# Top freezer vs. side by side fridge



## mama lipenga (Mar 31, 2008)

So, I think we are going to break down and buy a new fridge. We have a top freezer right now, which I like. My husband wants a water dispenser, which only seems to be found in side by sides. My mom has a side by side, and I am not impressed. The freezer space just seems impossible to use.
What do you have, and why do you/ don't you like it?
Thanks!


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

They have water dispensers in the bottom mount freezers. The french door models.


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## inkedmamajama (Jan 3, 2003)

I love having the freezer on the bottom. as someone that does large scale baking and cooking often, i need more space than a side by side can offer.

a friend of mine has a new fridge with french doors and a bottom mount freezer and she loves it!(whirlpool)

if it were me, i would prefer to have a water cooler and water bottles (simply because our city flouridates the water and fridge water filters do not filter that out)


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## Ola_ (Sep 5, 2008)

Another vote for freezer on the bottom. When we moved to this house it came with a side-by-side fridge and at first I thought, wow, it's so big! But then when it came to fitting stuff in there you couldn't put too much on either the fridge or freezer side. Plus since it's narrow and deep it's hard to see/get at the back of the shelves. It was very frustrating.

We now have a bottom freezer fridge (it's a french door also, by Amana) and it's MUCH better. I can stick a whole pizza box or a 9x13 baking dish or whatever in there with no problems. I'd stay away from those with built-in water dispensers too - when we were researching brands on Consumer Reports the ones with water/ice dispensers were always the worst rated for maintenance. I'd rather get one of those brita pitchers, then if it stops working it's $20 to replace rather than the cost of a service call, labour and parts to fix it. Plus I have heard way too many stories of leaks from the water lines to those kinds of fridges - inevitably it starts leaking while you're away or sleeping and then there's a big mess to repair.


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## rhiandmoi (Apr 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ola_* 
Plus I have heard way too many stories of leaks from the water lines to those kinds of fridges - inevitably it starts leaking while you're away or sleeping and then there's a big mess to repair.

And the water usually tastes gross, and IMO is way too cold.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Well we have a side by side and I don't have any issues with freezer space, but I've also got a chest freezer and a spare fridge with the freezer on top.

I'd love to get a freezer on the bottom and french doors, but that's not happening anytime soon.


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## nsmomtobe (Aug 22, 2009)

I hate my side-by-side because neither the freezer nor the fridge seems wide enough. We also do not use the water dispenser though.

I know that the freezer on the bottom is more energy efficient, but it is also a lot more expensive.


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## artemis33 (Jan 5, 2006)

We 'upgraded' to a side by side at our old house a year before we sold it and it was way too small for me! I hated that I couldn't put a cookie sheet in the freezer (to freeze berries for example) because it was so narrow. DH and DD liked the water dispenser but I never used it because I don't really care for icy cold drinks (I just use the Brita and keep it at room temp).

Our new place has the old style freezer on top and I very much prefer it to the side by side







If we ever replace it though, I will definitely look into the french door/bottom freezer style.


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## gini1313 (Jul 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *inkedmamajama* 
a friend of mine has a new fridge with french doors and a bottom mount freezer and she loves it!(whirlpool)


My MIL just got one of these and it is really nice. We have a side by side (I really wanted one), and I hate it now. The freezer is really unusable... it is hard to make things fit in there. And, if you add a water/ice thing (ours doesn't have one), that will take up more room in there... I would go for a bottom mount with french doors on the fridge... very handy.


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## greenmansions (Feb 16, 2005)

I have a 6 yo jenn air bottom freezer, counter depth, with the water dispenser inside the door of the fridge, and an ice maker (not dispenser) in the freezer part. It is very inconvenient plus the water tastes funny so we never use the water dispenser. I really like the bottom freezer design, because of how visible and easy to see/reach everything is in the fridge, but the freezer is very small, and we lose nearly half of the top shelf area to the ice maker. We have an extra fridge and freezer in the basement to handle overflow.

