Is this one of their newer models? Many people who are doing secondary units are doing all freezers. There's only so much fresh food you want to buy for the fridge at a time.

It may be new, but I'm not certain. The salesman was surprised it existed when I mentioned that I had seen it on the SubZero website. I know he's been selling SZ for many, many years. So it may very well be a newer option in the designer line. Or perhaps it's just not common and he's never had anyone ask about it.

Technically, this would be tertiary storage because I also have a full-sized upright freezer in the garage which is right around the corner from the kitchen. So this unit would not be used for major storage. My goal with this unit is to add a food storage option that would be closer to my prep zone. I could do just a fridge, but I thought it would be best to have a small freezer compartment too since the option exists. I frequently use frozen herbs and broths when cooking. I also use ice pretty often when cooking.

I want to put our main fridge near the eating area and family room so I can keep the kids and guests out of my prep zone. However, that makes a long trip from Ice to Water. So I saw this column option and thought it could be the perfect solution. I'm just nervous about purchasing something that I've never seen!

I was looking around at appliances maybe a year or so ago and stopped in at a SubZero dealer who told me about a fairly new release that was a smaller combo unit. SubZero is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to quality (and expensive!) products, so when people are looking to put in a SubZero, they generally have larger kitchens and opt for the larger, usually dedicated use ones that they are either setting next to each other or maybe a freezer at one end and a fridge at the other of the kitchen. I think that's why the smaller combo units were slow coming.

Your scenario makes sense, though. Is it primarily drinks and ice that your family and guests are getting? What about a beverage fridge and icemaker for them? You could put a few snacks in with the beverage fridge. I think if you have very large of a unit some distance from your sink, you're still going to be walking to get to it if that is where a lot of your cool storage is being done. Sounds like a busy kitchen! If this is a new build, have you considered a large workstation sink, like literally up to 7 feet in length? Sometimes those can be placed on islands where they are more central to operations, and they make a lot of sense for the avid cook and entertainer.

I just looked this up online. It's hard to say if this is worth it without seeing your floorplan. So if I understand correctly, you want to use this as a prep fridge, a tertiary fridge? So you'd be moving food items that you need for prep out of your main fridge and into this one? That seems kind of silly, to me anyway. Can you post a picture of your floorplan and some of the pros on here can help with layout?

@Aglitter and @megs1030 - thank you for your feedback! This is a remodel, not a new build. It is a pretty busy kitchen and has been even more so with everyone working and schooling at home! I have 3 teens who do a lot of smoothie-making and microwaving and toaster-ovening. So it would be nice for them to have the main fridge and freezer near the kitchen table end of the kitchen (and out of my prep zone). However, I have read so many of the layout experts on here recommend that the fridge not be too far from the prep zone. So this combo unit seems like a good way to deal with that concern. It could be used for veggies, ingredients and sauces used only in cooking (broth, herbs, soy sauce, worcestershire), raw meat or seafood that is defrosting for the next dinner, etc. The main fridge and freezer would have snacks, condiments, all beverages, leftovers, frozen smoothie ingredients, frozen waffles, french fries, ice cream, etc.

I have been hesitant about posting my layout ideas here because certain folks are so dismissive and their only advice is "get a KD." The only plans I have at this point are my own preliminary ideas because I want to work with a specific KD on this project and she is not going to be available for a couple of months due to some personal issues. I am happy to wait for her, because she is that good. In the meantime, she has given me a little "homework" of researching the appliances and starting some preliminary thinking about my wish list and layout. Once she is available, we will be able to get together and hammer out the details. Until then, I've been trying to gather my thoughts and ideas and start thinking through the many options. Maybe I need to just bite the bullet and post some of my layout ideas and try my best to not let the house kitchen bullies upset me. ;)

@Aglitter aww, you are so right to remind me that my current situation is not permanent. Unfortunately, I've only got two more years with this full house and then my babies will start leaving one by one.

If I go with these combo units, my plan would be to have one near my stove and prep sink plus an identical 24" combo unit at the other end of the kitchen near the kitchen table and the clean up sink. So I would only have a total of 48" of refrigerator/freezer space inside the kitchen. My total chilled capacity with this arrangement would be 22 cubic feet (16 cubic feet in the fridge and 6.2 freezer).

The other scenario I had considered was the subzero 24" all fridge installed next to the 24" all freezer. This would also be 48" but the total capacity would increase to 25.2 cubic feet (12.9 in the fridge and 12.3 in the freezer). The problem with this arrangement is that it would be about 15 feet away from my prep sink.

For reference's sake, my current kitchen has a 36" wide counterdepth Maytag with a total capacity of 20.6 cubic feet (13.6 fridge and 7 freezer). My Maytag has suited my space needs perfectly through 6 years of parties and holidays and a little quarantine shopping too. Although, I wouldn't be able to do it without my garage fridge and freezer in the mix. That's where the platters go for parties and the occasional side of beef.

Whatever arrangement I settle on, I am really looking forward to new refrigeration in the kitchen and saying farewell to frozen lettuce!

You really cannot go wrong with SubZero. It's hard for us to visualize your layout without photos or a drawing, so if you are concerned about placement, it would be good to go over the details with your KD when she becomes available if you didn't want to post more here. Plenty of contributors are kind and helpful if you can get past the few that may not be.