Small differences in cubic feet are frequently less important than interior organization. Can't comment on these specific models though.

We have the 36" Sub-Zero all-fridge column and love it. But it sounds as if you're looking at a fridge/freezer combination

Do you have a french door now? Because I do and they would have to pry it from my cold,dead hands. Is your current fridge larger in cubic feet than the new? If not,then likely you will never notice what isn't and never was there ;-)

Do you have a french door now?

That's actually a really good question. I know that lots of people love their French door refrigerators. But the only time I have had one was for about a week in an AirBNB. And I never could get the hang of it. It just felt really frustrating to me.

So, I think a lot depends on your workflow. And that's a very personal decision. For our family, the single door column works best. But we might very well be the strange outliers.

The SZ is going to be a major upgrade, as our current fridge is a 16 year-old 30" freestanding bottom freezer model. Never owned a FD fridge.

According to the specs I found online, my current fridge is 18.5 cu ft total. Not sure what the capacity of the fridge alone is.

The capacity difference is probably on the doors where you lose some shelf storage due to the door frame around 2 doors.

I have had both. My current side by side, has a small amount of larger cu. ft., but it is horrible to store things in. I would go back to my French door any day. More flexible storage in most brands at least for our life style. We use a lot of fresh foods, so refrigerator space is important to us. There have been lots of improvements in the lower drawer freezer drawers for easier access too. The other important advantage of the FD is the space required for opening doors is much less making it easier to use as well. That is great advantage in smaller kitchens. I have had Kitchenaids and had very good experience. I would go for the French Door. btw, the .7 cu ft space would be around a 3x4" amount of space. But as stated earlier, it is the "organization" of the space available that is most important. Good luck. btw, Subzero is very high priced too.

First, please note that the standard for volume is effectively the amount of water (in cubic feet) one could fill the refrigerator, or freezer, with. Organization and packing will affect storage more.

Second, I have a SZ 4 ft side-by-side door unit. I like the nice vertical handles (on wood in my case)

Third, the SZ use of dual refrigeration loops allows the refrigerator side to operate with higher humidity. It does extend veggie storage time.

Fourth, SZ do answer their phone and try to be helpful when one reports an issue, even out of warranty.

Fifth, depending on one's chosen refrigerator/freezer depth, volume will increase with depth, but practical use of that volume will be degraded by the need to see into the back to find things. A wider unit helps make up for the lost volume of counter-depth-sized units while still allowing a good view of the contents.

I like a visual to help me decide. I would take with me to a store that has these on display a large milk carton, a couple of storage containers that you use a lot, and if you store platters in the fridge, one of those. It will totally make up your mind to see these items in the fridges.

I just moved into a house with a “builder” Jenn-Air appliance package. I‘m replacing the induction cooktop with a BlueStar gas cooktop, but what has surprised me the most is how much I hate the french door refrigerator, coming from a comparably sized Kitchenaid side-by-side. The worst part is the freezer, there’s just not as much room, period, and because of the angled drawers it can’t be organized well. I get that the shelves are wider but fussing with whether both doors need to be open to pull out the bottom drawer, making sure the left door closes properly to avoid the door open alarm, yuck. Seems like a huge waste to replace this one too but I might.

I would not let the .7 cf dictate here... like someone had said previously - it probably is due to one single door vs the 2 french doors. Is the non-french door model a side by side or it is still a bottom freezer with a large single door fresh food area?

I dislike the side by side. My friend has a french door - it makes me crazy because you feel like you have to open both doors all the time to see everything. I have a single door ref and love it! However it is in a location where that larger door swing is not an issue - so take your layout into account. I do find that I only really fully open the door when I am putting groceries away or cleaning it.

Good luck!

Non-French door is single door fridge of freezer drawer.

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed here!

Is there a height difference? That could make up for the .7cuft.

Same height. It's definitely due to the breaking up of the shelving on the French doors, as chispa mentions.

Cubic feet is not nearly as important as continuous shelf space. Which is why a French door will always be organizationally superior, even if it has less overall cubic feet. It can fit more, better.

That doesn't make much sense. By that argument, a traditional over/under is a much better choice than a French door. It has the continuous shelf space both in the body of the fridge and in the door. Whereas the French door breaks it up.

And that's really the reason, why I like my big single-door all-fridge so much better. Much easier to keep organized.

YES you will notice, it is so much smaller in both the refridgerator and freezer, less shelving in the doors, ridiculous drawers that demand you open both doors. The over under this replaced is better in every way. Other problems are clunky and noisy when you close the doors, further sometimes the one doesn't close, and there is no sound to warn you of this. My older over under closed itself quietly and sure. I wish I could return this monster.