My friend has a new french door bottom freezer that I think is by kitchen aide, and it has a water/ice dispenser on the outside of the left side door. Hers works great and tastes great, but the ice maker part takes away a lot of room from the inside of the fridge. She has gotten used to going to the store pretty much every other day to compensate - she doesn't have an extra fridge or freezer. I personally would not have chosen this design in her shoes because of how small the interior space is.

My sister has a 3 yo side by side kitchen aid with water/ice dispenser in the door, and she loves it. But she has extra fridge and freezer space in her basement also. She has a larger family and entertains a lot so she'd probably need the extra freezer regardless of what type of appliance she had upstairs.

I think it depends on how big your family is, and whether or not you have extra fridge or freezer space elsewhere in your home. It is hard to get every feature you want in whatever you are buying. So prioritize what is most important, and go from there.


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## staceychev (Mar 5, 2005)

We always had freezer-on-top models in our rentals. Then, when we lived with my mom after leaving NYC, I got to spend a year with her side-by-side. I cook a lot, and I *hated* it. It never seemed to fit anything, and always seemed cramped and difficult to organize.

When we finished our renovations and finally moved into our house, we bought a french door, freezer-on-bottom model and I love it so much. It was worth every penny.

And yes, they're more expensive, but you can find deals if you look around. We have a Sears "scratch and dent" outlet near us, and this one had been sitting on the floor for over two months so it was $900 (down from $2000). The door on the freezer is dented a little bit and the handle was damaged, so we had to order a replacement door handle for the freezer. DH installed it easily and it hides the dent.

We do have water on the door (which I don't use... I like room temp water from my Brita pitcher), but no ice. The nice thing about that is it doesn't take up any room on the inside of the fridge--I've got full door shelves on both sides.


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## allnaturalmom (May 31, 2006)

We replaced our freezer-top model for a side-by-side this past spring and we love it. It's got ice and water dispenser on the outside. Our old one had an ice maker (not dispenser) and a water dispenser on the inside of the fridge. Since we entertain a lot, especially in the summer, the fridge was ALWAYS open. This thing had trouble keeping temperature to begin with, and this just made it even worse. Anyway, with pull out baskets and drawer and smaller cookie sheets the freezer space isn't too much of an issue. I liked the 3-door models w/the freezer on the bottom, but my dh didn't. He said he was way too old to be bending down and pulling that thing open every time he wanted to go into the freezer, lol!
GL w/whatever you decide. Be sure to research the model you want. I found that some of the 3-door french models had issues w/the light not going going out and possibly catch on fire. I believe they were whirlpool models. Whirlpool makes kenmore and other names, too, so be sure to check that out. Here is a site I consulted a lot:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeo...igerators.html

gl
hth


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## Ola_ (Sep 5, 2008)

BTW, I know that the french door models are more expensive. I think a non-french door fridge with the freezer on the bottom would still work very well, I would definitely choose it over a side-by-side model.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

We always had the traditional freezer on top until we purchased this house nine years ago. The seller was moving to an apartment and offered us a deal on the fridge, washer, and dryer - all from the early 90s. The fridge was a KitchenAid side-by-side. We loved it!!!!









It died a few years ago and we went fridge shopping with an open mind and checked out our friends' fridges and stores, etc. We read up on fridges and the whole she-bang. For our family of 3 and our lifestyle, we chose another KitchenAid side-by-side. The quality between our first one and this one is somewhat appalling, but the "features" are much nicer on the new one. We'd rather have quality versus bells and whistles, but it wasn't an option among any of the available fridges on the market at that time in our design/price preferences. As popular as it was/is, we did NOT want stainless steel. Finding white appliances was rather challenging.

In any case, we adapted just fine to the side-by-side size restrictions. I love all the shelves and drawers and door bins and wire baskets (freezer) for keeping like items together. We can fit a pizza box in the fridge. I even got a LARGE homemade princess cake in the fridge one year (complete with the doll "pick"). The shelves can be rearranged pretty easily. I have a half-cookie sheet that we use for freezing items. A 6-cup muffin tin fits on it with room to spare. I freeze liquids in the silicone 6-cup muffin pan on the cookie sheet and I freeze more solid items directly on the cookie sheet, then toss the items into a container once frozen. I often freeze directly in glass jars and I love the wire baskets for this specifically. They stay upright and there is no risk of them falling off a shelf.

