I've had my SZ since '99 when the price tag didn't bother me. Now, its up there. I have a few friends who are realtors who tell me I've added to the value of my house as SubZero has such a great reputation. Even with the mechanical complexity of the ice on the door, I really haven't had any failures once I figured out that you have to switch from a Culligan Reverse Osmosis water purifier to a Kinetico Quickflow for the Ice maker to keep from overflowing. With the low water pressure of the Culligan, I had to manually defrost the icemaker when I tested to see if the freezer really can go below zero. Back in those times, the SZ was the only fridge with ice on the door that consumed less than 900Kw/H a year thanks to the air lock on the door dispenser and having two separate compressors for fridge and freezer. My house is solar, so that was very important to me. If water on the door dispenser stops flowing, you set the fridge temp below 34 and it froze. You can't leave salad stuff outside the crisper even at 34. It will freeze and decay quickly. Same thing with fruits like strawberries. They go bad faster if they start to freeze. My beer has never been as cold and delicious since it started resting in the meat drawer. Your mileage may vary. My other appliances are a beloved F&P dishdrawer and an AGA cooker. But, thats another thread.

I was excited to shop for a new fridge for our new home build, until I actually started shopping. My current fridge is a GE Profile SXS in white and will be relegated to the garage at the new house. It has served us well but I need SS counter depth and I want a built in look - no ice/water in the door and no SXS. I love the sub zero and it fits well with my cheffy aesthetic and mindset. But, out of the budget at 9K. Leibehrr is very nice and a good alternative but again too spendy at 5K. Also, we would have to modify the upper cabinets to install a taller fridge. Too many other things yet to purchase with our new house build. But definitely the look and function I am going for. I also wanted a single door but not readily available in counter depth and freestanding models. I actually considered a fridge only single door model(love all the space for the fresh foods I cook with) and could live with a freezer in the garage, but living in the central CA Valley, we would miss the ice. Then I thought we could install an ice maker in the kitchen but again, the cost factor and uncertainty of where we would install it - it is a new house but not custom and we would have to retrofit it somewhere in the kitchen(BTW if anyone has done that please chime in....) I narrowed it down to the KA, Jenn Air and Viking SS CD French door models with internal water dispenser. They are essentially the same inside - all made by Whirlpool - with minor differences including the handles and the KA and Viking have removable liners on the door bins. Viking is the cheapest at our appliance dealer($2899) and I like the looks of it with the pro handles. Jenn Air is $3249 with $300 rebate and KA pro handle style is $3199. Viking carries a 3 year warranty which is very good since we tend not to purchase extended warranties. We will be moving in the end of December and need to decide and buy a refrigerator soon. I appreciate all the information I get on this site!

It's funny, a2gemini. I originally was going to buy an Electrolux fridge until I started reading reviews - I remember a miz lizzy in particular. This was a while ago but you get this vision in your head that has water leaking on the soon to be installed hardwood, or a fridge full of food going bad a week after the warranty runs out and you say no way. Then you start to pick other contenders and low and behold they get nasty reviews too. Lol, I think I picked the Bosch partly because I can't find ANY reviews! I do know this. Anything will be better (storage wise, and big/bulky wise than what I have now- which btw is a rebadged electrolux/Frigidaire SxS. One of the things I hate about this one (other than what's mentioned above) are the wire racks in the freezer that keep falling off the rails. And guess what? The bosch has wire baskets too. I haven't seen an elux in a long time but I do remember the drawers in the fridge section were very smooth and easy to pull out. What's the freezer like? I did like the fridge portion of the bosch as well. Oh, and thanks for your post hvtech. It reminded me to call the store and ask who services the appliances and about extended warranties.

I would go with at least a 42 inch wide model, we went with a 48" and even though we are older and only 2 of us, I'm sure glad we did. I was a bit surprised to see GE at the bottom, (They replaced SZ). I'm sure you noticed what #1 was, and has been since 2005? Ours has lived up to it's position on CR, nary a problem. Well lit, love the different temp zones and how easy it is to change the filter and vacuum the condensor (once a year)---not 4 times, like the manual in the expensive competitors recommends. Ours has the Variable Speed Compressor, and I can tell you, that thing is QUIET----I still can't tell when it is running----that can be a disadvantage thou----I have an Elux wine fridge, and I can hear it running---when it starts to run more often and longer, I know it is time to clean the filter-----The JA gives me no such messages so I gotta remember to clean it--alto the filter for the ice maker hasta be changed once a year , and a lite comes on to tell you to change it--and I clean the condensor at the same time---so I guess , Not a problem. The only reason I can't "Heartily endorse" the Jenn-air is that now they are "Price Fixed", I bought my 48" "built in" (Note Purest, I did not say "Integrated") in 2005 for $4588, you will pay more than that for probably a 36" and that "Bugs Me" (a 42" for sure will be more than $4558). There was a post on here that claims "ALL Whirlpool built Fridges now use the Variable Speed Compressor"--yet another poster I consider "Knowledgible" says only Jenn-air. If all the Whirlpools have the Variable Speed Compressor, then I would look at the Kitchen Aid and other Whirlpool Fridges as they are less expensive and you may be able to "Deal", but Make sure!!! It has that compressor as we keep getting "Mixed Signals" Here! Good luck with your decisions (Think Hard about going Wider)!!! Gary