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  #1  
Old 03-07-2006, 09:44 PM
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downside to French door refrigerator?

Is there a downside to French door refrigerators? We've outgrown our side-by-side refrigerator. Having narrow shelves is a limitation. There's a counter in front of the refrigerator cove making it awkward to have a full width door model. A French door model with freezer below has interesting features. Anything to look out for?

Thanks,
Sixto

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  #2  
Old 03-07-2006, 09:51 PM
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Why is a refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom called a French door?

Most of the Japanese refrigerators are built that way - - and it makes sense, since most of the items we use should be at eye level.

The refrigerator part is the top door, and the freezer is on the bottom.
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  #3  
Old 03-07-2006, 10:04 PM
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I think French door means there's two doors for the refrigerator compartment. The freezer door slides out so it's more like a freezer drawer.

Sixto
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  #4  
Old 03-07-2006, 10:20 PM
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We have a single door countertop depth, with the freezer on the bottom.

First I strongly recommend the freezer on the bottom.

I wish we had gotten the french doors, I'll blame the wife. I think the smaller doors would make it much easier to manager. Particularly with the countertop depth, the door is HUGE.

Consider a 4 seater car with 2 doors, that open the same area as the 4 normal doors.

It might not be as bad with a standard frig, but even so it's a big door. From the version identical to ours with the french doors, I don't see any real loss of space in the door.
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  #5  
Old 03-07-2006, 10:44 PM
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I'm definitely tempted to buy one with the freezer on the bottom.

The French doors for the fridge are a teriffic idea.

The only downside to the deal is the price. Those babies are pricey.
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  #6  
Old 03-07-2006, 10:48 PM
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I have the LG that you can buy at Best Buy. Nice unit. We were about to get the frig with the LCD in the door, but we liked the looks of this one more. It has a few of the bells and whistles like the filtered water in the door, ice maker, and what appears to be stainless (called titanium there. We got a good deal too. Paid just under 2g's for it. It is an exceptional product, and has a 5 year extended warranty just in case. We shopped around as our old one was on its last leags, and that one was pretty much the best value we could find. Hope that this helps.

I will get some pics of the kitchen up a lil later. We are getting some granite counters installed this summer, so all of the stainless steel stuff will stand out, and look clean.

Here it is...
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  #7  
Old 03-07-2006, 10:50 PM
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We've had a Frigidaire bottom freezer unit for about eight years and love it. Can't imagine going back to bending over to access stuff we need 80% of the time.
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  #8  
Old 03-07-2006, 11:01 PM
1990 500SL
 
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Yea, the bottom freezers are pricey. Someone Splain to me why.

Add to that the countertop depth, woooow extra pricey.

Both features worth it.

I don't really understand why they never became popular years ago. My Aunt had one in the Sixties. She loved it then.
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  #9  
Old 03-08-2006, 07:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sixto
Is there a downside to French door refrigerators?
It's been 20 years since I pulled service on a french door model (the only ones available were Whirlpool/Kenmore). Back then, in large households with a lot of kids in and out of the fridge, the seal between the upper two doors was prone to wear out prematurely. And, in humid environments, the doors would sweat where they met in the center. Most refigerators have mullion heaters to control exterior moisture but there weren't any heaters in the doors of those Whirlpools and sometimes excessive moisture would collect.

I agree, bottom-mount (freezer on the bottom) refrigerators make a lot more sense in terms of accessibility.
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  #10  
Old 03-08-2006, 08:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by H2O2
We've had a Frigidaire bottom freezer unit for about eight years and love it. Can't imagine going back to bending over to access stuff we need 80% of the time.
I can't imagine you bending over for anything, the thought troubles my tummy.
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  #11  
Old 03-08-2006, 08:46 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kknudson
Yea, the bottom freezers are pricey. Someone Splain to me why.

Add to that the countertop depth, woooow extra pricey.

Both features worth it.

I don't really understand why they never became popular years ago. My Aunt had one in the Sixties. She loved it then.
Yeah, I second the freezer on the bottom. We recently got one such a behemoth. A salesman explained to me that since the freezer is on the bottom, the cold air needs to be pumped upwards from the freezer into the fridge, whereas with a traditional freezer on top fridge, the cold air can flow from the freezer into the fridge with less effort.

Who knows though...could just be a lot of...hot air.
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  #12  
Old 03-08-2006, 09:26 AM
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We love ours, but I think the actual storage is compromised by the drawer. Answer for us is a small chest freezer out in the shop. I think the little chest freezer was only a couple of hundred dollars, but must have three or four times the capacity of the drawer.
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  #13  
Old 03-08-2006, 09:46 AM
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If they make them with ice in the door I guess it'd be ok. I don't remember seeing one with ice in the door when we bought our fridge (side by side) last year. Ice is key, ice ice baby.
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  #14  
Old 03-08-2006, 11:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeus
A salesman explained to me that since the freezer is on the bottom, the cold air needs to be pumped upwards from the freezer into the fridge, whereas with a traditional freezer on top fridge, the cold air can flow from the freezer into the fridge with less effort.

Who knows though...could just be a lot of...hot air.
Hot air or BS. Regardless of the position of the freezer, all frost-free refrigerators use a circulating fan(s) to distribute chilled air into the refrigerator section. Nothing particularly new or novel about that.
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  #15  
Old 03-08-2006, 01:30 PM
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I have neve seen a bottom freezer fridge with water or ice in the upper door.
If you find one let me know.

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