remodel advice - refrigerator - counter/builtin

13 years ago

We are starting the scary kitchen remodel process - and are appliance shopping. Need fridge advice. We currently have a 32" 22.x cubic foot with bottom freezer. My husband really wants a built-in or cabinet depth replacement. I was hoping to find comparable space in a 36" cabinet depth, but so far haven't. We want bottom freezer; french doors seem to work best given placement. Wlll we need to go to the 42" built-in to get comparable space? Advice on good models - either 36 or 42? Thanks in advance,

Kim

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Comments (6)

User
13 years ago
stop focusing on the brochure numbers,

Look at the "usability" or shelf/rack/drawer configuration rather than the #'s a manuf. publishes. Do you know if that 22cu.ft. measure you now have is for the entire volume of the box, or the shelf and drawer space, did it subtract for the ice maker or drawer runners or water filter or ....

If your 36" fridge has too little space that it is forcing you to make another trip to the grocery store, I suggest you re-examine your habits rather than focus on a minute fraction of cubic foot of space in one fridge vs. another. There is no standard of measurement, yes a c.f. is a c.f., but how a manuf. arrives at the final number is not standard.
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knitsafghans
Original Author
13 years ago
Actually, I care less about cu per se than the accessible space and storage for larger items. We do not have a separate freezer or other fridge. Freezer is typically full, with meat, veggies, ice, ice cream and frozen pizzas for teens. Fridge has LOTS and LOTS of Salads and Fruit and veggies. Beverages and condiments in the doors except for Britta water pitcher in main compartment. Cheeses and lunchmeats, sauces and leftovers as well as next two days' entrees in main as well. Shop once or twice a week at Supermarket and once every two at Costco. We also like to entertain - e.g. this weekend we'll have 20 people Saturday and 15 more Sunday.
The 36' I've seen seem to have little compartments - more like the sorts of spaces the folks who like side by sides would prefer. And the folks who use them tell me - well, you have to plan where everything goes - and I really don't want to blueprint out my use of fridge - seems silly.

Again, I don't care about numbers on paper at all. Care about usable space - e.g. where do I fit the multiple cakes for next Saturday ...
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Okay, I'll give it a shot, based on my limited knowledge on the subject. Major differences...first off built in fridges are often smaller in size to their free standing counterparts because of the cabinet design. That is why you'll see a lot of 42inch+ BI fridges. My SZ is quite a bit smaller when compared to my old freestanding Kenmore. Also, the fancier BI fridges come with multiple compression units/vacuum sealing functions, heavier insulation, and usually (which is a pretty important factor) a very solid warranty for years. Also, the price differences. There is a much much much larger market for free standing less expensive fridges. It would be safe to assume that for every built in fridge that is sold, the major players (Kenmore, Whirlpool, GE, Samsung) probably sell 10 or 20 units. Supply and demand is a huge factor. The major brand fridges also make their products overseas to keep the costs down. A SZ, Viking, or Northland fridge would be made in the USA and that adds a lot to their price. Also, the major built in manufacturers sell primarily to high end installations where people are throwing around $100,000 or more for a remodel. These companies have a brand image of being good quality and, more importantly, expensive, the SZ pro48 is like 16 grand. You take someone who knows high end kitchens and show them one with a sub-zero, viking range, and what not, and they will automatically assume the remodel was expensive. Compare that to walking into a house with a Kenmore freestanding, a GE range, and a Samsung microwave. That looks more "pedestrian" (I am not using that word as a put down by the way). I like to put it this way to people. Think about it like cars. Sure you can buy a Toyota Camry for 25,000, it'll run well, fit all the stuff you need, and get you from A to B for years to come. That is the best selling car on the road so you'll see a ton of them. Now imagine buying a car that does same thing, but paying $150,000 or more for it (think a Bentley or something). It will do the same thing as the Camry, but it'll be more powerful, handcrafted, and look incredible while doing it for years to come, and you'll rarely see one on the road. People will know it does pretty much functionally the same as any other car, but it has an image, and people will know it's expensive. All fridges do one thing, they keep your stuff cold. Some preserve food fresher for longer if they have vacuum sealing like SZ, and I can tell you from experience it DOES keep veggies/fruit fresher a lot longer than my basement fridge. Sometimes extending the shelf life of the food for a week or two more, sometimes even longer. Anyway I hope that this helps answer your question.
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Why Hamma? Because most Americans say they need humongous refrigerators/freezers. I hear people say they need to store the meat they killed on a hunt. They have very large parties every weekend. They cater large parties. They have many children who need many snacks all day long. Maybe they live many miles away from the nearest grocery store or supermarket. One of the posters above mentioned pizza boxes and soda/beer can boxes. (Not sure why you'd need to put a whole pizza or beverage box in the fridge.) Personally I have none of those issues. I do not like nor need a large hulking refrigerator. Counter depth is a cost-effective way to avoid the behemoth fridge look in the kitchen. Yes, they do protrude a few inches, but not as much as a conventional depth one. I have the same KA counter depth fridge (cost $2,000) as Anglophilia in my vacation rental home, and after 7 years it's still working fine, and looks great. In my primary residence we went for a 42" side by side built in Subzero, which protrudes only about 2", but is much more expensive ($9,000 retail). Fully integrated Subzeros are totally flush with the cabinets, and require expert installers.
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artemis78
13 years ago
You might check KitchenAid---their 72" tall french door bottom freezer model is 36" and counter-depth, and 21.8 cubic feet so that's pretty close. It's pricier than their shorter models (though still far cheaper than built-ins), but we thought it was also much better made inside, too (uses "satin glides" which seemed like a huge improvement over whatever glides their 69" model uses).
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knitsafghans
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you. Will check that out. Do you have that one? Happy with it? How are doors (one concern with a French door is the seal)?
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weedmeister
13 years ago
I'm assuming you don't mean 36" depth, but width. GE has a SxS in the 25cuft size and counter-depth-ish. I haven't checked if they have a model that is FD but I would not be surprised.
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User
13 years ago
"Care about usable space - e.g. where do I fit the multiple cakes for next Saturday ..."

then you're just going to have to go kick the tires and see which units have a setup that suits your lifestyle. You can also browse websites as some manuf. have pictures of their interiors. What works me prob. won't work for you and someone else's ideal unit isn't for either one of us.

Re: the party stuff and multiple cakes, if this is a big part of your lifestyle you should prob. consider another fridge. Not many, if any can accommodate a 1/2 months worth of food + a trip to the warehouse club and it's gigantic containers + a few cakes or serving platters. I just don't think that's realistic, especially if you don't want to spend time thinking about arranging things.

A second unit in a pantry/garage/basement would be a better solution to the club run and the party stuff as well as taking the overflow from your everyday fridge.
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remodel advice - refrigerator - counter/builtin

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remodel advice - refrigerator - counter/builtin

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