Thank you, 3katz4me! I just went to a local appliances store and checked out some 42" sxs vs FD. The FD certainly is much better for the fridge, but then the freezer is... hmm.... and while I loved the freezer compartments in the sxs, the fridge was just a bit too narrow. I think that the only one that I liked there was a Thermador columns, which consisted of a 36" fridge and an 18" freezer!!! That thing was GINORMOUS! LOL! There's no way that I would need all of that space, but it surely met all of the criteria... LOL!

Oh, and I also checked out the regular and counter depth fridges there. I LOVED their functional spaces!!! Why on earth do we torture ourselves with these built in and integrated designs is just beyond me.... totally form over function.... but I have surrendered to that too... sigh!

Oh well, I am leaning towards FD today. Let's see what tomorrow brings LOL! If anyone else has any other experience, please share! Thank you.

I’m having the exact same dilemma right now. I have a SZ S x S today and thinking out that FD for a new kitchen/home we are building. I’ve never owned a FD but leaning that direction. Please post your updates as you finalize. It’s helpful to hear from actual experiences.

J Simm, I got these photos from the Sub Zero site..... clearly the FD fridge compartment is so much wider!!! But the freezer compartment to me is miserable....

What Sub Zero SXS do you have? 36" or 42"? How do you like the narrower fridge and freezer compartments? Do you find it a pain to have to bend down to get vegetables from the lower drawer? Or is that not a concern please?

Interestingly, when I looked at the FD built in fridges by Thermador/Bosch/Liebherr, I find the fridge to be way too tall and there's no way that my mom can use it!!! However, interestingly, with their SXS or columns, the fact that the compressor is at the bottom makes it an advantage as the lowest drawers are now raised and at a really good height! Oh well...

I had a side by side full size (not counter depth) I think Fridgidaire with an ice maker and water thru the door. some 25/30 yrs ago.

Next house and total gut/remodel I decided I wanted a regular fridge with freezer bottom drawer. Due to space limitations the walkway would have been difficult with a wide door opening so I regretfully ended up with another side by side sub zero this time, ice and water thru the door. I know everyone says not to do that nothing but trouble. I've not had much trouble and once you get used to that, it's important.

My friends had sub zero fridges with the ice drawer on the bottom. I never liked everyone going in there scoping out ice with their hands. For me the bending down was a negative and the freezer space was really limited. Long story short I liked the sub zero 42" side by side. I could if I wanted to fit a frozen pizza box but I make my own so not an issue for me. The fridge part holds lasagna trays etc. so for us it all worked.

This house has a KA 42 side by side a piece of C***p When we finally remodel, I will once again get a sub zero 42 side by side. Maybe Old Dogs don't do well with new tricks:::))

Inga

Thank you, Inga! Is there anything that you did NOT like about the SZ 42 SXS at all? I am glad to hear that you did not find the fridge to be too small! That is great to know.

Comparing to the FD, the freezer compartment is so well organized!!!

BTW, how and where do you put your gallon jar of milk?

Hi Ostrich

I HATED the top grill when I had to get in there to vacuum the condenser. It was horrible to unlatch standing on a short ladder. (I'm vertically challenged at 5'4) removing the springs and taking the grill off without scratching fridge or cabinetry.

I'm very happy they finally came up with an ingenious way to get into the top; If I recall correctly,

the latches now work similar to lifting the hood on a car. I saw it at Ferguson's.

The ice maker takes up a lot of space in the freezer section but one would expect that. We like

having an ice maker as I mentioned above. We also have a fridge in the garage for holidays or overflow when entertaining. That has a top freezer which does hold a lot of stuff but you can't ever find what you need. For that reason I like the compartments in the SZ freezer. With the shelves and roll out shelf (can't recall if there are 2 or one roll out I'm not at the Florida house right now) it keeps things tidy and easily accessible.

I can't speak to other fridges that your considering. However the SZ keeps perfect temps both in the freezer and the fridge section. The KA temps move up and down. I'm constantly having to adjust things to keep them from being to warm or too cold. Recently I was gone for some time in FL came back to this house to find the pepsi cans had frozen blowing the tops off and spraying pepsi all over the interior. After traveling all day, I did NOT enjoy having to take the entire fridge apart to clean the mess that was everywhere.

Personally, I don't like the FD fridges. I think having to open 2 doors to see whats in there defeats the purpose. I know a lot of people love them. It's definitely the In thing . I've

never cared about what is in. I buy what I like and what works for us and I don't care about reseale who knows what the buyer is going to like; if they prefer a FD then they can change it out. The only advantage I can see with a FD is if your aisle way is narrower than you would like, opening one door instead of a wide door would be beneficial.

I hope this helps you in your decision making process. Good luck

Inga

Thank you, Inga! It's great to hear your perspectives. Any other 42" SZ SXS fans out there!? I would love to hear about your experiences! Thanks.

Ostrich thanks for posting those photos. To answer your question I have the 36 SZ SxS today. Love fridge but shelves are just too narrow. Also don’t love to scoop ice out by hand and often the ice cubes stick together but that issue won’t be solved with the models I’m looking at. Even though you have to bend down to access the crisper drawers I have not found it problematic. I’m going to go back to showroom this weekend. Still wrestling with which version I will go with but leaning toward the FD version.

Hi J Simm, I think that you will find that there is a huge upgrade in space from 36" to 42'. When I saw the SZ FD in the appliance store, the 36" seemed a bit cramped to me but the 42" was nice and spacious. It's such a shame that I hate those freezer baskets that they have....

Now the 36" SXS vs 42" SXS seems interesting, because they BOTH have about the same amount of freezer capacity (about 8 cu ft) but then there is a big difference in the fridge space (12.4 vs 16.3 cu ft!!!) between the two of them. It looks like most of the space was gained in the fridge side for the SXS.

Just in case the photos help again:

Both of these are from the Subzero website again, and both are 36". Look how they compare, and how different they are from the 42" models that I posted above!

Once I saw the 42" it's like no going back to 36".... LOL! But if I were sticking with 36" I would get the FD for sure, as the fridge compartment does seem too narrow...

How did you like the freezer space in your 36" SXS? Was that wide enough for you?

Oh, regarding the ice, J Simm, I wonder if others can chime in here - I HATE that open ice bucket thing in the freezer of the FD!!! How is that possible in a fridge at this price!? I like the nice separate compartment for ice in the SXS...

BTW, have you seen those new Liebherr fridges, like the Monolith!? Oh my goodness.... what a beauty! But darn, it, those Liebherr's are just way too tall - do you have to be 6 foot tall to use those darn fridges?! LOL

Old thread, but curious to hear what you decided to go with @ostrich? I’m facing exactly the same dilemma you had with the 42” SZ

IK, I did go with the SZ 42" side by side. I love it! I thought that the fridge will be too narrow inside, but it really is not (at least not for my purpose). If you have huge platters to keep in the fridge, then that would be an issue, but I don't do that, so it works well for me. I also like how the freezer side has a lot more organization than my previous bottom freezer fridge. Oh, and I also don't have to bend down to reach my freezer, which is so nice :-) So I really do not have any regret for not getting the bottom freezer.

That said, if I were to do it all over again, I would have got the 48" side by side. For the small price difference, I would have gone with the larger one. Oh well, I am happy with the 42" now but I think that for a larger family, they would have preferred the 48" side by side.