Before the remodel, I sold my perfect condition 4 year old Kenmore fridge on CL. At that time I purchased a 3 yr. old counter depth SS KitchenAid for $1000 from a young woman on CL who had received the appliance as part of her divorce settlement. There are bargains if you are diligent about scouring CL daily even beyond the new Liebherr. Most of the folks who buy Liebherr have really tiny kitchens and need taller, thinner fridges than standard CD. How many sq. ft.is your kitchen? You may not need to go the more expensive Liebherr route. I would not buy the 14 year old KitchenAid. Even if the mechanics are great, the plastics inside become brittle and deteriorate over time. Three years age my 32 year old Montgomery Ward fridge was left with the house I sold still running great. However, the door lining was pulling away, and the door would not close completely due to a loose door casket. Neither of those items could be replaced any longer. I should add that we were a small family and careful with our possessions so this occurred due to age, not abuse. Paneled fridges are one technique to make a small kitchen look larger. However, door panels are an expensive option. You are at the beginning of your remodel, and there is frequently project creep. My approach was to go with SS and use the money for all built in appliances in my small kitchen so that the counter flow is not interrupted. I put the money in an induction cooktop over a 27" wall oven. This is a long way of saying go with the Liebherr over the KA but before you do, make sure you need to spend that extra money on the Liebherr over a standard counter depth like a KitchenAid. My apologies for rambling about on this post and good luck with your remodel.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the Internet posting about using an undercounter fridge WITH FREEZER as our ONLY fridge, because we are 2 adults living in a Manhattan studio and I cook! It's a pretty ordinary 24" wide (non ADA) Summit with top freezer. Yes it's manual defrost, ices up stuff at the back occasionally and is pretty noisy (like you have a bit of tinnitus) but so is New York... I got my own (too small) studio now and I started looking for a "better" one that is also PANEL READY (integrated). But not drawers. They are incredibly sexy but a 50/50 fridge freezer split is no good for a primary fridge unless you live on ice cream. Here in 2016 there are few choices (links provided just so you can see the insides) 1. Uline (around $1699) http://www.karlsappliance.com/products/U-line/uln/1224rfint00a.html and Marvel (around $2099) http://www.karlsappliance.com/products/Marvel/mar/ml24rfp3rp.html - almost identical-looking models but NO DOOR STORAGE due to new energy efficient redesign. Both panel ready with auto defrost freezer. Marvel has a crisper drawer but seriously, is that worth the extra $400... 2. Marvel old school discontinued model 61RF ($1300) http://www.appliancesconnection.com/marvel-61rfbbor-i140513.html that looks pretty dated but HAS DOOR STORAGE new Uline and Marvel does not. A few still floating around in the stores. Not auto defrost of course 3. Subzero (around $2400) http://www.abt.com/mobile/product_images.php?product_id=41720 with some door storage (clearly designed more for beverages) where the main door is also the bottom freezer door. Apparently quiet and separate compressors for fridge and freezer but you pay for it. 4. Summit panel ready ($899) https://www.summitappliance.com/catalog/model/CT663BBIIF The most storage but more basic, more noisy. Freezer is not auto defrost. Factoid: old school manual defrost freezers are said to create less temperature swings in the rest of the fridge... We are hoping to move out of our studios one day and so there's some logic in buying the one with visually more storage for resale as well as daily usefulness. If I've missed any permutations here or you can tell me what you'd do (moving to a bigger place or installing a full height fridge, or more than one fridge, or drawers are all NOT options) let me know!

I have never noticed it heating up the counter or the cabinet next to it. It's an Electrolux. I think it must be quite well insulated. After I turn it off, the fan runs for quite a while until it decides it's cool enough to shut off. I do have an instantaneous surface thermometer that I use for other purposes, so maybe I'll collect some data next time I use it! But I can tell you it has not been perceptible so far. And I run my hands across my counters a lot (still haven't worn the "new" off!)

Anyone have them? Are they loud? Thinking of using in lieu of a beverage fridge. Also considering Monogram and SZ.