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Original poster

Tell me what you like/dislike about your American Style Fridge Freezer please!

35 replies

Aberchips · 29/05/2014 15:49

We have (fingers crossed) moving into a house where there was an American style fridge freezer (they are taking it with them after lengthy discussions on the subject!!) but there will obviously be space & plumbing for one so we have decided we will buy one.

Please tell me what you would/ wouldn't recommend if you already have one.
Thanks

OP posts:

Chopsypie · 29/05/2014 16:27

We have one and I love it. Lots of space for everything we need.
We chose one without ice or water dispensers as they made quite a big impact on the space inside the fridge.

PennySillin · 29/05/2014 16:29

I also have one without the huge water dispenser although I think more modern models have dispensers that don't take up as much space. THe shelves in mine are very deep and so although there is a lot of room you might benefit from some extra shelves or fridge storage boxes.

Wiifitmama · 29/05/2014 16:33

The ice! I love it! Currently drinking an iced coffee in a huge cup made with the plentiful ice

For a big family (we are 5), the space is excellent. Our freezer is not massive as it has the ice and water part, but still a good size. The fridge is very spacious and also has things like salad drawers which sick all the extra moisture out. I also like the tall compartment in the fridge door.

And the ice. Did I mention the ice??

dottyaboutstripes · 29/05/2014 16:37

Ours doesn't have the ice thing - SIL moaned once too many times about how her kids kept leaving puddles where they'd messed about with it so we didn't bother.
The freezer part is too small for my liking (but we have 6 kids so maybe any freezer is too small ). If I was buying now, I think I'd plump for just a big fridge - we have a chest freezer in the garage.
They do look lovely though!

InternetFOREVER · 29/05/2014 16:40

I love mine, huge fridge and I use the ice and water dispensers multiple times a day. Things I dislike - freezer a bit small (because of ice and water dispense) and mostly has open shelves so when its full things fall out easily. have a second freezer though to work around that! also don't love the fact that it costs more to run than a standard fridge/freezer (energy monitor obsessive). Would never be without it though, its worth the cost!

fukkigucci · 29/05/2014 16:44

The ice maker takes up a ton of space. I also hate drinking cold water so never use the cold water dispenser. DH likes it though!

Oh, and also, when I put the box of eggs next to the ice cube compartment the eggs freeze. Could just be a problem with mine though.

purpleshinyone · 29/05/2014 16:48

I love mine, had it 10 years, wouldn't be without it. As everyone else says, freezer a bit small but ice always ready for a g & t and small children who can't reach the tap can get themselves a drink

HerRoyalNotness · 29/05/2014 16:53

We've had the side by side ,and now have the fridge at top with drawer freezer at bottom.

Side by side had the external water and ice maker which I liked, but freezer and fridge space seemed small.

Current one you have to open the door to get the water - would not recommend this kind. But the freezer drawer has more space. It has the ice maker in the freezer too which takes up room and you have to open freezer to get it out.

I would go for a fridge at top with water and ice dispenser on the outside of the door with a freezer drawer at bottom if I was in the market for a new one.

HerRoyalNotness · 29/05/2014 16:57

Drawer freezer instead of side by side, is what i mean....

Tell me what you like/dislike about your American Style Fridge Freezer please!

MissMilbanke · 29/05/2014 17:05

Mine broke repeatedly after 4 years or so.

Circuit boards were £££ but eventually we found out where to but them from and fitted it ourselves.

When it finally died bought a cheaper one. Had no alternative as the bloody kitchen was designed around this brute.

Eventually moved house and took the thing with us as new people didn't want it. Just used as a spare now and even now I can't trust it.

Recent hot weather caused it to collapse. Something about the ambient air being too warm so it sucks it in but it's not cold enough ?
About to design a new kitchen and going for larder style ones.

If you are going to get one you must Hoover the vents to stop dust getting in.

minipie · 29/05/2014 17:14

We have one with double doors and a freezer drawer at the bottom like HerRoyal's picture. It's a Fisher and Paykel.

I looove it.

I love having double doors to the fridge - so much easier to find things, no more rootling around in the back.

I love that the water dispenser doesn't take up much internal room.

I love the ice maker - and also that it can be turned off to give me more freezer space in winter when we don't need ice.

