Refrigerator shopping
 

So, we are probably getting a new fridge in the next month. It’s been over a decade and our current fridge is apartment sized while our family eats very adult sized portions of food now. Biggest thing is we NEED a bigger freezer. So, question: should we look for a side by side or a standar fridge/freezer combo?
Pros and cons?
Freezer on top or bottom?

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

We have a big pull-out freezer under the fridge with a second big pull-out drawer in the freezer and I like it a lot. Nothing falls on me when I open it and it’s huge.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

Our refrigerator is over 13 years old so I'm looking for when it dies. I want one with the French doors. I have a friend that says she has never run out of freezer space with hers.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

That are on sale now. Next great sale is Black Friday. Then yes time. Then May.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

4th of July sales right now. :yes

(Home Depot's "black friday" sale on kitchen appliances is always BEFORE Thanksgiving, not after.)

You can look at the cubic feet of fridges and freezers in the specs. I would highly recommend either getting a 1-month subscription to Consumer Reports or going to the library and studying the refrigerator reviews there.

Do you have the space and budget for a chest freezer? Personally, I prefer to have a refrigerator with more chilled space than freezer space because we buy a lot of produce and fresh foods. I keep most of my frozen foods in the chest freezers in the garage. But if that doesn't fit your needs, once you find ones with more cubic feet, look really carefully at how it's arranged and what kinds of things you usually freeze to make sure they will fit.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

My mom has a side-by-side fridge (where the freezer is on one side and the fridge is on the other) and HATES it. She says nothing fits in either side, but especially not the smaller freezer side.

If I got to pick I'd get one that's french door fridge on top and big drawer freezer on bottom.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

My parents have a fridge with a drawer on the bottom freezer and just love it.
I've never had anything but your standard old-fashioned kind myself.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

I'm definitely a freezer on the bottom gal. The ones that open like a drawer are great for conserving cold air. I've never had a side by side myself, but any I've seen in other people's houses, the layout doesn't look like it would work with what we normally have in our freezer upstairs (we also have several chest freezers).

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I have also heard that freezer on the bottom is much more energy efficient. We have a side by side. It's ok, but I don't love it. The freezer is so narrow.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

No room for a chest freezer. We would have to really get creative to have space for it and the Hubs is not in favor of the options. We do lot have a garage or basement.

I do like the French door top with the freezer drawer bottom but I’m not sure they are in the price range. Do they even make old fashioned fridges with the refrigerator on top?

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

HATE side by sides. The width of each space is completely inefficient.

I've only had freezer on top BUT if I were buying right now I'd ideally want freezer on bottom. Given that the fridge space is so much more used regularly having all the items closer to eye level is an incredible bonus.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

My parents' fridge doesn't have french doors on top. The top is like a standard fridge and then the bottom is the drawer freezer. They didn't buy it so I don't know how much it is, but it doesn't seem overly fancy, and it came in their rented house, so I would think it wasn't too pricey.

---------- Post added at 09:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 AM ----------

I asked my mom about theirs. It's a Kenmore. She said their particular model is probably too small for a family, but she recommends the bottom freezer.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

yes they do. And you are correct, French door refrigerators are EXPENSIVE. VERY. It was completely out of our price range. But, that was 5 years ago, so maybe there are some deals now.

here's a regular one with freezer on the bottom. No idea what consumer reports says about this model, just showing it as an example. https://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Elect...223S/206631926 My fridge is an LG. Other than the ice maker, I have no complaints. Mine is 5 years old so I'm sure the models have changed since then.

Re: Refrigerator shopping
 

Side by sides are too narrow, imo. I couldn't fit much in very efficiently when we had one.

We got a freezer on the top model 7 years ago that lasted for 5 years. We got a new freezer on the bottom 2 years ago. Like the new one much better. It's smaller, but the freezer is a drawer; it seems to hold more and items are easier to locate and access. We don't have the french doors. We've actually had two bottom-freezer models. The first (16 years ago) had a regular door. The drawer is nicer.

Don't be surprised if color makes a significant difference in price. My parents bought a new fridge 3 years ago and the stainless steel was significantly (as in several hundreds) of dollars less than the white in the exact same model that my mom actually wanted.