Okay, I'll give it a shot, based on my limited knowledge on the subject. Major differences...first off built in fridges are often smaller in size to their free standing counterparts because of the cabinet design. That is why you'll see a lot of 42inch+ BI fridges. My SZ is quite a bit smaller when compared to my old freestanding Kenmore. Also, the fancier BI fridges come with multiple compression units/vacuum sealing functions, heavier insulation, and usually (which is a pretty important factor) a very solid warranty for years. Also, the price differences. There is a much much much larger market for free standing less expensive fridges. It would be safe to assume that for every built in fridge that is sold, the major players (Kenmore, Whirlpool, GE, Samsung) probably sell 10 or 20 units. Supply and demand is a huge factor. The major brand fridges also make their products overseas to keep the costs down. A SZ, Viking, or Northland fridge would be made in the USA and that adds a lot to their price. Also, the major built in manufacturers sell primarily to high end installations where people are throwing around $100,000 or more for a remodel. These companies have a brand image of being good quality and, more importantly, expensive, the SZ pro48 is like 16 grand. You take someone who knows high end kitchens and show them one with a sub-zero, viking range, and what not, and they will automatically assume the remodel was expensive. Compare that to walking into a house with a Kenmore freestanding, a GE range, and a Samsung microwave. That looks more "pedestrian" (I am not using that word as a put down by the way). I like to put it this way to people. Think about it like cars. Sure you can buy a Toyota Camry for 25,000, it'll run well, fit all the stuff you need, and get you from A to B for years to come. That is the best selling car on the road so you'll see a ton of them. Now imagine buying a car that does same thing, but paying $150,000 or more for it (think a Bentley or something). It will do the same thing as the Camry, but it'll be more powerful, handcrafted, and look incredible while doing it for years to come, and you'll rarely see one on the road. People will know it does pretty much functionally the same as any other car, but it has an image, and people will know it's expensive. All fridges do one thing, they keep your stuff cold. Some preserve food fresher for longer if they have vacuum sealing like SZ, and I can tell you from experience it DOES keep veggies/fruit fresher a lot longer than my basement fridge. Sometimes extending the shelf life of the food for a week or two more, sometimes even longer. Anyway I hope that this helps answer your question.

I'm glad to hear y'all think I 'done good! I thought it ws pretty 'nifty' stuff myself, and not having a first class mess on my hand made me even happier. Tricia, I don't know why it isn't advertised more. My DD is the one who saw it advertised at the mall where a kiosk was set up. Minet and mzdee, I left my camera in Austin! You wouldn't be sorry! I thought they had a very good selection!I have the Nero Stella which is the one featured in the brochure pictures. Mzdee mine was a little over $4000 for 42 sq ft, but with a difference in tax and the backsplash, that would probably account for the difference. I'm with you re:the convenience. I was working with HD before I talked to my neighbor about the cabs falling apart, and there was even an $80 charge for pulling the stove out! The GT was a real blessing for me. And the guys did an amazing clean up job!! ;o) patty_cakes

Carrie - What brand is your fridge and how wide is it? I'm open to exploring alternatives to a honking big fridge. (Though during the pandemic our big sub zero has been phenomenal for storing huge orders of meat, fish, soups, and sauces.) There are only two of us in our household so on a regular basis we could do with a smaller fridge, but we do have large dinner parties and my parents stay for a week at a time and I can see a smaller fridge being challenging for that. IloveMod - Yep, you are right, it is a trick of the lens. The great thing about integrated fridges is that they have some kind of hinge component that allows them to open very wide without needing the clearance you are talking about. So the door could be flush with the wall and open wide. I may have just explained to myself another advantage of an integrated vs a counter depth!

We had a 42" SubZero with a freezer on the bottom that we think was original to the house (1984). It finally died a couple of years ago, but we knew we were going to do a big kitchen remodel in a few years, so we didn't want to buy another built-in without knowing what the remodel would be. So we bought a 36" side-by-side counter-depth KitchenAid. It's been OK but is not big enough for our family of four, and the ice maker just broke, of course out of warranty. I had to have our fridge wall reconfigured to accommodate the smaller fridge. We also bought a regular depth one for the garage. So about $6,000 for fridge plus carpenters to build open shelving (not nice cabinets) around the fridge, plus another $2000 for the garage fridge. But now we're embarking on the remodel and I've been researching 42" refrigerators. Once you go larger than 36" the price jumps a lot. I wish we had just bought the nice SubZero a couple of years ago and worked it into our remodel. They last a long time and do a good job. So my point is that if you're going to be in your house a while, I think it's worth it to get the SubZero. Plus if you already have a paneled fridge, it might be a downgrade to your kitchen to not have a built-in? I realize it's a large chunk of money though. For our remodel, the fridge is our "nice" appliance and we're going mid range for everything else.