I love the drawers, they are on proper sliding platforms so no shuffling a heavy drawer in and out, it all runs smoothly. And they are 4 shallow drawers (rather than say 2 deep ones) so stuff doesn't get forgotten at the bottom. And they are clear so you can get an idea of what's in them from the front without opening them.

I love the generous shelves inside the door - loads of room for milk, juice, wine, and all those jars of stuff you use once and have to store in the fridge for ever after.

The only thing that annoys me is that there is a catch that has broken on the door which means it needs carefully closing. otherwise you think you've closed it but actually it's a fraction open. We need to get round to fixing this but it needs an engineer visit . I think it's quite common as my parents have the same fridge and same issue. Luckily there is a bleep to let you know the fridge is open.

Crutchlow35 · 29/05/2014 17:33

If I could have my time again, it would be a double fronted fridge with freezer underneath including water and ice. We have the water and ice now in our current one and use it all the time.

cate16 · 29/05/2014 17:37

We changed our American side-by-side to a continental double fridge and two draws.
Much prefer the continental double fridge and it's far more practical for us. Ice maker is in the draw and can be easily removed if you need more space. Water dispenser outside fridge door with no impact on fridge size.

Original poster

Aberchips · 30/05/2014 12:19

Thanks everyone - I'm liking the look of the continental style one with the freezer drawer underneath - I didn't know they existed so will investigate further!

OP posts:

Doshusallie · 30/05/2014 12:22

Without question the ice thing is the best ever thing. I would never have a fridge freezer going forward that did not have one.

The fan in the back of the fridge has frozen up a couple of times which stops the fridge working, which is a pain in the arse, but you just have to defrost it and it starts working again. I asked MN how to fix it! Obv.

trixymalixy · 30/05/2014 16:28

We hadn't quite appreciated how huge an American fridge freezer is!!

My biggest gripe is that the freezer is a bit on the small side. We had hoped we could get rid of our second freezer, but no chance unfortunately.

Liking the look of the one with drawers.

fresh · 30/05/2014 19:34

We have a Maytag. My recommendation is: do not buy a Maytag. The filters are eye-wateringly expensive and as a company they're horrible to deal with.

Friend has a Fisher and Paykel as seen above. She's very pleased with it, and we're thinking of replacing our Maytag with one like it.

Marmitelover55 · 30/05/2014 19:57

I did love the Fisher and Peykel (sp?) that I saw in the showroom last week, but it was £900 more than the side by side that I ended up choosing. Hope I'm not disappointed....

17leftfeet · 30/05/2014 19:59

I've got an LG one and I hate it

The freezer is too small -2 loaves of bread on a shelf and that shelf is full

The fridge is only ever full at Christmas and its so big stuff often gets lost in there. Also because I'm tall I struggle to see the things on the lower shelves

I've had this thing 8 years now and it shows no signs of dying but when it does I won't replace it

PetraArkanian · 30/05/2014 20:28

Freezer way too small due to stupid ice make taking up at least 1/4 space. Freezer has stupid wire baskets that you can't pull in or out, and that you can't stack things in sensibly. Huge amount of totally unusable space wasted.

(We inherited it - it's a John Lewis one)...

Would have the double fridge with drawers underneath given the choice!

ThePerfectNegroni · 30/05/2014 21:03

We have one without an ice machine and love it. We didn't want the ice/ water as they have to be plumbed in, so more hassle and the machines eat into your freezer space.

allyfe · 31/05/2014 12:40

I really wanted the continental style one - much more practical for us. But, I couldn't seem to find one with a big freezer. For some odd reason they all seemed to be smaller than the side by side one I found (which does have an ice machine).

fairyfuckwings · 31/05/2014 12:45

I love mine. Loads of space in the fridge part. The freezer half isn't really big enough so we have another freezer for meat in the cellar. We are a family of 5 though who love ice lollies so no feeezer is really going to be big enough on it's own. We do have the ice/water dispenser but it doesn't take up THAT much room. Plus I need it for my vodka and cokes. .

shufflebum · 01/06/2014 08:13

So those that have the ones with drawers underneath what make do you have and do you not have to rummage around to find stuff at the bottom? Very concerned I may not be able to fit a large pizza in!

JohnnyBarthes · 02/06/2014 08:13

We couldn't get anyone to deliver one to us - too many steps - although the previous owners of our house had a monster of a fridge (goodness knows how they got it in though).

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