You could be me writing. I have a side-by-side Jenn Air which we put in our totally renovated kitchen in 2001. It is also built-in and I love it so much. It will be a conundrum for sure if ours breaks. I have three shaker solid wood panels on it, one long and two short which can never be replaced any longer. My kitchen has 184-year-old wooden floors and soapstone counters and looks like it belongs in my 1840 house. I can't see putting a shiny stainless one there. It would be an eyesore. Jenn Air must make a good product for ours to have lasted this long.

How long do you plan to stay in your house? We're not getting any younger so I don't the answer for me either. You know your area and what the typical owner is likely to do. In my case, I would think anyone buying this house would have to have a love affair with old houses. If mine breaks I think I'll do anything to fix it unless it's impossible. I did that with my Bosch a few months ago even though that was only 11 years old.

Since you don’t know how long you be staying, I would buy mid-range price point. I wouldn't be concerned about appearance just something that will work for you.

I agree with eld, although mid-range could be more than $1K. Some people here might offer clever suggestions for what to do with the extra space. Maybe try a search online for ideas.

The bottom-freezer Whirlpool WRB322DMBM performed well in CR's tests and owners like it. It ain't gonna look great in the larger cavity but if you'll just looking for something serviceable, it might be a good choice. At Home Depot and Best Buy. Be sure you'll be satisfied with its depth.

My rule of thumb > If I can't fix it then it's time to toss it out and get a new one. About 3 years ago one of our deep freezer chests was giving off an electrical burning smell. I checked it out and found a small relay switch/box was glowing (hot wire/shorted). Once I unplugged the unit I removed the relay (small, about half the size of a pack of cigarettes) and tried to find a replacement for it. Even though this freezer was just 8 years old the relay was no longer being made and there were no substitutes, bummer. It was a shame to dispose of this freezer for such an easy fix, but I had no choice.

You can consider a used Sub-Zero on eBay for $4395.00. I believe it is 240 V, but that info is not clearly listed.

This is probably what I would buy, but I would want to know its age first.

Lots of good info in the description.

If you only have 120V outlet, then you could get a Summit from Amazon for $3462.88. This one is two 24" pieces put side by side.

They also offer a 46.8" Forno Guardia for $1790.00, and this also appears to be two units.

I would buy extended warranty if getting one this cheap and do some research on any of these before buying.

If you plan to sell I'd go with the non-built in model, although $1k sounds optimistic.

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions.

Lars - thanks for looking up all the models.

Vgkg - you sound like my DH who is a electrical engineer. He's done 6 different repairs on it over the years. He's ready to toss it and get a new one. But he wants to go with a cheap one this time.

Eld - Don't know how much longer we will be here due to medical issues. We are in holding pattern right now, but it could go into a nose dive at any time.

Can you find a carpenter to fill in the spaces? If so, you can get a standard fridge.

I regret replacing my built-in GE Monogram with same, although the insurance I'd paid for 20 years refunded every dollar ($2000), which helped with the $9800 cost. But then I had to find someone to fabricate the panels...a hassle and expensive. I would have been ahead to buy a plain stainless to fill he space and be done with it.

I would strongly recommend that you steer away from Samsung or LG appliances. Here in the Midwest there is almost no one that will service them anymore. Many problems with those two brands. I just purchased new kitchen appliances and found the GE brands fit my needs and budget.

My house came with a HUGE GE....didn't work like it should. Replaced it with a GE that lasted 4 years & cost $4k. Now we have a counter dept SXS Frigidaire with ice & water on the door$1200.....If I had to do it ALL over again I'd get a Viking counter depth with an ice maker on the inside.($11K) I've learned my lesson....I expect a LOT...and ya get what ya pay for sometimes....

Caflower, hoping for the best for you.

I & my sister both have LG fridges and are very happy with them - decent build quality and no service so far in the first 6 or 7 years. I would not hesitate to buy an LG again based on my past experiences (provided they offer the configuration I want).

I've had good luck with an LG I bought nine years ago - knock on wood. One thing that bothers me about new fridges now is the peeling print proof stainless. If I were in your situation it would bug me to stick a fridge in that space that wasn't the right size. If it doesn't bother you then just do that. If it does I'd look into having something done with the cabinet surround to make it fit a new fridge and not cabinet depth is you have enough space for full depth. Cabinet depth, regular width refrigerators are inadequate in my opinion.

