What's your budget?

What features do you want? Or don't want?

No budget......I would prefer one with no Ice Maker.....but that's not a market standard.

Aside from that, the application is not a built it , so the only criteria is CD and 36 RO. I'm open to ideas. Just seems like all ~consumer~ fridges are crapsh00t if one was to spend some time reading the reviews..

Have you looked at Subzero, Miele, Thermador, Bluestar, True, ... They are all much more expensive. That's why I asked about budget. But they have a reputation for being higher quality. And yes, a lot of those brands can be ordered without ice maker.

We have a 36" all-fridge SubZero, which we really like. But that might not work for you, if you don't have another place to put a freezer.

Sorry . I was not clear in the OP. I am familiar with said brands . For the application being discussed in the RO required , it needs to be a regular -consumer - unit and not a built in -prosumer-

SM. Thanks for the F&P. It was not even on my radar to even look at their lineup --- as I presented they would only be in columns in that brand !

I'm looking for a 36" counter depth fridge too and that F & P is stunning looking. But no ice dispenser with the water?? What do people do for ice & water? We drink a lot of ice water through the day and would love to not open and close the door so often--is there a separate water & ice dispenser that looks as chic as this F & P fridge?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have to look into F&P reliability. I am not familiar with F&P as a brand reference....last time I looked at F&P was maybeeee 8-10 years back , but its been at least 4 Miele DW's under our belt when we considered the dual drawer F&P from decade ago...

@Jay, this F& P model is 36” has exterior water/ice dispenser RF201ACUSX1N

Not that it matters....like GE, but F&P since 2012 is a Haier owned company..

rpwoodard, I tried to find that model with an ice dispenser but can only find water dispenser in the door. Do you have a link to an F&P with both in the door? Thank you.

I know people are attached to their ice...but isn't the water ice cold when it comes through the door? I think that's why their dispenser doesn't look so clunky and funky. Honestly, one of my favorite "features" about my F&P is the "manual" ice system, which is actually described in the manual. It's an ice cube tray, a bin, and a tiny scoop. Zero chance for mechanical failure. ;-)

If we need ice we make it or buy it. But I know many Americans are totally hooked on the stuff.

scottie’s mom, you made me chuckle. The second I read your first few words I knew you weren’t American. (Am I right?) Anyway, yes I do love the streamline design of the F&P but I just asked my husband if we could live without the ice dispenser and he said absolutely not. I was crushed but that is the only thing he has asked for in this kitchen.

J Inhof, not American, but somehow I've lived here almost all of my life ;-)

It's such a relief when I travel somewhere and don't have to add "without ice, please!" to my request for water. I get it. People get used to things. But what I don't get is people expecting reliability in a fridge, then insisting on the ice and water. Those two things are completely in conflict. If you want reliability, use an ice cube tray. So simple!

F&P may be mostly owned by Haier now, but when I called customer service the other day I got someone with a thick Kiwi accent, so I think they are still operating as before...

I went to the showroom to look at the FP freestanding....they only one they had was a 33" . Seemed, felt cheap..COO was made in Thailand.

Back to square one...where I feel like all the freestanding 36" IMO feel ~cheap~.

Gosh. I feel like I should just buy any LG (whether it be french or side/by/side) and just hope for the best....

Building a new box or just putting up a sheetrocked wall is easy. Maybe that would work for you and give you more options.

You're right, freestanding counter depth refrigerators are a bit of a niche market. You get more choices if you can relax some of your search criteria

Heh. It's the current setting, RO, upper millwork that is above the existing RO, etc. Changing the layout/ro is not really a option - I'm working within the RO means....even though technically, it's paneled to the left and right on the RO....

I don't really do the saying that they don't make 'em like they used to - albeit I really love our 1950's toaster (it makes one helluva toast) ! I make up my mind pretty quick on ~things~ once I pour over the details, the specs, the layout, etc, blah. blah.

Been hemming and hawing on this fridge replacement for almost a year now. Well, probably less, but they all seem to be built like #$@@

Went fridge shopping today again just to see what was out there. FD, SxS, all the brands for the most part. Apart from the gee whiz tech stuff, I still feel the same like I did when I 1st started looking for a replacement for this a year ago....the current fridge of today feel cheap -- Going to have to suck it up eventually and buy a replacement. Ha.

Ended up gettting a Bosch. They did not have the new model I ordered on the floor but the current(2018/2019) was. I liked it...compared to every 36" Freestanding on the market. Fit and finish was there. Can't believe I'm paying 3/Change+ on a fridge made overseas......

https://www.bosch-home.com/us/productslist/prelaunch/B36CL80ENS

Congrats ! I think it looks really nice. Understated and solid, and you’ve got the ice to keep everyone happy ;-)

Do you already have it, or still awaiting delivery? I’ll be interested to hear how you like it!

I’ve hemmed and hawed at this for at least 9 months already :-)

It’s a new model . I’ve been advised roughly 45 days from now it will be arriving stateside

You knew what drew me in on some brownie points. The handle pulls or lack-of. It reminds me of some millwork I had my cabinet maker do on some millwork we had made, and the pulls were very similar in design/concept, except it was more like 6 inch wide pill versus full running length. It makes for a very flat look

We a purchased a Kitchenaid KRSC503ESS sidexside fridge about two months ago. Overall we’ve been pleasantly surprised. It has an external ice and water dispenser. They work well. Ice cubes are smaller than with our last builtin ice maker. Fridge has dual evaporators. It’s quiet except when making ice. The doors open in such a way that (refrigerator niche space permitting) you could push it far enough back - sothat about half of the door is hidden in the niche - so that it barely sticks out and almost looks built in. It has spill proof shelves and (I know this is petty) but it looks classy on the inside). It looks like a more expensive fridge than it is.

It was $400 cheaper than the equivalent GE fridge at the time but yesterday it was on sale for much less - $2099 from ABT which seems like a great price for dual evaporators. It’s a little skimpy on shelf space. We removed the wine rack and bought an extra shelf for the refrigerated section instead. We also bought two extra shelves for the freezer. With those changes we are very happy with it. We were considering an integrated subzero, but are glad we made this choice because we would have missed the external ice and water dispenser. I really like that the ice maker is in the freezer and not the fridge portion. I think the freezer section of side by sides are much easier to clean than French door fridges. Temperature seems even across the fridge. Food seems cold everywhere without freezing anywhere in the refrigerated section. The pullout bins are a little wimpy but that’s my only complaint so far.

We bought ours from Home Depot. It took them two tries to deliver one that was not damaged cosmetically on the outside. per delivery person, from their experience, 1 in 7 fridges (considering all brands) arrives damaged. In the second fridge, there were minor cracks in two door bins but they sent replacements without hassle and we could use the cracked ones in the meantime. The installation crew did a crappy install ( didn’t even screw in one of the doors, didnt put down the leveling feet and tried to tell me the misaligned doors were supposed to be that way and would level out when we put food in the fridge - good one huh?). However, I didn’t argue with them because I figured my husband and I could do a better job finishing the installation ourselves and it was actually pretty easy. Instructions come with the fridge.

Otherwise, no issues which was a pleasant surprise after reading so many negative reviews regarding all freestanding fridges.