Miele makes one in 30", I'm planning on getting their 36" over the SZ due to better lighting and easier to open door. Other appliances will all be Miele so it will look good too.

I'm looking on Miele's website and I don't see the same refrigerator configuration. Their options are either single door refrigerator or bottom mount freezer.

Do you have a link to the unit you're referring to?

In case I wasn't clear I'm looking for is all-refrigerator and all-freezer seperates. The configuration should be upper door with bottom mount drawer, french doors with bottom drawer, or top-to-bottm SxS doors.

I guess an easier way of looking at it is I want all refrigerator with anything other than a single top-to-bottom door. Also should be counter depth. Prefer 30" or 33" but might be able to make 36" work if I have to.

I misunderstood your question, no, Miele doesn't offer anything like that.

I am planning on using the same 30" subbzero integrated all fridge with the drawers on the bottom. I've looked at it and the drawers seem very functional, since access to produce won't require opening the main door. I also think that fruits and veggies will be better organized in their own drawers, I am using the 24" freezer drawers for ice and a few frozen items, since we don't freeze a lot and have another freezer in our garage.

The issue in your description is that "over/under", especially as used by SubZero, traditionally means bottom freezer.

As far as I know, only SubZero makes the all fridge and all freezer with lower drawers. I've seen a very clever installation done where it looks like there's a countertop running through. :)

The interior of the Miele, which is what I have, is similar with two bottom drawers, under a deli drawer in the fridge or an ice drawer in the freezer, with shelves above, but it is all one door {edited from "drawer"} . They didn't used to make SZ in 30" or I might have chosen it. The drawers in the Miele fridge have independent temperature controls on the drawers, though they go by presets. Does the SZ have that? I looked more at the freezer in the style you're considering. I LOVE the different drawer temperatures. I have one set for meat and the other for combined produce (fruit and veg). The thing I didn't like about the SubZero freezer in the drawer is how much room the ice maker too, and its location.

There is a lot of appeal to opening just the drawers, rather than opening the door then a drawer. SubZero has been making these for quite some time, and I haven't heard any complaints about the configuration.

I have the bi fridge you don't want -- Miele with single bottom freezer drawer. I second what plllog has said about that fridge and the interior arrangement. I do like the freezer a lot, as it has double baskets with enough space for large things plus a very small ice maker.

Previously, I had a 30" Liebherr fridge with 2 freezer drawers on bottom (behind one door). I liked it a lot. I was concerned I wouldn't like freezer drawers vs single freezer, but I did. The Liebherr drawers
were extremely handy for smaller things -- ice cream, any frozen foods,
breads, coffee etc. Where it gets trickier is large items like an ice
cream cake or a big frozen turkey. Those may not fit in the drawers.

DD had SZ all-fridge and all-freezer units (or columns) in a previous house. By far that provides the most storage of all. If that's a possibility, I would also look at Miele in addition to SZ to compare features for price.

I looked at all brands of french door fridges 36". I didn't care for the French door at all though others love theirs.

In the current house, DD has the same Miele fridge I have plus 30" wine fridges with fridge drawers below -- essentially what you are looking at but with wine storage on top The fridge drawers are very handy for smaller things and even half-gallon juice boxes fit sideways. They keep some veg in the drawers, which makes sense. It depends on how you want the fridge & freezer to be organized.

Thanks for the info guys.

I pretty much have my mind made up to get separate refrigerator and freezer. Problem is the way I want the kitchen to look, the door of a 30" refrigerator could interfere with the door of the oven on the island across from the refrigerator.

So I need something that doesn't protrude as much on the bottom. The drawers of the SZ do not stick out as far as the door does so they won't interfere with the oven. Also, an all-fridge side-by-side would work because each door would be half size, but I have yet to see an all-fridge side-by-side.

Dacor has a really interesting design with four doors. Two doors on top and two smaller doors at the bottom in place of drawers. That would work too but it's not a counter depth refrigerator.

