We love ours. We;ve had it for 5 years. It's a Whirlpool counter depth and it's the only appliance out of everything we own that we are happy with. We're a family of 4 and it holds everything we need. If we buy frozen pizzas, they fit in the freezer just fine, which is something people always ask me, "where do you put your frozen pizzas?" People also ask where we put our large party platters, but can't say I've ever wanted, needed or used a large party platter so we don't miss this capability at all.

Our 4 year old gets her own drinks and snacks easily and has been able to do so since she was about 2.5. My parents also love their side by side.

That being said, we're moving in a new week and for the new place we're getting the Samsung 4 door. It's not my husband's choice, he wants another side by side. I think with the style of our new kitchen (very modern and clean) and the very visible location of the fridge (can see it from the living room) that a French door looks better. But, I would not have got a typical 3 door French door. I am only getting one because Samsung had the 4 door model with the fridge drawer that the younger ones can easily reach.

I am a bit worried about it though as I do not think I am going to like the freezer on the floor much at all. And I will have *less* freezer space in this larger regular depth Samsung than I do in my counter depth Whirlpool. Lucky we don't eat meat so don't need a large freezer. And if my husband doesn't like it as much as the side by side, I am sure I'll hear about it! LOL

Have a 48" built in and panelled Jenn-air.
Had for 5 years now, luv it!

We are getting older now (Scaring the heck outta 70 now), (LO).

We prefer to do as little stooping and bending as possible, and we often access both the fridge and the freezer, so the stuff we use the most, ice cubes, ice cream, frozen veggies, as well as the most used items in the fridge, we keep those stored at a convenient level for us, so the only time we stoop or bend over is to retrieve rarely used stuff.

As I mentioned we access the freezer a lot, so having it on the bottom would be a Pit"B" (back), for us.

HTH's

Gary

I have a 48 " Kitchenaid Superba -- SbS -- it is old -- at least ten years, probably a good bit more. Still working fine. It is a built-in. We just gave it a new set of SS skins but decided to keep it even though it has a lot of years on it. Got the 48 inch when we had a growing son but even though it is just the two of us now we keep it pretty full -- fresh produce takes up a lot of space and it's nice to have space for plenty of white wine and tonic water . . . .the freezer is stuffed full of frozen raspberries (we grow them). Have always been mystified by kitchens with huge ranges and small refrigerators -- for us the opposite seems to work best.

I'd never buy another one - for all the usual reasons. Luckily it's at our vacation home so I don't deal with it every day.

If the primary reason you're thinking of a S x S is your children you could always keep some milk in a smaller, shorter container that is easier for a child to pour. When my kids were younger they could easily access the gallon of milk but they had trouble pouring it into a glass that was on the counter - that was too high so they had to tote the milk over to the table.

We've had a kitchen aid 48" built in Side x Side for about two years now. Our last house had s x s. I grew up with side by sides and I just dont get the appeal of the french door. (and i'm not really looking for someone to explain their appeal to me).

The French Door was a real turn off for me because the way the freezer compartments require you to dump everything below. So if you don't rely much on a the freezer, side by side is best because you can really see most everything at a glance. French Door has the advantage of wider storage space, so it's it's either your back or your eyes. I really like the side by side better.

French door fridges are a poor design. Almost every time you put something in or out you have to open BOTH doors. My best friend got one of the early ones, she just had to have the latest thing. It's a few years later and she's admitted to me that she hates it. The freezer is too small, it's too hard to access items in the freezer. Half the time she forgets to close both doors, so the energy wasted is considerable.

As you shop, check the numbers for the fridge and freezer sections of any model you're considering. IMO, a single door bottom freezer fridge is a better bet, but I don't know if they're even made anymore.

I've had SxS fridges for years and wouldn't have anything else. You mentioned a Samsung 29 cu ft model, that sounds like a good bet.

We have a KitchenAid SxS (counter depth) and love it. We put a lot of food into the freezer and can always find what I'm looking for. Haven't found anything that won't fit into the fridge portion, so if I were to buy again, I'd go with another SxS.

We thought we were going to have to replace our sxs a year ago last Feb. $400 part instead. I looked into getting a bottom freezer and asked people here how they liked theirs. At least 90% of those that loved their bottom freezer had a spare freezer or fridge/freezer and said if they didn't have the extra, the bottom fridge wouldn't work out as well. I don't have a 2nd fridge and/or freezer and I really don't have a problem with the layout of a sxs so I'm sure that's what we'll continue to buy.
Monica

With a SXS you always know which door to open; French doors, even if your're sure you put the mayo on the right...surpise....it gravitated to the left. So too often you need two arms to find what you're looking for or two door swings.

We've had three GE SxS's over the last 20 years. Currently have one at our vacation rental condo on Maui and have a 42" GE Monogram at home. Each of these are 10 years old. All of ours have had in-the-door water/ice/crushed ice. No problems, although the Monogram made a lot of *noise* at first. (Quiet now.)

We are just two now, and I'd prefer a different division of space -- less fridge and more freezer. I've never had or wanted an 'extra' freezer, or a 'pantry' for that matter. (I'm five minutes from grocery stores.) I know some people have solved this by having one single door freezer and one single door fridge. No confusing where the mayo is that way, right momtomom?

thanks for the opinions. I went and checked out fridges at Lowes and really liked a Kitchenaid sxs and their new 4 door french door model that has a refrigerator drawer for fresh food (we always have a lot of produce, so that would be a great feature). I still really like the s x s, but I think my dh is leaning more towards the newer style... I thought Samsung would be what we would get, but the drawers do not open all the way! That drives me crazy. The Kitchenaid drawers glide out fully... The salesperson at Lowes said they were going to be having good 4th of July sales, so we are going to wait to see how much they are then...

