Those with American Fridge Freezers…

[Badromancer]

Trying to decide between integrated F&F or American.

I like the streamlined clean look of integrated but worried they are smaller inside?

Are American FF any good? How much food can you realistically fit in? 4 DC & lots of entertaining, so need serious storage!

Also, how far out does yours stick out? Does it bother you, look rubbish that it sits forward of neighbouring units? My would have to go in the middle of a long run of units. I could build over the top for ‘built in’ look but it will still protrude out for the doors.

Looking forward to unbiased opinions!

The fact it doesn't sit flush really doesn't bother us at all. It's a bit of a statement rather than being the streamlined look, I guess.

The style we have is extremely easy to use open the doors either singularly or together. We don't have an ice and water dispenser and I don't really like the idea of them plus it meant more storage.

We carefully compared the dimensions and storage capacities (before realising only one would fit in the space).

We also bought it from eBay, it was brand new but very slightly scratched/dented on the side and was half the price it would have been. After about 30 seconds in our house with 3 kids it would have been scratched anyway so we didn't mind but the side dent was against a cupboard!

We have an American fridge Freezer. Mine seems to use quite a bit of energy to run. We fill the freezer more than we do the fridge. If it died I don't think I would have another one.

I’ve done the same (sad I know!)

Freestanding Fridge & Freezer side by side give you the most space for sure.

But I don’t like the look of this (sorry) so that’s why it’s between 2 x integrated or an American.

I have a second old freezer in the garage so fridge is my main priority.

Not sure what to do now after reading of the replies

If you've got plenty of freezer space in the garage, I'd probably go for an American style.

After lusting after a side by side finally got one and regretted it from day one as it was narrwo with deep shelves,,everything made its way to the back and could never find anything
Now we have an LG four door and I love it !! double door freezer on the bottom with six pull out drawers and two doors on the top with an extra door at the front with a pull out tray for milk and drinks..
It bothered me for about a day that it wasnt flush with the units but I soon got over that

How much do your Americans stick out?

I’ve got jars older than some of my kids in mine…. That’s got much storage.

Note to self: clear out fridge, you grub.

I’ll measure in a sec, but it’s minimal. Never even considered the fact it sticks out a bit until now.

Ive just had my kitchen redone and have an american fridge freezer, I had the cupboards built round it so it doesnt stick out much at all.

That’s fantastic. I don’t like our integrated f/f, it came with the house and is very poor quality. That looks fab, I’m off the measure the space and have a ponder.

Mine sticks out by the depth of the door which I have just measured for you and is 9cm. Mine is flanked either side by a tall larder unit with a unit above the FF so it doesn't feel off.

The main reason we bought it was because Dh wanted ice and water on tap. It was the best decision we ever made because my children drank so much iced water it was ridiculous. The novelty hasn't worn off 9 years down the line. They are teen boys and still drink a lot of water. We have iced water with dinner every night.

The one thing I will say is that we do have another freezer because we buy in bulk and I batch cook and freeze. The American freezer space is tight for us but worth it for the ice and water on tap.

I thought you could get big ones built in! Or get two regular built in fridge freezers and put them side by side with one opening the opposite way, like the one above.

@orbitalcrisis they’re never big when integrated. American FF always wins on fridge space & is either the same or less on freezer space vs integrated.

The only things holding me back on American FF is I can’t imagine a)not having the clean streamlined look of integrated/everything hidden away and b) how much the FF would actually protrude forwards of cabinets & Gaps around sides for ventilation. Does it look awful?

LG do a huge capacity one. Added plus or water & ice too which is great with kids

It is just the aesthetics I can’t visualise!

anyone have any photos or dimensions please?

We're looking to replace our two side by side 60/40 integrated fridge freezers at the moment and looking at all of these options. I like the look of this Whirlpool one but it is massively energy hungry - 485 Kwh per year - the most inefficient one I've made a note of so far.

We've got an American . Won't be taking it when we move .

I hate mine. HATE it! I've had it for 14 years so may be able to justify changing it sometime soon. The freezer is ridiculously narrow and I also have stupid ice and water. The freezer anyway does not fit a frozen pizza 😡, I mean, what else is freezer for?! Whenever I open my freezer things fall out.

It is a Whirlpool and the fridge part is okay.

Something to consider if you choose the ice and water version, in addition to changing the water filter, is that water hose failure can be a source of flooding. At least 3 of my friends have had to have extensive restoration done when their fridge hoses leaked through the floor to lower levels. Hopefully the manufacturers now put in better quality hoses, but given the state of some of my newer appliances, I doubt it.

#Leaps up & down with excitement - BOTH!
I've lived here almost 3 years, moved in already with my American F/F, no WAY I could get rid of it, I think the kids would rather see me go!
BUT there was an old integrated F/F here, scrubbed it out but it didn't work properly, so I replaced it with a shiny new one. Ok, it probably costs an arm & a leg to run both, but we love them!
I don't drive so there's no 'nipping to the shops', yet we don't run out of anything, so well stocked up. :-) A Tesco delivery every week & we're done!

Oh! Yes, re previous poster, I had the water & ice disconnected, it's a pain, quite honestly, you have to replace filters or whatever, I've forgotten now but much happier without.

We had a Maytag side by side originally and it was great... really solid. Then we replaced with a Samsung and I can't tell you how much I hate the thing. It bleeps if you dare to leave the door open for more than 10 seconds, so loading the weekly shop in leaves me with gritted teeth. The drawers are nasty cheap plastic that are uber brittle and constantly need replacing. And we struggle with the freezer and that's for 2 adults. Christmas/Easter can be a nightmare.

We're hopefully updating the kitchen in the next year or so and will be having a large integrated fridge and freezer side by side.

www.samsung.com/uk/refrigerators/french-door/rf9000jc-637l-silver-rf65a977fsr-eu/

we have this one (purchased for less than half the advertised price here!). 4dc and we all really
love it. I definitely wanted French doors with fridge on the top and freezer below. I put it off for years, mainly because of how much it stuck out but it really doesn’t bother me. I would hate a side by side though, it had to be the right fridge.

That's over £4500 from that link though (I know you can get similar for only £3k in John Lewis). I think that's outside of most people's budgets.

LOVE ours. Especially the water tap.

Am thinking of buying this: Freestanding French Door Refrigerator Freezer, 90cm, 569L, Ice & Water. Has anyone had experience with FISHER AND PEYKEL?
I have had a couple French door large ones- our current Samsung works fine 70% of the time but the ice maker has broken several times a year. Best thing about it is the water dispenser has sparkling H2O option-love it!

I have an actual American fridge freezer. The French door style is now more popular than the side-by-side in North America (for wider models) and after having multiple styles of fridge on 2 continents this is my favourite design, unless perhaps I could afford a full freezer & fridge each, next to each other. Side by side is always too narrow on each side and then you scream because you can't fit a frozen pizza that's larger than child size.

The capacity will depend on whether it is counter-depth or deeper and also the layout of the fridge. I do find that the pullout drawer type of freezer is harder to organise and means a bit less space. I would highly recommend looking at as many models in person as you can. I can't advise on current UK models, but I have always found that when looking at a fridge in person, there's differences in layouts that are easier seen than described.

I would not buy integrated as they are always smaller capacity for more money and harder to repair. I don't hate looking at the fridge door enough to pay for that.