2 fridge freezers, or 1 large, or tall/larder?

poker--addict

Not sure what to do or if we are even aware of all the options;

1) Most American fridges we have seen have the freezer space hugely depleted by the water/ice dispensers, a real shame.

2) We were steering towards a tall fridge and a tall freezer. Some tall fridges do seem to struggle with reviews indicating food sometimes freezing in certain parts of the tall fridges, and that would be very frustrating.

3) There is also the option of two standard fridge freezers.

4) We have seen the french door fridge freezers, but I am surprised the compartments are not separate- strikes me as odd to open 1 door (1/4) but end up allowing warm air into the full fridge double sized compartment. Do any of them split the compartments, like a side by side fridge freezer?

We are looking at integrated for what it’s worth. Option 3 starts to seem better than option 2 now.

funkey_monkey

We were looking into this when moving parents into new house. Most freezers are really short on practicality. They either don't have the volume for their size or the shelving reduces the useful volume.

Any fridge/freezer combination we looked at had poor freezer compartments. We ended up getting them a chest freezer for utility room so that awkward sized items could be easily stored. The down side with a chest freezer is that sometimes what you want will be at the bottom and you have to go rooting around for it. However, in terms of storage they have the most usable volume by a considerable amount.

If we had to take another option it would be a separate tall fridge and freezer. They have a 3/4 size fridge which is sufficient for them. A tall freezer beside it would be needed to match their smallish chest freezer.

It really depends on your family's size and habits. Two fridge freezers would be total overkill for them, but if you have a young growing family and eat mostly fresh food, then it may be the sensible approach.

I'd only advise that you go look at the appliances - esp the freezers as they really do hold less than theirs sizes would indicate.

astrofool

We have the french door style and find it great, very tall, good use of space, separate fridge/freezer compressors.

If you're opening the fridge, it doesn't make much of a difference with 1 door vs 2 as they're all connected together anyway, the cold air will just spill out as warmer air rushes in.

phormium

I would always go with separate standalone freezer if you want lots of freezer space rather than fridge/freezer combos. The standalone is better for keeping food longer no matter the specs say. I have an upright freezer as tall as myself and a small chest freezer for overflow. I have an integrated fridge, about 2/3rd full size rather than full height if you follow. I do though have a spare fridge that I can use when needed. When I putting in new fridge I was tempted to put two larder under counter size one above the other, I prefer to be able to have two totally separate controls and keep things like meat for example at colder temp than the general stuff like milk/veg/butter, it also cuts down on the loss of cold every time you open a full size one.

But then again those options are only suitable if you have room :) My freezer is in the utility room and chest one in the shed.