I'm intrigued by the Miele's ability to set independent temps for different drawers but I wonder how much difference it really makes, or if it is just a gimmick. I can't find any info about how many different temp zones you can have though. Anyone know? If it really helps keep fruits and veggies fresh longer I might consider two of the Miele bottom freezer units instead of getting a separate refrigerator and freezer.

If the fridge door interferes with the oven across the aisle then the aisle needs to be wider. That's pretty much a design no-no. Perhaps the oven could be scooched over a bit.

I've had my fridge only since Sept so I haven't posted a review as yet but plan to add one to the long thread on replacing it. (I will link the *%$#* Refrigerator, Again thread here as there is a great deal of info -- some might be useful).

The drawers are excellent -- absolutely no nonsense. They are the biggest change for me. They are larger and deeper than old fridge drawers and extend fully. Both are set currently for veg. There is a divider that comes out so it can be a single drawer if needed but I left the divider in. I cannot believe how long things last vs the old fridge. I would lose a bag of Mesclun in 3-4 days in the old fridge. This one keeps it for 2 weeks & longer. Drawer settings are by food and range from dry to humid. Easy to switch. I left the main section on the default setting and same result -- food lasts much, much longer.

The lighting is fantastic. Easier to store drink containers on the door. Very easy to clean/adjust overall. The freezer, like the SZ has 2 baskets. Ice maker is very small vs any other I've seen -- about the size of an egg storage try. Pulls out and back on its own.

I'm still working on my organization and storage as shelves are so flexible I'm just finding spots for various things. The real test will come later in the month when our DD & kiddos come to visit and I pack it full.

I'm very happy with this fridge. Had a hard decision vs SZ as the two were very close but no second guessing at all.

The island is already 42" from the refrigerator. I'd rather not move it even further away because of the domino effect. Changing the configuration of the refrigerator solves the problem so the the doors don't interfere with each other. If I had no other option I'd move the island further away. Under no circumstance will I allow a situation where the doors conflict.

Good to hear the drawers really work to preserve your food longer. Makes it a more attractive option. However, compared to identically-sized SZ refrigerators, the Miele have less storage area across the board.

Also, it sounds like the drawer settings are super specific to particular foods rather than types of foods. So rather than setting the drawer to "fruits" you would set it to "avocado" or "tomato." Isn't that a problem when you have many different types of fruits or vegetables in one drawer?

And how many different temp settings can you have in the 30" or 36" models. I can't find that in any of the online literature.

Thanks!

Just FWIW 42" aisles are below the industry standard recommended 48". There are always workarounds, of course.

We have a second refrigerator so my concern is not inches of storage but efficiency and quality. I like the glass, adjustability and keeping quality. Everyone does evaluations differently in terms of cost/value/features and has different priorities. My tipping point had to do with power outage durability -- a special need SZ didn't meet.

The drawers are not food specific. They are category/humidity specific i.e. fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish, dairy. I mix fruit and veg -- everything keeps. The fridge has been fabulous. I always will be grateful to plllog for her encouragement with it. But folks are equally happy with SZ so it's hard to go wrong with either. As I had said, my DD has both as well as the drawers and no complaints on either.

No idea what the temperature range is but a call to Miele will provide that information. I needed service for my washer and when the guys came they went through the entire kitchen for me and adjusted everything, including the fridge and my 12 y.o. dw. Whatever they did is working perfectly so I didn't bother checking temp.

But very smart to ask all the questions first. Most on this forum will also recommend reading the various user manuals in advance of purchase, if you haven't already,

My question wasn't about the temperature range but the number of different temperatures you can have at once. How many different zones are there? Someone said each drawer could have a different setting.

I am starting to think I might go with two refrigerator/freezer combos instead of separate refrigerator & freezer. I like the sound of the Miele temperature zones but I don't know that I need two refrigerators like that ($$$). What are people's thoughts on having two different refrigerators in the kitchen if one or both was concealed with panels?

