 10' kitchen in a 1927 bungalow. I'm almost embarrassed to post photos, but I will anyway because I had such a hard time finding pictures of tiny kitchens with small scale appliances. This forum has been an invaluable resource, that is for sure.

Thanks, beaniebakes and spayurdog!

Spayurdog, you will be adding to the value of the forum with your photos of the tiny kitchen. Don't be embarrassed, because somewhere out there, someone else is also "kitchen challenged." It sometimes helps to know you are not alone..
:)

writersblock - I don't find the fridge noisy at all.

beaniesbake - I remember someone who wrote a review on ajmadison saying they were smitten with the summit fridge - was it you?? I'm feeling very smitten too! Now how to clean the stainless is the big question. Have you any advice to give?

spayurdog - my kitchen is not too great so don't worry. I have vinyl floors, painted cabinets that were built around the turn of the century out of some generic wood (but are sturdy!) and laminate countertops. I was worried that SS appliances would like very out of place but the project's not completed yet, so we'll see.

LOL, moccasinlanding! That's a good way to put it-- "kitchen challenged"--I like it:)

pam1892: The instruction manual says to clean the exterior using lukewarm water and a mild detergent and to never use detergents (they must mean harsh detergents), abrasives or acidic agents. I usually just use a wet paper towel with a drop of dawn dish soap, wipe up and down following the grain, and then rinse with another paper towel. I've also found that a disinfectant wipe does a great job of removing fingerprints, but I'll wipe it down again with warm water. I also dry it with a paper towel or microfiber cloth. One thing I've noticed is that after drying it, sometimes there are streaks left from the water. Maybe it's the hard water in my house, but I'll have to rinse it a couple of times for it to look perfect. The manual also suggests polishing it with a silicone wax. This is something I may try. I've never tried any of the specialty cleaners for stainless, so if someone has a suggestion, I'm all ears.
By the way, that wasn't my review on ajmadison.

Thanks for the advice beaniebakes - I'll give it a try.

When everyone say "counter depth" just what is that measure.

I have a Sub-Zero that has a depth of 24", 36 wide and 84" H. It is some years old and starting to act up so I am looking to get one that depth, which is the depth my cabinet top is. Can't have more due to needing to open door and clear the island in front of it.

Hi, Donna. If your subzero is fully integrated, that's going to be shallower than a regular counterdepth fridge. Generally a counterdepth should be around 24" deep *less the doors*. Only integrated fridges are hinged to open completely when the entire fridge is back behind the counter line. You can check at ajmadison (they have a great search engine) to see what will work for you. Be sure to also check the clearance requirements-there are a lot of fridges out there that claim to be counterdepth but that need quite a few inches of clearance behind them so they aren't really, not the way they install.

Also at ajmadison, search by the depth inch measurements, not the generic counterdepth search option--that's pretty messed up. Includes some that are 31" deep and leaves out many that really are counter depth.

If your current fridge is integrated, that's what you'll probably want as a replacement, but it will be more expensive than a stand-alone counterdepth fridge.

Oh, just to clarify, I wasn't saying you should necessarily buy a fridge there (although AFAIK it's a perfectly fine company), just that it's an excellent place to look for information about different models.