don't make yourself too crazy. I'm going to be looking in the same price range and Whirlpool makes the vast majority of them under various names. GE, Samsung have what some say are more advanced cooling and humidity systems. LG has many complaints but other posters are happy with theirs. It's a crapshot. So... pick a few whose handles/configuration you like and then check the specs to make sure the height is right for your application. Don't forget to factor in the top hinges. some are concealed (don't know which off hand); and that's a feature I'm going to be aware of since I want to frame it out to look built in and after allowing for air space want the cab above to look as flush as possible.

I actually am going crazy. I think my KD needs to bring a therapist on board to deal with people who obsess about these things.. it seems like such a huge purchase. My last refrigerator (Jenn-Air) froze all of our food. I don't want to deal with that again, although from the reviews I've read, it seems like all are a disaster.

Breathe deeply....

in one-two-three-four, out one-two-three-four....

If it helps, I have a GE Profile 36" CD refrigerator. After adjusting to the loss of space due to the counter depth, I'm now really starting to like it. We have water in the door, but not ice. While an icemaker was a must, having it in the door was not. Why? B/c the icemaker takes up too much space in the refrigerated portion. Instead, it takes up space in the freezer.

So, that's one thing to think about...where are you willing to "lose space"? Refrigerated portion or the freezer? That will tell you where your icemaker should be.

OK, one decision made.

What about things like door alarms, actual temperature settings vs 1-2-3-4 settings, turbo-cool, etc.?

We're narrowing it down here!

Freezer...one drawer or two? I like my one-drawer freezer that inside has the main bin + two pullout bins above.

One door or two? Personally, I like the look of the French Door refrigerators, but you do pay for it in some loss of door space. On the other hand, the doors take up less aisle space when open. (It turned out that was a very good thing for us given the measuring errors our KD made! A 48" aisle is now approx 33"!)

Do you want a full-width deli/meat drawer?

Sliding shelves?

Manufacturer:

Do you subscribe to Consumer's Reports...yes, I know, people here generally don't think much of them, but I've found their repair histories not far off the mark. Let's face it, all manufacturers have a few "lemons" so no one manufacturer will have a completely clean record. But, how do they handle issues when they come up?

Which leads to.....

What are people's experiences w/Customer Service? There have been some horror stories, particularly on the Appliances Forum. I'd probably steer clear of those manufacturers.

I hope this has helped some....Good luck!

BTW...my refrigerator has hidden hinges.

There are a ton of counter depth refrigerators that are 36" wide. (nominally) ... that dimension should be enough for your K.D. then you can take a little more time.

Fisher/Paykel makes one, Aga (the oven people) make one, all the major companies make 36" c.depth, and Liebherr, the German company just started making one (expensive).

I'm with buehl Consumer Reports is a great place to start. Primary limitation of their methodology is that they do not factor in reliabilitity though they do provide good information on the brand's repair history separately. Repair data is based on historical information so it is a better reflection of what has happened than what will happen. Accordingly they were a little late on capturing the downturn at Maytag and they will probably be a little slow to reflect any changes now that Whirpool owns Maytag.

Criteria for ranking fridges is temp performance, energy efficiancy, noise and ease of use. If a fridge performs well in these areas regardless of price point or reliability it will get a good score. People generally don't like Consumer Reports because they don't pay attention to what the basis of Consumer's rankings are. Consumers generally is a good BS detector, products generally don't get a good score for being the coolest must have from them. They generally don't test newer or more specialty brands which is also a limitation. It's a good tool to help you make your decision but certainly isn't the only reference guide you should use.

Thanks so much-- this was helpful. I got online access to CR and checked out their reviews.

I ended up going with a KA bottom freezer.. I can decide on single door or french door later (single door seems to afford me more space on the door).

I spent the most time considering the fridge. More than any other aspect the my kitchen renovation. I ended up with all KA (fridge, slide in, hood, DW) WRT fridge i went with the single door. It is a cleaner look. When you open it to get some think out a lot of the time you only need to open it about a foot,grab and go. With a french door you usually need to open either side all the way and many times you need to open both sides.
Those that have a french door can pipe in, as i have never owned one, i just had a bunch of advice.