I know in general it's OK to mix appliance brands but wouldn't it be weird to have two different refrigerators that you could see?

If they're panelled, or if even one is, there's no reason at all not to have two kinds of fridges. You've been talking high end. There will often be several kinds of refrigeration in a high end kitchen. I have Marvel drawers in my prep area besides the Miele all fridge and all freezer. All panelled. The only way to know that the drawers aren't cabinet drawers is that the handles are longer--which I did on purpose so that people might know!

It would be a little funky to have a big stainless high end fridge with a big glory badge next to a Kenmore white plastic, but I bet it could be made to work. It's better, of course, if they have similar fronts. If you're doing two different types, it's better if they're not adjacent. Maybe have a pantry cabinet between, or a coffee/MW/snack bar.

As to the Miele drawer temperature controls, I just tried on mine (older), and was able to push all the buttons, but I don't know what the control module does with that. I'm not even sure how it handles two, but I think it averages. I don't have the drawer divider (30" or because it's older, I don't know which), and have always set the upper drawer to both fruit and veg. I keep berries, tomatoes, apples, herbs, peppers, scallions, etc. in there together and they all seem to do well. For space, and because they do as well or better on the shelves, I put bags and boxes of greens in the middle, often on top of the tall bottles. Roots and things I'm about to prep go in the drawer fridge. Recently, I had to move the roots for awhile and some of them have been hanging out in the fruit/veg drawer and seem quite happy there.

If you want to know more about the temperature combinations, you could call the Miele technical help 800 number. You should be able to look up the number online, or look up the manual and you'll see it on the back cover, I think. Those guys really seem to know the product's innards.

Perhaps to get the exact dimensions you want, the two fridge/freezers would make sense, but remember, at least with the high end units, that means you're actually buying four units in two boxes.

I originally wanted an unpaneled refrigerator and matching unpanelled freezer which I was going to put on opposite ends of my counter with the sink between. But the more I think about it, I need fridge space more than freezer space. So two refrigerator-freezer units would probably be meet my needs better. Now I'm thinking I'll go high end on the unpanleed fridge and not so high end on the paneled one.

You've kind of stumped me on what you mean by "buying four units in two boxes" and what the significance of this is? Can the refrigerator and freezer be installed separately?

If you're talking Miele or SubZero fridge/freezer single box with two doors (not installed separately), you get a full refrigeration unit with compressor and evaporator. So if you get two fridge freezers, you have four systems. This gives you redundancy on the one hand, if something goes awry. On the other hand, you probably get more useable space with an all fridge and all freezer, and only two refrigeration units.

Some of the less expensive fridge/freezers also have dual compressors. Some have only dual evaporators and claim that's sufficient. Inexpensive fridge/freezers have a single refrigeration unit.

Less expensive fridges that take panels are often framed, and sit proud (i.e., stick out). Take a good look at them as installed before you make the decision and be sure you like the looks. Also make sure your distribution works for your food. For instance, you might want to use the cheap fridge for the ice (most vulnerable part of any fridge) and general cold storage, like for beverages, cheese, jam, etc., that isn't so sensitive to temperature and humidity, and the better fridge for fresh produce, meat and milk, as well as ice cream and frozen vegetables or meals you've cooked. Make sure that your distribution between the two works for your kitchen layout and work flow.

There really are many combinations. If I needed fridge space mostly and didn't care much about the freezer, I'd go with 1 36" all-fridge column plus a set of freezer drawers. Or 1 all-fridge plus a set of freezer drawers and a set of combo fridge-freezer drawers. Alternately, there could be an under-counter -- i.e. half -- fridge.

In larger kitchens there's often a fridge in the pantry.

Or just go to commericial units like Traulsen or True which offer very large capacity. My Mom always used commercial units as they offer the best storage space of all. But then, you don't get the drawers and the ability to control humidity.

The Salie House kitchen, in Alabama, has back to back fridge units with divided doors that open into the kitchen and into a pantry behind it. Here's a link so you can see the set up.