Earlier this year I had to get a new fridge and did a pretty exhaustive search. We had had two side-by-sides and I seriously looked into a French Door model, based on all the raves in this forum. I even visited fiends who had recently gotten a frenchdoor fridge. In the end, I opted for another side-by-side and I am so, so, very, very glad that I did. I adore the refrigerator I got, even more than I hoped I would. I bought the Electrolux EW26SS70IS 25.9 cubic ft side-by-side.

A french-door format would not have worked for my family: too wide (need to open both doors most times), too little usable space, too unorganized a mosh-pit freezer dump space.

A lot of this is lifestyle: a french door model with a big 'mosh pit' freezer (even one with a couple of drawers at the top) would have been an absolute nightmare for my family. I have two teenagers and we are heavy freezer users, typically going into the freezer 5 or 6 times a day. To have to bend over and paw through the mosh pit every time would have led to deep dissatisfaction. We LOVE the ability of the side-by-side to nicely file things away in compartments and adore the ability to have the things we reach for frequently at easy-access height. So usage plays a huge role.

We also do not have many parties where we are storing pre-made trays. And the model I did buy, an Electrolux, is deep enough to store most trays anyway. I did not get a counter depth model: My kitchen is engineered so that a deep model appears to be counter-depth. This really works for us. The space you have to put it in is also a very big consideration. We like the depth: others would rather the shallow counter depth format.

The final complaint about side-by-sides, that the veggies are in the bottom compartment, is true of the one I bought. But that is not a big issue for us. We do not store very many veggies (I mostly get them fresh and don't refrigerate too much). I don't mind the little bit of (well organized) bending that that drawer requires.

The side-by-side was the right decision for us based on how we live, our needs, our capabilities and our uses for it. In the end, it was a lifestyle decision and it works for us. So we love it. But clearly it's not the right answer for everyone. So you need to think about how you will use it, what needs you have and the space you will put it in. Almost everytime I open mine I'm glad it's a side-by-side: but that's me.

I've never had a problem with them. I've had a full depth 36", a CD 36", and currently have failed to replace a 33 full depth model. They are an asymmetrical appliance, but that's the only problem I've ever had with them.

I am more the type to have my platter stuff in baggies and arrange on a platter directly before presenting and once I had a giant birthday cake I would have liked to put in on a tray but it doesn't impact my life much.

Don't do it for the kids though. They'll be able to reach by the time you want them pouring their own milk. (As a short person, I will admit I ruled out the built in FD BSH/Miele/Thermador and the FD Liebherr due to the height of the limited space--those things are TALL and I didn't want to give the spouse an entire shelf to hide things from me--but freestanding FD fridges were fine.)

I find the S x S frig most efficient and intend to replace my current one with another sxs. We use ice a lot, and many of the FD refrigs do not have it through the door. Those that do have it coming through the frig door, which takes up a lot of frig space and seems likely to melt.

The SxS keeps the frig and freezer better organized. If you already have a regular frig in the basement, just move a little beer out and you can fit large trays in there if needed. We also have a standard frig in the basement which I use when we are feeding the masses, but rarely needed it to fit something that was too big for the SxS.

Last summer vacation we rented a condo that had a Subzero with frig on top and freezer on bottom (not a FD). The bottom freezer was ridiculously small, even for my family for one week, and we had a terrible time finding things in it. Also it had the automatic ice maker in the freezer and we were constantly opening it to get ice--doesn't seem energy efficient when you do that. Often someone wouldn't shut the freezer well, and there went the ice cream! That convinced me that the organization of the SxS with through the freezer door ice is better for my family.

I love my sxs fridge. I got a relatively inexpensive Kenmore model about 5 years ago. It has the icemaker placement in the door, which gives me some extra room in the freezer.

But sxs isn't for everyone. The main reason I love mine is because I love the ice&water thru the door. When I bought it, the french doors were not avail with ice thru door. I've lost a few pounds because of the convenience of the water and ice.

The downside is that my leftovers migrate to the back where they eventually get thrown out on fridge cleaning day.

I also have a second garage fridge so I can put my Costco scores away. They don't fit in the sxs, but since I have that second fridge it's not an issue for me.

I also just like the way it looks.

Samsung 28 cu ft is a popular fridge but just because it is bigger may not be more useful to you because of the food migration issue. Do you regularly check for leftovers in the back of the fridge? If you do, then that may be a good fridge for you. If you don't, then you will have food wastage.

French door fridges are lovely, but you have to look out if you have an island or a galley kitchen. When you open the freezer is your butt going to hit something? The freezers are like chest freezers and can jumble things up. I like how the Samsung pulls out the top drawer to help you get to things, but I think I wouldn't like to have to dig.

The things people use the most are at eye level, but most folks end up having to open both doors because the milk tends to migrate from one space to another and you have to search for things as they get shuffled around.

Don't feel shy to bring in your favorite tupperware, milk jug, empty ice cream container to teh store with you. Try them on different shelves, open and close the doors and see how it all feels to you. It may make you feel silly but it's the best way to understand what your unconscious habits are in a fridge and how it will work for you.

Good luck.

Lily (who works at sears)

I vote for the Kitchen Aid french door with the extra fridge drawer. We are buying the same one =) the drawers are deep and glide out so easily and the middle drawer fridge is perfect for kids snacks, etc... good luck!!

We replaced a previous s x s in our last house with a good sized LG full depth s x s and loved it. When we moved into our current house, we inherited a small s x s and hated it. It was so tight and did not hold much.
We went with a separate fridge and freezer in our new kitchen and they function as a very large s x s. We love the size and versatility.
I think it is all about the particular one you get.