In our current house, we went with 2 SZ 600 series all-refrigerators. One is the main refrigerator, with a full overlay panel, positioned near the range, ovens, microwave & pantry, facing the island & prep sink. At the end of the refrigerator wall, around the corner, we have a coffee bar facing our family room. At this corner, we decided to position a second 600 all-R with a glass front & overlay panel for beverages, snacks, and party prep. This is a focal point during gatherings and helps keeps people out of the working end of the kitchen. Our previous kitchen had the 600 R & F positioned like a giant side by side, but in our current kitchen we separated the units by zone & function. Our 700 freezer is next to the wall oven stack.

Avesmor...you described exactly my thoughts/feelings/experiences! We're also a tall family...ranging from 5'10" to 6'6" and still growing. None of us have an issue w/bending down to access the freezer drawer. Our bottom freezer drawer (1-drawer model) has 4 compartments... Deep bottom drawer the entire width of the refrigerator, Middle shallow drawer the entire width of the refrigerator, Ice maker + ice cube bin on top, and Deep drawer on top (next to the ice maker). The bulkier items fit in the top or bottom bins/drawers and the shorter items (like meats, rolls, "keep cold" things for coolers) fit in the middle drawer. As to crisper drawers...no, you only need to open one door to open them (at least in my GE Profile refrigerator)...one one each side...smart design! The only time I need to open both doors is to access the meat/deli drawer...it's the entire width of the refrigerator...which is OK b/c I don't access it nearly as much as the crisper drawers or the rest of the refrigerator. You do eventually get to know where you store things in your refrigerator...we rarely open both doors b/c we all know the milk, OJ, & Jam are in the door on the left; butter, condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.), BBQ sauce, maple syrup, etc. are in the right door; fruits are in the left crisper drawer; veggies are in the right crisper drawer; eggs, other juices, etc. are on a shelf on the right side; etc. "you get a temperature gradient in the fridge compartment like I described in my previous post" ...Previous post: "where dairy products on the top shelf sour before their BB dates" First...the "temperature gradient" you describe applies to any refrigerator/freezer combination & configuration! Second...the location/configuration of the compressor(s) (2 in many cases today) is(are) different in bottom freezers than top freezers, at least CD refrigerators, so your reasoning does not apply. Third...my dairy products last at least 7 to 10 days past the sell-by date whether in one of the doors, top shelf, or bottom shelf...so I have no idea why you're having so many problems. What temperature do you keep your refrigerator at? That may be the real issue. As to top vs bottom... In a top freezer, you can't "bring the items to you" since they aren't drawers...you have to reach all the way inside and dig around. With bottom freezer drawers, you don't have to "stoop" to access anything...that's b/c they're bottom drawers and pull out. You would only have to "stoop" if they weren't drawers (like stooping to access a base cabinet that has stationary shelves instead of drawers or roll out tray shelves.) But, they're freezer drawers...so no stooping! You pull out the drawer or bin you need, get what you need, push it in, and you're done! Why has the top freezer configuration been around so long...well... Factories are setup to manufacture them in the top freezer configuration......so it costs more to make something different like a bottom freezer configuration......which means it costs more to make a bottom freezer......which means bottom freezers cost more......which means fewer people will buy them (most people, especially in the past, look at price first and convenience & efficiency as very distant seconds & thirds)......which means there's a higher demand for top freezer (cost)......which means there's less incentive to re-tool for bottom freezer which means......(start at the beginning!) Just b/c "it's always been done this way", doesn't necessarily make it the "best"...it just makes it habit, familiar, etc. Obviously, just b/c something is "different" or new it isn't necessarily "best" either...but since people have varying degrees of comfort w/change (and most people don't like change at all...especially as they get older), people generally stick to "what they know" rather than trying something new. In the end, it really comes down to your preference and how you feel about what you currently have (and, to some extent, how comfortable you are w/change)... If I had it to do over and I had the room, I would probably go w/an all-refrigerator/all-freezer pair (24" freezer & 30" or 36" refrigerator). But, I don't have the room for 54" of refrigerator/freezer space (or even 48"), so it wasn't really an option for me. I have a 36" wide, cabinet-depth (CD), french-door, bottom freezer refrigerator. Here's how my freezer generally looks (I actually have a lot more in the drawers now...they're packed): All three drawers: Bottom bin/drawer: Note: ice cream fits in all three drawers. Middle drawer: Top drawer: Yes, we eat a lot of broccoli! LOL!

"I don't understand the french door thing. Why have to open two doors? It has an application in kitchens with small aisles, I guess, but I dunno - I'd rather have the aisle spaced correctly. The ones with the big trays across the bottom are the worst to me." LOL - side by side fridges are basically French Door fridges - it's just the freezer is one side and the fridge is another - get an old school fridge with the freezer on top or bottom with one door the entire width of the fridge and I don't care how big your kitchen is, you will be desiring side by side or french door for the half-width doors. Also, if you prefer a side by side, why would you have to open both doors on a french door fridge? Your already used to accessing the fridge through a narrow door anyway :o) The side by side fridge I have came with my house - otherwise I would never own one. You can't put in odd-ball sized stuff, and normal stuff doesn't even fit well. It has allot less drawer space than the Samsung freezer on the bottom I had in my town house, and my Samsung was the smaller 18 cubic foot and my side by side is 25.5! To me, a side by side is like a 1500 square foot two story house vs. a 1500 square foot ranch. Theoretically they are the same square footage, but in the two story you loose space to stairs and hallways - not nearly as much actual usual space. I too have an extra chest freezer, but as others stated I would have one anyway. I have a foodsaver and I'm not afraid to use it. I buy things in bulk, on sale, and freeze them routinely. I wish I could find a fridge with a single height freezer drawer for quick access to the stuff I use regularly and the rest dedicated to fridge space. That would be ideal. Indeed, if I ever remodel my kitchen I'm seriously considering putting a fridge only in where my side by side is and a single freezer drawer (if they make such a thing? Surely someone does) in my island. I'd gladly sacrifice a little cabinet space for some more fridge space. I guess if you don't cook at home often, or eat that many fresh fruits or vegetables it's less important, but I never seem to have enough fridge space.

Refrigeration systems have Evaporators, Condensers, Compressors, and a metering device such as a capillary tube, that meters the delivery of the high pressure liquid refrigerant to the low pressure evaporator where the liquid refrigerant starts boiling off/vaporizing. This boiling off is when it absorbs the heat from the refrigerator compartment. When the refrigerant has completely vaporized and had absorbs as much heat as possible it goes to the compressor where it compressed and becomes a High Pressure gas. The high pressure gas moves to the condenser coils where heat is removed and the High Pressure gas condenses to a high pressure liquid which then goes to the metering device to start it's journey all over again. I've added a link to a video that explains the process. How a refrigerator works A self defrosting refrigerator/freezer has a heater under the evaporator coils. This heater is controlled by a timing device. In older more simple refrigerators is was basically a clock that would turn on the heater about every 12 hours and melt any accumulated frost from the evaporator coils and fins. newer refrigerators use sensors to, in a round about way, measure the amount of frost and only turn on the heater when the frost is at a certain level. Self defrosting refrigerator/freezers have a fan that circulates the air through the cabinet and over the evaporator coils. As the evaporator removes the heat it will also collect the moisture from the air and freeze it on the coils which effectively dries the air. When air has a very low moisture content it will draw moisture from unsealed food items which will then again travel through the evaporator leaving that moisture on the coils again. eventually the frost builds up and the defrost heater comes on again to defrost the coils. This water then goes through the evaporator drain and into a reservoir under the refrigerator in the warm machine compartment where it evaporates into the kitchen air.