On the top, bottom, or side? - freezers that is

[DieselDennis]

I like a side by side. The most important function is the ice/water dispenser. I drink a lot of ice & water. I expect to be able to get ice and then get water without hitting any buttons.

SXS also has shelves on the freezer side all the way up. Seems best to me. I equate the bottom drawer freezer with a chest type deep freeze. Always digging for things on the bottom.

Wanted hard to like a cabinet depth model. Our fridge sticks out across from a peninsula in our kitchen where a main pathway is. A cabinet depth model would have saved 3-4" of pathway width. But the shelves in the door were just not big enough. IF I EVER build a house from scratch, I'll put a header over where the fridge is, leave the drywall off the studs, and move the outlet and water line somewhere else. Then push the fridge in another 3 1/2" and have a fridge that looks counter depth for a normal price without giving up any capacity.

[K. L. McReynolds]

Been through side by sides, single door(inside freezer), and double door/freezer combos.

Our favorite is the double door top, center drawer, and freezer on the bottom. No lost space from center divider, center drawer has separate controls, freezer has a pull out upper basket and divided bottom drawer. We have a 26 cu.ft. freezer for long term storage. That means two freezers in which to lose stuff.


The freezer basket/drawer combo means less stuff lost under other stuff.

The center drawer houses lunch meat, cheeses, potatoes(yes, potatoes last a really long time in that space--literally weeks), onions, bacon, etc.

Upper has a crisper drawer and the out of warranty broken and too expensive to repair ice maker(we bought a counter top ice cube maker) and enough room for lots of milk/juice/eggs and so on.

[fredhargis]

Like some above, we like the bottom freezer best. This is due to my wife being handicapped and can't stoop/bend easily. Since she gets into the fridge part way more often, the bottom freezer suits us best.

[meackerman]

we just bought one.  french door, bottom freezer with a middle drawer.  So far we like the configuration.   

but darn are they expensive anymore.

Around here only Lowes seemed to have any stock on hand for next day delivery.  Everyone else was a few days to a week or more for delivery.


the repair guy I use, says don't buy an LG or Samsung.  Talking to the sales people at a couple of places, they all said they get the most complaints about LG and Samsung fridges.  



my wife opened the middle drawer the other day, and there sat a screw.  can't find where it came from.  Looks just like the screws that hold the door hinges to the case, but they're all there.

[msweig]

I like freezer on bottom.

I have a counter depth and hate it, but a normal depth will not fit in our kitchen. But I really think it boils down to how much fridge space you need. We have five people at home and love to cook a variety of cuisines, which means a lot of stuff that needs to be in the fridge. We have thought of joining a CSA but have avoided as we don't have room for that many veggies/fruits in the fridge.
I have a deep freeze in the garage, so typically freezer storage isn't a problem. If it was a fridge then I would probably like the counter depth better.

[KC]

How so ?  

Depth... as for pizza boxes, and such.  Other than that, I like it.  It's our second.

[Snipe Hunter]

Freezer on bottom. Our gripe with the freezer on the side was we couldn't fit anything wide in the Fridge... Like a Turkey on a platter, Big Pizza etc. More usable space with the fridge on top.

You can stack frozen food just fine in a lower drawer freezer. Ours has 1 drawer about 8" deep for things youe are likely to use more... like Ice Cream etc.

[Bill Wilson]

We've always had a conventional top freezer style fridge.  I never cared for the bottom freezers.  Seems stuff you want is always buried on the bottom and you practically have to stand on your head to dig it out.  We used to have a chest freezer in the basement for bulk frozen goods and my wife disliked it for the same reason.  We replaced it with a full size upright freezer.  A little less overall room, but stuff is so much easier to access.  Due to the basement freezer, the freezer on the fridge doesn't have to hold a lot of stuff, mostly ice cube trays (yes the old fashioned ones you fill from the sink) and a few things that we use regularly or plan to use in the short term.  

Both of my daughters have side by sides and you couldn't give me one of those.

I'm a proponent of buying very basic models, when it comes to appliances.  Most of the high tech, whiz bang gadgetry on a lot of the more popular appliances are just window dressing that adds way too much cost and little practical usefulness, for our way of life.  Also seems they are the first thing to break and cost the most to fix.  No thanks.

[FireWood]

I absolutely hated our top freezer.  EVERY time you go to get something out of the fridge, your have to hunch over and while craning your neck.  Hated it. 

Did I mention I hated it?  



Current house came with a 42" commercial (style) side by side.  I love it.

overflow goes in the basement freezer.

[Cabinet Monkey]

Depth... as for pizza boxes, and such.  Other than that, I like it.  It's our second.

Must be the particular model you have


I have only built in fridges , which are even smaller yet , and have no trouble fitting pizzas/boxes from the usual suspects.

The notable exception is the pizza from Costco, which barely fits in an old skool full depth fridge in the basement.  At 18" it doesn't even fit in my built in oven without squishing it so i doubt it's fitting in the majority of fridges these days regardless of type.

At any rate -  frozen / leftover pizza are not very high on my list of storage needs from my fridge.  YMMV.