Thinking about a new fridge.........

[CathyA]

We got this present fridge around 1990. Its still okay, but I'd like a larger one with a bottom freezer. I'm tired of leaning over so far to try to reach stuff on the bottom shelves. Plus, we live fairly far from stores, and I usually stock up alot and could use more space.

Anyone have a bottom freezer? Would you recommend french doors or one door for the fridge part? Are there any out there that don't have the hole in the front for ice/water? I don't really want that.

Any advantages/disadvantages to 1 versus 2 doors?

We usually have a ton of veggies in the fridge. Whenever I've looked at these types of fridges, it looks like less space than I have know. I definitely don't want less space.
Use to be a good fridge was around $400-800. Looks like the kind I want might run $2000+. Bummer.
Anyhow......any experiences with these kind of bottom freezer refrigerators you could share?
Thanks.

[frugal-one]

We just bought a new fridge that I am absolutely TICKLED about. My DH comments about it as well. I have to say the previous fridge was a side by side that I HATED. We bought a Maytag with french doors and bottom freezer. It does not have water in the door but does have an ice maker. It is absolutely lovely in that you can readily see what is in the fridge and have room for everything. It has already saved us money in that you do not forget what you have. The last fridge we had to stack food and constantly threw things out because we did not see (or forgot) we had the item.

http://www.maytag.com/-[MFF2258VEW]-1101067/MFF2258VEW/

We did pay $1500 for this 25 cu ft fridge but have to say it is one of the best things I have purchased in years! I absolutely love it. In another post, I talked about being excited about things others take for granted. This is it!!

[CathyA]

I'm happy for you frugal-one! I know those kind of things make me happy too. Your link to maytag didn't show which one you bought. Do you have 2 doors on top, or just one?
I know what you mean about losing food because you can't see it. That happens to me all the time. I'm starting to get excited! I would love to keep this refrigerator to keep in the garage......but we don't have a garage!
Do you like your icemaker?

[Mrs. Hermit]

We bought a Kenmore with the freezer on the bottom. It is great. Two top doors that open completely without a post in between. The glass shelves are totally moveable, and can be set beside each other in order to accommodate huge pans. The water delivery is in the hinge area of the left hand door, so it doesn't take up door storage space, but you have to open the door to get water. It has an ice maker in the freezer that sits above the top drawer. It has no outside water dispenser, so no (refrigerator) water puddles from visiting children! Yeah!

[CathyA]

Sounds nice Mrs. Hermit. Did you feel like you gave up some space in the fridge when you got this bottom freezer style? They just look smaller in the fridge part to me. But I guess you can put heavier stuff in the doors in them too.
Was your model a recent one? I was just looking at Sears's options. Gosh.......the big one is something like $3,500. But, you know, ......its a very important appliance and hopefully it lasts 20 years....which is a pretty good bargain, even at that price. Did you have to decide if you want one door or 2? I've heard 2 doors are better if you don't have room to open a big door. Do you like the 2 doors? Thanks for your input!

[ToomuchStuff]

It is just a personal hangup of mine, that I prefer the single door on top. Years ago, someone I know, was an early adopter of the side by side, and it had some door gasket issues as well as width issues (one side freezer one side fridge). Due to the cost of them (the other way around is sub $500 and I could just as easily roll on a bar stool, like an elderly neighbor did), I even debated something closer to a commercial, refrigerator only. (use a separate freezer) They can be found locally, but with the exception of Sears, around here they try to push Stainless steel (I'll stick with white, thanks).

[rodeosweetheart]

CAthy, here's a link to ABT for what you are asking about--they have one LG for around 600 dollars, the lowest price I saw:
http://www.abt.com/category/115/Bottom-Freezer-Refrigerators.html

[SteveinMN]

Having one upper door versus two upper doors really makes a difference only if the location of your refrigerator makes it difficult to get around one wide door. The other considerations -- two gaskets versus one; the amount of cold air lost each time the door is opened -- are pretty much a wash.

Refrigerators sometimes seem smaller than they used to be because they are better insulated than they used to be. It makes them cheaper to operate. But it sometimes means you have to buy a bigger 'fridge to get the interior space you used to have. Bigger refrigerators also use more steel ($$) which is more expensive than it was several years ago. And features that used to be extras (icemaker, glass shelves, etc.) are now pretty much standard. The old style of bottom-freezer 'fridge is still around and will cost closer to $900-1200 depending on brand and size and still is a decent buy because the technology is time-tested. I don't know how many refrigerators are built for a 20-year life anymore, though.

[Mrs. Hermit]

The space in my seems pretty good. I can rearrange the shelves when I need to load it up for when all the kids (and their kids) are home. The freezer arrangement took a little getting used to, but I seem to have developed a system for dealing with it. (Not something conscious, it just evolved). Tall hubby doesn't like to bend down to see in the top freezer drawer.

I like the 2 door option because I can put heavier things in the doors. They also don't occlude the walkway when they are open. Since the water dispenser is in the hinge of the left hand door, that is important.

Mine is 6 years or so old now. I got it on an end of year floor sale, so that saved a bunch.

[frugal-one]

I'm happy for you frugal-one! I know those kind of things make me happy too. Your link to maytag didn't show which one you bought. Do you have 2 doors on top, or just one?
I know what you mean about losing food because you can't see it. That happens to me all the time. I'm starting to get excited! I would love to keep this refrigerator to keep in the garage......but we don't have a garage!
Do you like your icemaker?

CathyA... Yes, I have french doors which means 2 doors on the top. If you check the link above and put in french doors, bottom freezer you will see what I purchased. I am totally happy with it. I put a turkey in a few days ago to thaw. I just had to move the shelf up and still have lots of room. This is totally awesome. About the ice maker... I think it will be a bigger deal in the summer. The weather here in the north is WAY below zero now so I haven't been using much ice!