I've had the 36" version of that and have an alternate fridge. And it's just 2 of us.

We're going with 2x 36 (all fridge / all freezer) in the new house and moving the spare fridge to dog duty.

We are getting a 36" all-fridge and separate freezer drawers. We also have a beverage fridge in the garage.

It's just the hubby and me, but when we looked at them at the appliance center, the 2x24" all freezer/all fridge looked too small for us. We are going with the 2x30" all freezer/all fridge combo and it seems just perfect for us. We do a lot of cooking, so we store a lot of meats and veggies in ours.

Compare the volume (cubic feet) of what you have with what you propose on getting.

DH and I have had a 42" GE Monogram w/dispenser in the door for 17 years. I'm 5 - 10 minutes from a variety of grocers. I shop once a week, plus odds and ends in between.

I’d get the Sub Zero showpiece that looks and fits the best. These brands are all about looks so if the double 36” clashes with the design, a single 48” would be better and vice versa.

If the single 48” looks better but it turns out you can’t fit all the super saver frozen chicken breasts that last for a month from Costco, just get an additional cheap no frills Whirlpool freezer from Walmart and stick that in the garage or basement.

There's just two of us, but we just moved into a house that came with subzero side by side 36" refrigerator and freezer (72" total). There is no way we will ever need all of that space, even with a future kid. We grocery shop every week or two and try to purchase just for those days. When they go out (these are at least 20 years old) we will be replacing them with something narrower and picking up an additional cabinet.

For over 20 years, raised my family of four with a 48" SZ with ice/water in the door, but we have always had an extra refrigerator for overflow and beverages. Kids are gone and it is just the two of us. New kitchen has a 36" SZ all refrigerator. On a different wall, we installed a 27" SZ freezer. I needed more produce space and extra condiment storage so after looking at the Miele and Thermador columns I felt that the SZ had more door storage. Beverage cans and bottled water fit on the narrower bottom door shelves.

I love my 36" all fridge. Spacious for a family of 4 and enough room for the occasional large dinner party. I don't get into the freezer nearly as often, so we just have a deep (chest) freezer in the garage (attached to the kitchen). I could see adding a set of freezer drawers, but can't imagine wasting a full 36" for freezer-only space in the kitchen unless your kitchen is massive.

we have a 36" all freezer next to a 36" all fridge in our kitchen, and I'd never do anything less. Just the two of us, but we only grocery shop once every 2 weeks, and we buy meat when on sale and freeze it. Im in my freezer daily, and its still packed to the teeth! (We also have a second freezer in the basement, too...)

So it all depends on how you live! I say go with your gut.

I have two 36” in my kitchen. I have a family and it’s enough space for us. The boys have their own snack station with a 24” undercounter SZ. I truly have a massive kitchen though. I also do batch cooking and put the extra in the freezer so I can quickly feed my family n weekdays. Huge help to have that freezer space.

For a family who shops 1-2X week? Sure. For an expedition to Darkest Peru? Prob'ly not.

Though, we usually buy meat by the quarter/side/half. So a chest freezer (or two) fills the gap.

So much of this depends on how you live. We cook a ton, I tend to cook/bake and freeze, and our backup freezer location would be far from the kitchen, so we decided we wanted larger than a 48” for our family of three. If you don’t cook much, or shop frequently, or have easy access to a backup fridge/freezer, it’s probably more than adequate.

We have a family of 6, with a 48" side by side (not subzero). It's plenty. But I want to mention a couple things. We also have an undercounter beverage fridge, that I love because the drinks are handy, and not buried behind stuff in the big fridge. Also, after the fridge died (while under warranty) and the warranty people took almost 10 days of dithering about before it was eventually fixed (by my own repairman), I broke down and bought a $400 fridge for the garage. That thing is like a workhorse, and we keep flats of water and gatorades out there, popsicles, things for working out and playing basketball in the driveway.

I would never again NOT have an extra fridge, even if unplugged, because at this, the busiest time of my life, with 4 pre-teen/teens, I need to be able to save the food and go on about our lives, without bothering my neighbors to store our frozen foods...

And if I were so lucky as to remodel the kitchen, I'd think hard about those refrigerator drawers.

Lastly, I'll point out, that the bigger fridge takes up more space--sacrificing counter space, cabinet space.... While the 48" size works for us, in a small kitchen, you might be better off with a 36" fridge, and then an extra one in the garage for overflow. And it might come in handy, when the main fridge breaks down.

That size would be overkill for my family. We don't drink pop, beer, gatorade or anything like that that has to be refrigerated. We drink primarily water. Condiments are kept to a minimum. Open new mustard when old mustard is empty or gross. Same with ketchup, pickles, etc. Only keep 2 salad dressings open at a time. If you don't like the choice, use oil and vinegar. Veggies and fruits are purchased fresh from the market. Shopping for fresh food for my family is very important to me. Especially organics which do not have preservatives. It takes some extra time (the most precious commodity of all.), but that's my most important job.

I've know people who have these massive refrigerator freezer combos and they have all admitted that they ended up having to date things and regularly must "purge" things that are old in the freezer - TOO old.

As an old lady, I like to have plenty of food on hand in case I'm not feeling up to a trip to the store, or the weather is not conducive to doing so. A 36", countertop depth side-by-side is plenty for me. I stop 2-3 times weekly at a small local produce market as I like my produce fresh.

But for the 4 weeks we rent a vacation house each summer, with 5 of us there, and for one weekend, 3 more, I'd kill for a bigger refrigerator. The milk alone fills up most of the one in this house. Lots and lots of cereal with milk consumed in this family. I dream of a side-by-side with a small freezer on one side and a huge refrigerator on the other. And counter-depth. I am reminded every summer how much I love mine and HATE a regular depth refrigerator - things are constantly lost in the back of that thing.

Solution for milk storage: