I like the French doors very much. Adjustable shelves and big bins on the doors provide a lot of options for storage, and I like having the produce drawers at eye level.

The downside is the freezer drawer...it weighs a ton when it's full, the icemaker tray takes up a lot of space, and you have to paw through everything to find what you want. It's a completely non-ergonomic design. I'm actually buying a separate freezer so I can use this bottom freezer less. I 'think' maybe it doesn't keep food as cold at equivalent settings. Every time you open the drawer, you're pulling all the food out into the room.

My fridge has an Amana logo on the outside, a Maytag sticker on the inside, and is identical to KA's I've seen. No complaints other than the freezer drawer concept.

I happen to really, really love our Amana with a bottom freezer drawer. I never did like searching for things in the freezer-on-top fridge because I am relatively short, and our side-by-side just did not have the room for anything. I think the freezer drawer holds alot and it is easy to see what is in there because of the sliding baskets. I do not mind reaching down for ice and the icemaker has been more reliable than the icemaker in our side-by-side with ice in the door. If you have kids opening the freezer often, it might not be the greatest option although I do not notice it being less cold than other refridgerator freezers. The freezer drawer is relatively heavy so if you have strength issues, it may not be a great idea but I do not find it difficult to open and I am a 58 year old out of shape woman. Only drawback that I can think of is the left side door to the fridge needs a little push to close sometimes. It is probably an adjustment problem. The refridgerator compartment is very convenient and I love having all the things I look for most at waist to chest level (produce, deli tray, milk)

I love my French Door Refrigerator since I am see everything and reach everything being that I am very petite. My freezer holds a lot and to me never gets heavy. I have the LG French Door Refrigerator in the almost 33" wide size. I turned the ice maker off to give myself more room in the freezer. I wish I went with the 36" wide size without the water on the door but other than that wish and the right door not always closing. I love how cold it keeps my food, how everything is easy to find and see. I also love how the doors are short so I don't have to move the kitchen chair out of the way when opening or closing the doors on the refrigerator.

Unless you have a limited amount of space in front of the refrigerator, why would you want a French door model? You'll need both hands to fully open the refrigerator compartment, instead of just one hand. You'll also have less space in the door shelves. Instead of a single, wide door shelf, you'll have two smaller shelves. You'll lose the storage space in the middle where the two doors meet.

Personally. I love the freezer on the bottom arrangement. I get into the freezer far less often than the refrigerator. It's great having the crisper drawers at waist level, rather than down at the bottom, and everything else at eye-level.

They don't make 36" wide bottom freezer with a single fridge door.

I am very happy with my Samsung french door fridge. I only open both doors when I use the bottom tray. The freezer on the bottom is great--opens very easily.

dyno - actually they do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Single Door 36

I have the same fridge as lynn2006 - LG 33". Layout and temperature is good. I also like the lower freezer. Find it easier to get things in and out of. Only thing I don't like is ours is very noisy. Seems to be running almost constantly. Do notice this lyn2006?

dorry2
I am getting 36 inch bottom freezer, single door. I know myself enough to know that I have to open both doors of the FD since I would never know where is what. There are many people in the house, and not everything gets put back where they are supposed to go. I suppose if only one person goes in and out, it may work. If I have to open both doors, I don't see the point, except of course, how it looks. Only you can decide if the look is worth it.

I probably have the same fridge as lynn2006 and jabelone except with the single door above in our utility room. We were originally looking at the single door versions because they were less expensive, but we decided we liked the single door better because the French door shelves block so much of the opening unless you can open them past 90 degrees (we have a wall to one side, so that was a problem). There was also that issue of not knowing what side something would have been put away on and figuring that we would wind up opening both doors in a narrow space -- meaning it was really tight on both sides. The single door has worked out well and I really like the bottom freezer. I don't find that I am bending to go into it that often since you typically open the freezer a lot less often. Everything seems to stay very cold in the freezer and so far has been very easy to find things. I am also thrilled to have an icemaker in the utility room before my youngest joins marching band. Two gallon jugs of ice per day would have had us buying ice. It's a little bit of luxury we would have done without before the Energy Star 35% off sale at Great Indoors. :-)

In a word, no. I wish we had bought a single door bottom freezer unit. Here are the downsides of a FD over a bottom freezer single door model as I see them.

1. Much more expensive.

2. Lousy ice makers. Ice makers located in the freezer compartment work much better.

3. More to go wrong. The extra parts are a breakdown waiting to happen.

4. Lost storage space to the ice maker in the refrigerator compartment and to the double doors.

5. Two hands needed to open and close the fridge much of the time.

6. Door clearance past 90 degrees required on both sides of the fridge in order to fully remove drawers, instead of on just one side.

7. Statistically less reliable, according to CR.

8. Very uneven temperatures in the refrigerator compartment, due to the presence of the ice maker. (Or maybe it's just because it's an Electrolux).

Just had my Samsung FD fridge installed so can't speak to user experience yet. However, unlike creek_side's experience above, not all FD come w/ ice maker in the refrigerator compartment.

Our model does not come w/ ice/water dispenser in the door. The ice maker (which we didn't have connected) is in the freezer compartment.

Just need to ask yourself if you want ice/water dispenser in the door. We don't use much ice and did not want potential water hazards should there be an issue w/ the water line to the ice maker, so choose not to have that installed.

Happy owner here of a 36 inch Thermador "Freedom Hinge" French door refrigerator. This same refrigerator also comes in a traditional two door style, if you prefer that.

Love having the freezer on bottom. My freezer has two drawers, and I have not found it difficult to organize or find things.

Like you, we did not want an ice/water dispense on the door; this model only has an ice maker in the freezer.

Occasionally I do open only one side of the refrigerator. We customarily keep certain foods in rougly the same locations, so it's possible to do this -- but that might not happen in larger families. And yes, you have to open both doors to open a drawer, but what's the big deal?

I will say the first refrigerator that was delivered did not cool properly, but our contractor leaned on the supplier and they agreed to take it back and deliver a new one. (I expected no less given the price of this unit.) We have had no problems with the new one, which has been in for about six months now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermador Freedom colums web site

We are weighing the Thermador single door against the Bosch french door. Other than the Freedom Shelf in the Thermador, I can't find much difference.

We're very happy with our Electrolux CD FD fridge (the EW23BC71IS) and prefer being able to open only one side to, say, grab the milk. I also prefer the look of the FD - it's definitely a personal aesthetic but a 36" wide unbroken slab of SS is just too much for me. We also like that open doors don't block others' passage.

I think you can make a case for 'em or agin' 'em if you want but we like ours...