Any experiences of under-counter drawer fridges?

[HoppyMoppy]

We don’t have much wallspwce left for a fridge freezer in our new kitchen. We’ll be off to see a kitchen designer soon but wondered if anyone has experience with having a drawer-fridge under the counter stylee?

the alternative is a full height fridge freezer with windows immediately either side which will spoil the flow of the (long) worktop and, I think, look odd….

There was one in our kitchen when we moved in, possibly made by AEG. It was wonderful, we could get so much in it. The fact that we couldn’t find a similar replacement stopped us getting a new kitchen for longer than it should.

It didn’t look like a drawer fridge when it was closed, but the whole front pulled out with a fixed lower shelf plus two or three shelves inside it which moved independently. You could easily see where everything was.

When trying to replace it I could only find ones with two or three shelves which pulled out separately, a bit like drawers in a chest of drawers. I felt that it was wasting a lot of cold storage space that way.

I replaced it with a full height fridge, which probably has a similar capacity.

This was a few years ago now, so it may now be possible to get one similar to my old one.

I have a 3 Drawer under counter freezer
which is more organised and accessible than the freezer chest we had in a previous home.
It takes up less space too and leaves me a good counter.

I LOVE ours. If you google the following it will take you to the YouTube review.
‘John Livingood of Liebherr stopped by the Appliances Connection showroom to show us all the features available in their drawer refrigeration using the UPR513.’

We have an undercounter fridge and next to it an undercounter freezer for the same reason, not a lot of room in the kitchen and I value worktop space. They're built in so have the kitchen door on the front

But

The fridge is a nuisance I find. The problem with it being low down annoys me, cant see things right at the back effectively. Then there is the salad 'drawer', which of course is not a drawer its a section underneath the bottom shelf which essentially renders the bottom shelf useless or means you dont use the salad drawer/container (its not a drawer)

The freezer is great, got no complaints

We put a fridge freezer in the utlity room, not ideal as its not a heated or insulated room and probably isnt working properly because of that

So I use that fridge for my bits and bobs and OH uses the kitchen undercounter fridge for his medication (takes up a whole shelf) and his various soft drinks. He eats different food to me so its full of what he wants.

If I could find some of the examples above, that AEG one that would be great

That Liebherr fridge is very like the fridge we had, but without the pop-up but at the back.
Never mind, maybe the next time I redo the kitchen… probably another 20 years.

We used to play a similar game with visitors - guess where the fridge is. Like the one in the video, it looks just like a kitchen cupboard from the outside.

My parents had a Bosch one (now discontinued) in the early 2000s with internal drawers (so it had a door, and then drawers inside).

It was great especially for them (older people with declining mobility). Really reduced out of date food lost at the back of the fridge. It never seemed to have as much storage space as other fridges of a similar size but they also had a garage fridge for overspill (mostly booze and spare cheese).

Only downside was you had to have a lot of space in front of it to fully open the door to then pull the drawers out. Given we had a big kitchen table in the room this was challenging at meal times and my DFather (whose seat was in front of the fridge) used to moan a lot if someone decided they needed a fridge condiment after he had started eating.

I actually looked for one to buy recently for another older relative but missed the Liebherr ones (don't know how as I have Liebherr myself albeit without the drawer function.

Even with the drawers, surely you'd be bending down multiple times a day to get milk and basics on and out? It would remind me of hotel mini bar fridge and would drive me nuts, but then DH and I WFH and we cook from scratch nearly every meal- so in and out of the fridge all day.

@7238SM it's an easier bend though. The drawers come out so you reach vertically down rather than down and in. So easier for lifting a heavy casserole dish (think big Le Creuset) in and out.

It was definitely better for my parents who had various mobility challenges.

You can also see everything on each "shelf" aka drawer by just looking down. Hence the reduction in out of date stuff mouldering at the back.

We have the Bosch fridge with drawers and love it. It holds loads. Only wish they still made it. Visitors are always amazed when they see the drawers. It is so much easier to stack it and locate things.

I'd have everything in drawers if I could. You can get dishwasher drawers. I have a yen for a hob that pulls out like those Ikea chopping surfaces, and I'd really like an oven to have drawers instead of door+shelves (air fryer serves for now).

I'm never going to win the lottery because I don't buy tickets, so my pull-out kitchen remains a fantasy. Hope you find the fridge/freezer drawers you want, OP!

These people do beautiful ones:
https://subzero-wolf.co.uk/sub-zero-refrigeration/undercounter

You can get stainless steel refrigerator drawer units from catering suppliers at reasonable prices (Wolf don't even advertise their prices!) but they're free-standing. I didn't find freezer ones tonight, though have definitely seen them.