Yes, two compressors is better than one. That way the fridge is kept fridgy and the freezer is kept freezy, instead of trying to use one system to keep both sort of what they're supposed to be.

BUT, according to the Miele website, the fridge/freezers have "dual compressor system".

They're both good. SubZero is U.S. made. Miele is made partly in Turkey and part in Germany. The interiors are different. SZ has the air filter. Miele has the easy panel mounting kit.

Choose the one you like best. They're both good.

Thanks Plllog!

I appreciate you checking that for me. I mistakenly relied on what I was told at the showroom yesterday.

Do you happen to know if the new air filter feature on the SZ is the best thing since sliced bread, or maybe just slightly better than a regular great fridge.

FYI, incase you haven't seen them in person, I thought the bottom freezer on the Miele was significantly better. It was higher off the ground so not as much bending and the pullouts in the freezer were much smoother. The veggie bins in the SZ were awesome. But Miele was almost as good. I will go with the Miele unless I hear that the air filter on the SZ is worth giving up full integration for.

I always follow your posts... very good and informative

Are you in the US or Canada? After, experiencing Miele's HORRENDOUS customer service here in the US on my oven, I wouldn't touch that refrigerator with a 25' long pole. Not saying it isn't a great refrigerator, but how are they going to treat you if or when there is problem?

The filter works, but my opinion is that it's not enough to sway the day. You will have to replace it once /twice a year @ $60 a throw. In my world it's definitely not going to tip the scale against a fully integrated install.

Re replacing filters, Miele has one for the water (ice).

I ended up with Miele (which I may even get to use soon!) because of the sizes, full integration, hinges, and interior design, after thinking that of course I'd have SZ. That's why I checked the website--I thought I'd remembered that they also had the dual compressor on the fridge/freezer. I have separate columns.

Re the air filter, it's a nice toy, and people report 3 week old broccoli as "fresh" as new. Frankly, veg keep well in my ancient Kenmore, though not for three weeks. But even if the air filter removes the ethylene so the veg don't go limp and rotty, I don't think that keeps the vitamins in or anything like that. Fresh produce is freshest when its fresh. Period.

If you like the layout of the Miele better, get the Miele.

Baver, thank you for the input. I'll check into their service reputation in my area.

Antss, that is great feedback, thank you!!! I really really wanted integrated! Good to know that it wasn't going to change my life.

Plllog, I live really far from the store, so longer lasting veggies was so tempting. But, I'm a bit of a health nut so you closed the deal with your point about the vitamins. Makes perfect sense. I am reassured to hear that was your choice as well. Still grinning over your 'fridgey freezy' comment because I heard it in Sarah Palin's voice (this week she commented about Obama's 'hopey changey')

i always look for lower budget equivalents. A smaller manufacturer might have a fantastic equivalent but you wouldn't know it since they haven't allocated funds to getting buzz and attention. That would double the retail cost. Of course one might wonder how well they can service later too... so if you have the money, get a Miele or a SubZer.

Most of the foreign manufacturers have fridges that will interest you if you are looking for alternatives as I have been.

I now own two small fridges: a 24" LG fridge (that is not on their web site), and an Ariston undercounter drawers fridge (fridge-only, no freezer, so the cooling circuit's only job is to keep things fridgey). Both quiet and cool.

Along the way, I found 2-compressor fridges from Blomberg (a German & Turkish manufacturer), Vestfrost (Danish) and Liebherr, as well as single-compressor systems with complete separation between the fridgy and freezy air and cooling circuits in several Korean Japanese and European manufacturers. This complete separation idea is good, for all purposes, except one: when you want it to be as powerful as a restaurant fridge that takes a lot of "demands" or abuse : hundreds of door openings, a huge amount of warm / hot stuff shoved in at closing time and the fridge and freezer better have a power boost then and there or else you run health risks because the ambient temperature might really rise for few hours (uh-oh!).

The small two-compressor Vestfrost was powerful and not high cost. It's available under other names too. Summit CP171, ConServ, etc. Since Home Depot could order it for you, other retailers avoided it. Then it didn't sell and got dropped. Summit still has it.

Blomberg LG and Samsung may be good to check out. You seem to be interested in one large fridge, not two small ones. At applianceadvisor.com wthin a few clicks you can find out which manufacturer makes the other company's fridge, and you'll eventually figure out that there are only a very small number of box shapes and coolant systems that one can add to the box. On the Miele web site I found great displays of the guts of all their fridges -- which are the same as several competitors' fridges, since Miele is a rebrander when it comes to fridges. Having said this, I find Miele adds great value because they work smart and figure out how to improve the little things that are theirs alone, like the door bins, closed drawers, etc.

hth

Davidro1,

That was incredibly helpful and I learned something!!!! Thanks for posting such a long reply.

I had heard of Liebherr and was curious, but because there is only one on display at an obscure store in Austin, I was a little afraid to pursue that. If I lived in a huge city, I don't think I'd be afraid of lessor known products because I'd figure there would always be someone to service them. We are fairly limited here. I'll have to ponder this a bit more.

I will definitely go to that website. That is a huge tip. I need to pick out more appliances so it will be very useful.

I am planning on refrigerator drawers as well, and I wondered if there were less expensive alternatives out there. I'll google Ariston and see what I find.

I don't have space for wall ovens so thought I was definitely getting the Wolf 48 inch. I thought that mini oven would be perfect for my small meals and would take the place of my convection toaster oven. Then yesterday I realized that the mini oven isn't convection, so I wondered if it's even as good as my toaster for my purposes. I only go off topic incase you happen to have some great range suggestions as you did for the fridge. Or maybe that is a great range and I don't need to worry about it. My favorite feature is having a simmer on every burner.

There you go with the freezy and fridgey too.. so sorry Dave, I also heard you in Sarah Palin's voice :)

I may ask some follow up questions, so stay tuned!