Good luck with finding what works for your family!


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## mommaof3boz (Feb 15, 2006)

HATE my side by side. Never again. french doors are pricey. if you want the convience go for it. but the single door top with bottom freezer are roomy and affordable.


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## StrawberryFields (Apr 6, 2005)

We have one of each. A side by side upstairs in the kitchen and a freezer-on-top downstairs in the basement.

I HATE the freezer on top because I feel like the freezer space is impossible to organize. It's just one big pile of food. With my upstairs side-by-side there are so many shelves that I don't have to dig to the bottom to unearth that box of popsicles or bag of frozen berries. But we did shop around to find a side-by-side that had a large enough freezer to fit a frozen pizza box flat. Some are narrower than that and that might be more of a hassle.


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## mumm (May 23, 2004)

We are in the market for a new fridge in the next month or so. I've decided on the freezer on the bottom, french doors, counter depth, no water or ice on door. Now I just have to figure out what brand...... I love the look of the ones with two freezer drawers on the bottom and imagine it is a piece of cake to find things in there. But man.... the cost is outrageous. I thought I would spend about $1300 but it looks like we won't get away with less than $2200.


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## SageR (Jun 12, 2005)

We have a bottom freezer and it is great! It is an Amana single door.
I wouldn't get a built in water dispenser either. We have a ceramic holder and spring water, but if that wasn't an option I'd get a Berkley counter set-up.


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## GardenStream (Aug 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SageR* 
We have a bottom freezer and it is great! It is an Amana single door.

This is the one I have. It does have a water dispenser inside the door. We don't use the water often because our well water tastes fine IMO. I don't think the water from the fridge tastes funny at all, but we do change the filter every 6 months or so.

I love the freezer on the bottom and would never get anything else.


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## lolar2 (Nov 8, 2005)

Side-by-side is more handicap-accessible than the other options, if that's a consideration for you or anyone in your family. Not just for wheelchairs, but for people with arthritis and that kind of thing.


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## texmama (Jun 4, 2005)

I LOVE our side-by-side. Like others have said, I love that I can adjust my shelves to suite my needs, and my freezer has tons of shelves and drawers. I can easily fit a pizza box in my Kenmore (made by Whirlpool), but I don't know if that's true for all side-by-sides. I usually use the freezer as much as the fridge throughout the day, so it is WAY more convenient to have a side-by-side for me. I also get ice regularly throughout the day - so we use our water/ice dispenser a lot.

My friend has a freezer on bottom, the fridge part is to die for, really roomy, but the freezer drives me NUTS! It's like one big drawer, with one shelf. I can never find anything in her bottom freezer, everything is piled up on top of everything else.

My advice is to think about how much you access things and how you use your fridge - do you get ice and other things from the freezer throughout the day? Would bending down to get stuff from the freezer be a problem? Do you need a freezer that will fit wide items?


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## SAHDS (Mar 28, 2008)

I've had the freezer-on-top model, the side-by-side model and the french-door model. My *least* favorite, by far, was the side-by-side. The freezer space is a joke because it is so narrow and feels too cramped, many items don't even fit in there. My favorite is the french-door model which we have now because of the fridge space and the freezer set-up.

I guess a lot does depend on the actual model, though.


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## lafemmedesfemmes (Nov 16, 2003)

our fridge is a whirlpool bottom-mount freezer, with a single door up top. we got it for about $600 at a scratch-and-dent store-- i think it normally retails for about $900. the built-in icemaker is in the freezer. i love my fridge! i especially love that the freezer door swings out like the refrigerator door-- i'm not fond of the pull-out drawer design.

from what i've read, the side-by-side design is the least energy-efficient style, while the bottom-mount style is the most efficient. and after years of living with a top-mount freezer, i was ready to have better visibility for my fridge.

one complaint that i have read about that makes me wary of in-the-door icemakers and water dispensers in bottom-mount freezer fridges is that it can really mess with the temperature in the fridge, as in freezing stuff that's stored close to the icemaker.

christina


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## Eman'smom (Mar 19, 2002)

We love our bottom freezer.


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