We bought our Subzero BI-36U partially because it had the largest refrigerator space of any 36". Of course, this is at the expense of the freezer portion, but for us that as OK as we have a standalone freezer in our basement. I have been surprised at how roomy our SubZero is. As kaseki says, figuring out how close it is to advertised would be difficult - but comparing to other models not so challenging. Good luck. We are quite happy with our purchase

Have you looked at the Thermador columns?

@cpartist, we have not looked at Thermador. We are looking for a 36" refrigerator with the most capacity. I am heading to their website now.

@mnnie, what do you do about ice in your kitchen? Do you have to go to the basement or do you have a separate ice maker?

Your best bet is to take some containers, bottles and platters of the type you would expect to have in your fridge for your most challenging times, whether it's having the team over for barbecue, Thanksgiving, or weekly shopping for the family. See how things fit. Also bring balls and things to stand in for produce.

I have extensive experience with past models of SZ over/under fridges and it's amazing how much I can get into one without impeding the cooling. One thing to keep in mind is that you may use the fridge differently than prior ones, so it's not really about what fits in the door vs. on the bottom shelf vs. in the crisper so much as what fits period. Oh, and a hint--unless the top of the door really is the warmest part of your fridge, there's no need to put the butter box there. If you put it lower, you can use the top as a little shelf.

My experience with SZ is that they make the most efficient use of interior space when compared to every other fridge I compared. This from a former SZ owner. My experience with SZ was that it was worth the premium over other options. The interior was more spacious and cooling was better than anything else I have used. That said I can completely understand someone saying they do not want to spend ~$12k or more on a fridge. Coming from a 48" fridge I think $12k is a low estimate. One thing to consider is that we kept our SZ for 20+ years. It was easy to repair and like a Timex kept on ticking. So before making a decision calculate your cost over the expected life span of the appliance.

Our subzero has an ice maker in the bottom freezer compartment. Essential! Much too lazy to go downstairs every time I want ice. Though, we do have a bar fridge downstairs that has an ice maker too.

We have the BI-36U/O and find that it has more than ample space for us in terms of usable capacity. The ice maker in the freezer drawer works just fine for us as well. If everyone in your family likes ice in their drinks all day long, this may not be for you as it produces ice fairly slowly. FWIW, we are a couple, no kids. The SZ has tons of space, considering that it's a narrow-depth unit, as it is TALL. Now, question for you. Do you need space for gallon milk jugs in the door? You will not get that with the SZ, but the Thermador does have this feature. We did not need gallon door storage, so we went with the SZ. As far as the advice to bring in doo-dads to test out storage for your most often refrigerated items, absolutely do this! I brought in 1.5L wine bottles, cake containers (never use these, just wanted to test out space, like when we have a turkey for Thanksgiving), and large serving trays. It's deceptively large, IMO, and is amazing at keeping food fresh much longer than in other refrigerator units.

All that being said, if you have space to put the old fridge to hold extras (drinks and snacks for the kids and their friends) and for using as a backup for ice, then I say keep it and stow it in the garage/basement/what have you and enjoy the SZ in your kitchen :) We moved our old fridge into the garage to stow bottles of wine, beers, waters, Cokes, juices, etc. for personal use and for when we go out on the boat. Seldom consumed things like ice cream, fresh caught then frozen fish/shrimp and things like venison go in the outside freezer section of that fridge. The SZ is for every day food and drinks.

I have the Thermador columns and love them. My experience (with two active and therefore hungry teen boys -- and cooking at home most days) was that what we lost by going built-in was depth. Not so much room for things we really needed as the room where things got lost and often forgotten. The drawers and shelves allow good use of space. The one thing I have lost is the ability to put a large flat cookie sheet in the fridge, but a half sheet pan (almost as large but not quite as wide) does fit.

We made our choice after looking at all the units interiors and studying drawers adn other functionality. The Subzero didn't work or us because the ice maker was on the very bottom (I'm tall, I live in TX, we use a fair amount of ice anyway but at the time both boys were in band and for marching, they would each fill a gallon jug with ice, then water each morning to take to practice and games -- I didn't want to be grabbing it off the floor) and second, at the time, SubZero didn't have any models without the top vent panel that I really disliked. That last point is obviously moot now, but the ice location would still be a deal killer for me even though the boys are now in college.

I had never had a built-in, and I hadn't planned on a built-in when we started our kitchen because I hated the look of them (that panel on top), but the sleek look and raised ergonomics in the Thermador got my attention and we changed. Still, I was nervous about space -- our utility room has space for a second fridge, so we had that back up. We used it to allow us to buy more milk at one time, but we don't really use it for daily use, especially now that the gallon a day drinker has gone off to college and slowed his consumption, but it allows me to chill specialty flours, nuts and baking supplies.

Weigh your options against how you will use them. Also consider fridge drawers for extra space. We put fridge drawers in the base of a breakfast room hutch and it was perhaps the best thing we did. My kitchen is a U shape with the kitchen and the most used entry to the house at the back of that U. The kids would have to track back and forth while I was cooking to help set the table. We had to walk from the breakfast room aross the full length of the kitchen to get a drink refill, grab butter or any forgotten salad dressing, condiment. Once is no big deal, but 3, 4, 6 times..... When we entertained or had larger faily dinners, everyone would congregate in the kitchen as the walked in or went to get a drink or ice and stopped to talk. The espresso maker was over in that corner, so that added to the issue (I have family members who walk in and go straight or the coffee/espresso as If we were Starbucks - and that's okay when it isn't at the door). My point is that we did the drawers to get people out of the kitchen and it has worked beautifully. Better than expected. Consider where you have space, where you have the use and need and see what makes the most sense for your placements. You may decide that freezer drawers dont' make as much sense as fridge drawers. You can also now get one of each.

SubZero and Thermador are both really good units for built-in refrigeration. I HIGHLY recommend Perlick for undercounter units. They are worth hunting down.

I think he was looking for this.

Consumer Reports: Subzero BI36UFDS actual capacity:

• Refrigerator Capacity:11.5 Cubic Feet
• Freezer Capacity:3.3 Cubic Feet

Subzero BI36UFDS claimed capacity, according to their website tech specs:

• Refrigerator Capacity:15.7 Cubic Feet
• Freezer Capacity:5.3 Cubic Feet

That's a big difference!