Toronto veterinarian - the challenge may be finding someone to service them if they need it. I bought a house with an LG that never worked right. I had the issue noted above - called 2 repair places and both told me good luck. 😐 I ended up throwing away a relatively new fridge.

Nicole, that's a beautiful fridge!

"Toronto veterinarian - the challenge may be finding someone to service them if they need it."

OK. I buy things expecting them to work and not need service; you buy things expecting they'll need service and want to make sure that someone's available to do that. Glass half full/glass half empty; potato/potato.

Since I expect to only need (out of warranty) service every 8 or 10 years, I'm not going to worry now about what might be available then. YMMV.

I’ve got your issue but worse: I had an old SZ fridge and freezer, and after dumping thousands into thr fridge I finally gave up. Replacing with another SZ would not only be expensive but would get into the upper cabs, not worth the expense and effort in an aging kitchen. So I bought a Frigidaire twin and for now have a mismatch as I wish for the freezer to die. I kept the trim pieces and plan to get creative somewhere along the line.

At the very minimum, a couple side filler pieces would take care of much of the issue. I matched the finish pretty well when I needed a filler under my new ovens:

Get an inexpensive fridge. It will not matter for resale in your area. Sorry for the precarious medical situation you are facing.

Samsung has the same problem here, no one works on them at all.

Look at black fridges. I love my glossy black.

After calling several repair people, finally got a guy that works on commerical refrigerators to come out. All parts are no longer available so forget repairing it. So we decided to go with a standard one, side by side, no ice or water (never used those), counter depth, 21.4 cubic feet, SS finish Frigerdaire at Home Depot. Now have to decide what to do with the old one.

^^^

Some appliance outlets may haul off your old one when they deliver the new one, that used to be the norm. Today they either do not take the old one or they'll charge a fee to do so. My defunct chest freezer was fairly light so I hauled it to my local county dump but they wanted $40 to accept it, so I said no thanks. The guy at the dump gave me a tip to take it to a local recycling business and they gave me $5 for it. If you have a recycling place nearby called "Green Bee" or a similar outlet it may be worth looking into.

Glad you found one! Our experience has been they’ll haul off the old one for a fee.

See if you can get Home Depot to take the old refrigerator away as part of the deal. Even if you have to pay a fee, it will be worth it to get it out of your house. I did that when I replaced my awful Samsung (with a smaller refrigerator that left a gap) a couple of years ago. Good luck!

They charge $50 to haul it away. Don't know if that applies to built-ins or not. DH is going to take it apart in pieces and put back together in the garage so they don't damage the cabinets. It's a tight fit.

Here is what the built-in looks like after the kitchen remodel.

The $50 is worth it to me! I think Lowe’s fee is about the same.

One thing you can do with the leftover space (before the new fridge is installed) is have a carpenter build some shelves to the right of where the fridge will be, or there could be two vertical columns of cubbyholes for storing wine. You would not want these shelves or cubbies to be any deeper than necessary - probably 18" at most, and the shelves could be adjustable. You could also have both shelves and cubby holes for wine storage, and the shelves might be convenient for storing spices.

" Some appliance outlets may haul off your old one when they deliver the new one, that used to be the norm. Today they either do not take the old one or they'll charge a fee to do so. "

FYI - Costco will take away your old appliance for free as part of their (included) delivery service.

Do tell them it’s a built-in. That’s more work to take out and a lot heavier. My son and I took my SZ out and got $15 at the recycler. Woohoo!

caflowerluver, let us know how the new fridge works and what you decide about the extra space. I’m sure it will work out fine.

If they won't take it, we might put a free add in Craigslist. Some people will take anything.

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions.

I'm happy to see you've solved the problem so neatly. Whew. Off your mind. Poof!

Interesting thread. @caflowerluver - your kitchen cabs are beautiful! Good deal your DH is taking frig apart himself!

We have a new lakehouse just being built and I am dreading buying new appliances for. i was really looking forward to that part of the new house, until we had the tariff issue to deal with. Dont know what to do now!

With his younger brother's help, they got it from the kitchen, through the breakfast room, and out the front door and lastly to the garage. Whew - that was a big job!

We getting too old (73) for jobs like this. His brother is 61 and still in good shape. And drove over an hour to help. Have to get him a gift card.

When is the new fridge being delivered?

It was suppose to be delivered tomorrow but have't heard from them. What can you do?