I don't think the seal would be that big a problem--it's more what you like. The history is they invented side by sides for small apartments (or tiny house kitchens) where there wasn't enough room for the door on a big fridge to swing open. The two narrower doors fit a lot better. The problem with side by side is that the shelves are very narrow and don't fit a lot of things very well. People like the eye level groceries, however. The french door fridge takes advantage of the bottom freezer that Sub Zero and a few others have always had (though in the '60's SZ had a swing door on the bottom freezer--it was the drawer that was the real innovation), and the narrower doors of a side by side, to give the best features of both.

Why should you buy one? If you have room for a full sized door there's no particular reason other than if you like the interior arrangement, brand quality, looks, etc.

I wondered the same thing. I never saw the benefit of a french door. I recently got a bottom freezer kitchenaid with the refrigerator door opening to the side and just love it.

First - no need to open both doors of a french door fridge. I know what is where and usually open only one side or the other for most things. It is only for large platters or when I can't recall where something is do I open both.

Second - wouldn't worry about the seal - should not be an issue except possibly in the LG with their design).

Third - its really a matter of personal preference and space. As plllog noted - two smaller doors are less intrusive opened into your space than one large door. but if thats not an issue, then its personal preference.

I personally like the look of the french door

I "hate" bottom freezers! Yep....have to dig through every time you want to get anything out. Every time you buy something you have to unload the old stuff, which is on the bottom, to load the new stuff on the bottom, so you use the old stuff first. On a side by side I just load new stuff on a different shelf.

I agree, door seals are not an issue.

I have an older (5 or 6 yrs ?) Amana frig with a hinged door freezer on the bottom. It's perfectly fine, and it was one of the most energy efficient kinds of refrigerators available. It's not nearly as nice looking as a taller, cabinet-depth model. It's a blocky box that's hard to blend in, in the kitchen. I think the french door frigs, especially the cabinet depth ones, are nicer looking. But I'm not going to get rid of a perfectly good, energy efficient frig for that reason. Also, it cost only about $800 when we bought it, and it keeps food cold! Can't beat that!

I didn't want an FD fridge but because our kitchen is narrow it was the perfect solution for us. Counter deep, bottom freezer, FD.

Your question is exactly the reason why we bought the single door - why bother to open both -- and you will unless you know exactly where you place things in the frig. Most people just toss things in there.

Plus, more handles to clean around and who needs that, right?

I don't particularly like the looks of the FD anyway (too busy looking for me). The single door is "cleaner" looking in terms of simplicity, IMO.

The only reason I can think to get a FD is if you don't have the "clearance" to open a full door, fully, like when you're stocking it from your grocery store trip, etc. Most people do though. Other than that, it's just likeability.

I've been pondering the same decision (FD vs. single door bottom freezer). One thing I've noticed is that none of the single door bottom freezers have a "water in the door" dispenser. This isn't a big deal for everybody, but my family does like getting cold water straight from the fridge. You can get some FD models with just the water dispenser in the door, without an ice dispenser (which seems great to me. The Ice Dispenser on our side-by-side is a constant mess.)

My Samsung bottom freezer is perfect. The freezer door opens to reveal the individual drawers and the icemaker. Everything functions as it should and is very convenient. And, it's pretty.

Compare the cubic feet available in the brands you consider. I think, but I'm not sure, that french door refrigerators are wider (36" wide vs. 32") and therefore have more storage space although whether it's efficiently usable space is a question you might ask of owners of the french door designs. As I'm still in the design phase of my new kitchen I don't have a concrete answer. Also, in reading specs consider the ratio of freezer to refrigerator space. Just at a quick glance, the extra space in the french door design seems to be allocated to the freezer compartments. To me it comes down to how wide the refrigerator is and whether it will fit into the design and will the extra cubic feet available actually enhance my kitchen or amount to wasted space.

Should have mentioned this in the original post: the specs I've looked at are for standard depth, not counter depth as my kitchen will have the refrigerator wall counter at 34" deep to accommodate a standard depth refrigerator and appliance garages at 18" deep on the rest of the length of that wall and 16" of clear counter in the front of the garages. If you can picture it, the refrigerator will look counter depth because of the extra depth counter.

I bought a KA FD refrigerator about two years ago. At times it's nice to just have to open one side, but for the most part I find it annoying and wish that I had bought a single door refrigerator. I agree that it's a personal preference unless you don't have the space for a full door. I actually liked my old SxS, but wanted wider shelves. I guess each person has to decide what works best for them. Heck, I'm still waiting for an induction range. :-)

I love the look of the FD refrigerators. I'm still undecided whether I'll purchase a FD or a SxS. I've never seen the interior of a 48" SxS, nor the interior of the KA 42" FD that I've been drooling over.

I've seen loads of pics of consumers who have bought full swing doors & FDs, very few SxSs unless they're 42" or 48". On the other hand, I'm a relative newbie hereabouts, so take this observation with a grain of salt. :)

Well, the Diva induction range is due out in March. Expensive, but due...

I bought the Kitchenaid FD because the refrigerator sits facing the end of my island and so clearance was an issue. I had a huge Amana single door bottom freezer unit before. I will say that I don't miss the huge mass of that door swinging on its hinges, nor the tight seal that was at times difficult to overcome. I do miss, however, the great door storage that it had. To me it seems that there is significantly less door storage in the FD. Opening the smaller door(s) is quite nice, though. The seal isn't a problem.

We wanted the largest fridge available in standard depth offering the most storage (cubic feet). And currently that would be a FD design. Single door fridges will be smaller, I think the max is 32" wide as a 36" door would not work well in most kitchen aisles. After using the FD for a few months now I can certainly see that it is much easier to open those smaller doors than having to handle a huge wide door. And I really appreciate having the extra space inside. I also love the bottom freezer. Our LG has two drawers in the freezer and I find them quite easy to organize and access food in theres. I actually picked the LG over other brands because the LG has this little rack in the freezer door that holds cans of frozen fruit juice concentrate which we use A LOT.

However, closing the FD properly is not as easy. The fridge is beeping at us several times a day reminding us to be closed correctly. That's an annoyance we learn to live with.