Hi Everyone,

KitchenAid is about to replace my French Door water/ice in door refrigerator which I've only had for just over a year. It's one of the Architect Series, counter depth models.

The ice maker has been a constant source of aggravation since it arrived. I've had technicians to my home more times than I can remember at this point and have had every part of the ice maker replaced including water lines and the problem still continues.

Ice won't come down the chute. It makes too little or too much ice. Ice sticks together to make blocks of ice instead of individual pieces. When I open the ice compartment to get ice (since it won't come down the chute); the ice flies out all over my kitchen floor forcing me to bend down to pick up many pieces of them as they start melting and creating puddles (I have bad knees so this is really problematic).

Anyway. They have suggested, and finally admitted to me, that the design of the in-door ice maker on French Door models OF ALL BRANDS are just not good and all are prone to issues. Duh. I never had these problems on side-by-side refrigerators.

So, I already knew this, and would bring this up each time I called to complain about it. I asked the dealer (who is very well respected in my area and sells very high end appliances) why they even bother to suggest people purchase these - particularly to someone who wasn't looking one way or the other for one? The least they could have done was point out the possibility of the problems they have and let me make an informed decision. He had no answer for me.

In the meantime, they are in final talks with KitchenAid to get me a new fridge. The manager strongly suggested that I do not get another in-door water/ice maker to which I agree.

However, it suddenly occurred to me that if the ice maker is in the freezer, would I be losing freezer space?

This, is a big concern of mine. I find that the food storage area is adequate for us but, the freezer just barely so.

If I lose any room it could really be an issue for me. I don't really have anywhere to put an "overflow" freezer as my home is small with an unfinished/unheated basement and my garage is detached. I don't think either is an ideal environment for it (well I know the garage certainly is not!). Let alone the cost of it and probably more electrical work to run the darn thing.

Am I worrying for nothing? Is the space lost barely noticeable if at all?

Would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks!