[Dony]

After painting the kitchen today, and sitting back admiring my good work, I starting thinking that an American style fridge freezer would look well. A strange thought to come into my head, considering that up until that moment I always thought I hated them .

Anyway, can anyone recommend one, not overly pricey, but must be chrome effect finish. I'm not concerned about the lack of freezer space as we have a stand alone chest freezer.

[Ayub]

tbh i have had two and i think they are crap. They look big but are quite small from the inside.

The ice making machine is good in summer but to be honest i would go for the standard upright type, you can get more in.

I have had a wirlpool and have a hotpoint installed .

[Dony]

This might sound stupid, but the actual storage capacity is not really that important to us. Currently we have an integrated fridge and separate integrated freezer. Then at the end of our kitchen units we have a full length double larder/cupboard. It's not really used for its original purpose (it's full of post, documents, remote controls and operating manuals etc).

What I was thinking was to replace the larder with a modern looking fridge, then remove the current fridge and freezer and convert the spaces to cupboard space. We will still have a chest freezer in the utility room.

We are gradually changing the look of the kitchen having recently tiled, painted and changed all the electric sockets, and are trying to move away from a country style kitchen to a more updated contemporary style.

[juniper]

I have owned two different LG ones, and found them great. The filters are fairly expensive to replace (about £55 a pop), but otherwise very good, quiet, and fairly efficient, well laid out etc. Can't remember model numbers now but can look them up if needs be?

[Newton's Ring]

I got a Samsung from B&Q a couple of years ago for about £594 - I've had it repaired once, though under warranty and consider it one of my most 'worth the money' purchases in the last couple of decades - it's hard to rave because spending money on a fridge is a bit like spending money on toilet paper and raving about the toilet paper.


Anyways, it's got an ice dispenser and water dispenser - there's an inline filter but you can pick them up for chips on ebay. If you've got the space do it, and if you don't, sell something and make space.

Oh and about the storage space, I went back to the store after I'd ordered the thing and began to have panic attacks that there might not be enough space - don't worry - they're m i l e s bigger than a regular fridge freezer.

[Hitby]

with regards to the price of filters - you can buy them from here - Pozzani Pure Water Filters for most fridge freezers for 1/4 of the price the manufacturers charge. They'll also write to you when you're almost due to replace one as well!

For instance, the one for my LG is 11.29

[Billo]

Originally Posted by Dony

We are gradually changing the look of the kitchen .

Have you made the doors wider?
I saw a sign in an appliance store which stated ''The Delivery Team WILL leave this item in your garden if it turn out that it will not fit into the house. Please measure your doors and space before ordering''

[nheather]

As stated filters can be found much cheaper online.

I know you say that you are not concerned about the storage space but I'd really check to make sure if I were you.

The freezer compartment tends to be really small - likely to be smaller than used to. If you have a ice maker that takes a chunk out of the freezer side aswell.

We have one (an LG I think) and whilst I do like it, and we chose it because it had one of the biggest freezer storage, we still had to go through a bit of behaviour change about how much freezer food we buy.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Mac Man]

Have to say I love my Maytag fridge freezer.

It was certainly the biggest of any of the fridge/freezers in the stores at the time. We don't use the freezer as much as the fridge side of the unit - which compared to a standard over/under machine is massive. And the water/ice dispenser is great.

We have ours in the classic American black crackle finish - which makes for easy cleaning. I would never, ever consider a stainless steel one as you'd be forever trying to keep it free of finger prints. So if it's chrome finish you're after I'd suggest getting one that has a laquered finish.... so it just needs a quick wipe to clean.

Only problem with ours is that it hasn't been the most reliable. TBH I wouldn't recommend it as a brand. We are on our second one... and even that's required an engineer visit to replace some of the electronics. I actually bought an extended warranty just recently to cover it for the next 3 years.

[booyaka]

Originally Posted by Dony

After painting the kitchen today, and sitting back admiring my good work, I starting thinking that an American style fridge freezer would look well. A strange thought to come into my head, considering that up until that moment I always thought I hated them .

Anyway, can anyone recommend one, not overly pricey, but must be chrome effect finish. I'm not concerned about the lack of freezer space as we have a stand alone chest freezer.

just moved house and the owners left the american fridge freezer as it was plumbed in etc.

It's chrome finish and i believe it's a daweoo

Daewoo Product Item

Very good - looks nice, silent and the ice/water etc works very well and is used alot.

[Synchronicity]

Originally Posted by Newton's Ring

it's got a water dispenser

ooo, fancy, I wish all kitchens had these

[Decadence]

it's just the finger prints and little swirly scratces on the chrome effects that put me off...sadly white looks even worse.

[bazonix]

and gloss black

i do agree with the other posters on the freezer compartment.... they are small, and even as i live on my own.... if asda or some1 has a deal on the dr oetker pizza's, im limited to how many i can buy in one go!! but the filtered water and ice dispenser really are a god send.... cocktail parties have never been the same and i dont buy bottled water anymore, saving me hundreds a year

[Dony]

I have one of THESE which is big enough to store all frozen foods we use. To be honest, if I did go for an American style freezer, the only things that will be kept in the freezer compartment will be ice cream and lollies.

We would gain additional fridge space though as our current stand alone fridge is quite small.

Any other recommendations apart from LG, Samsung and Daewoo?

[nheather]

Another word of warning.

We had ours delivered before the kitchen was finished so I had the delivery guys leave it in the garage. I simply thought that my wife and I would 'fit' it when ready.

When we came to move it, we realised just how **** huge and heavy these things are.

This is what I had to do

(i) Make a big skateboard with a spare piece of kitchen worktop and some furniture castors

(ii) Made a ramp out of another piece of worktop to get it up to the bottom of the kitchen door. Another piece of ply to form a bridge over the door step so the bottom of the fridge didn't get damaged.

(iii) Take the doors of the fridge freezer

(iv) Take the back door of it's hinges.

We managed okay but it made me wonder whether the delivery guys would have gone to that much trouble. Obviously they wouldn't need the 'skateboard' and the ramp, but there was no physical way of getting it into the kitchen without removing the fridge\freezer doors and the back door.

Something to consider - they may say that isn't included in the delivery service.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Dony]

I'd have thought these would have a standardised width that would allow them to be moved through a standard door?

I better get the tape measure out again.

[Mac Man]

Originally Posted by bazonix

and gloss black

i do agree with the other posters on the freezer compartment.... they are small, and even as i live on my own.... if asda or some1 has a deal on the dr oetker pizza's, im limited to how many i can buy in one go!! but the filtered water and ice dispenser really are a god send.... cocktail parties have never been the same and i dont buy bottled water anymore, saving me hundreds a year

Not just picking on you here mate.... but why do people think they are small?

Ok the freezer part ain't no chest freezer but they're at least as big as your standard fridge freezer combos, in the freezer dept.

I think total capacity of ours is 22 cubic ft, 600 litres.

I'm pretty sure they're as big as anything else of that width/depth. Only way I know of getting more space is to buy a separate fridge and freezer and stick them together side by side. But these would be 1200mm wide rather tahn the 900mm width of ours.


One other thing to mention is that a lot of models are deeper than standard UK kitchen cabinets. So if you want it to fit in with an existing row of cabinets, it's going to stick out. Although I believe some manufacturers make some at standard depth.

[nheather]

I suppose it depends on what you are comparing it with. Typically an Amercian style unit is around 20cuft, split 12.5cuft for fridge and 7.5cuft for freezer. If you have an ice maker this tends to reduce the freezer down to 6.5cuft.

This is comparable\bigger than a fridge freezer but smaller than a seperate freezer. I went from two seperate full height units to a US one. The combined height\width was about the same but we ended up with more fridge and less freezer.

The other challenge is the shape of the 6.5cuft in the US style units. It is usually tall and narrow and also includes storage on the back of the door. They tend to have open shelves rather than drawers. The overall effect is that it is harder to use the space efficiently and some things dont fit because the unit is too narrow.

One other thing to mention is that a lot of models are deeper than standard UK kitchen cabinets. So if you want it to fit in with an existing row of cabinets, it's going to stick out. Although I believe some manufacturers make some at standard depth.

If this is important, make sure you go and measure it yourself in the store rather than relying on quoted specs - because some manufacturers quote depth excluding the doors.

Cheers,

Nigel

[bazonix]

+1 with Nigels comments.... and like i stated previously, living alone makes freezing more viable and the actual pizza boxes (for eg.) are a standard size, so they will only go in 3 of my compartments out of 7, coupled with the fact i freeze my bread, spinach, home made food, vodka and jumbo bags of 'prime atlantic cod fillets'.... im not left with much space for other larger boxes... if i had a choice, i would swap the two around and enjoy a much bigger freezer with a seldomly used fridge..... (beer and butter and thats it) it looks empty all the time where as the freezer is full to bursting.....

a stand alone freezer much more suits me as its a very workable size and is uniform throughout..... obviously my brand new kitchen with granite worksurfaces and all the integrated toys prefers the look of the american fridge/freezer... and so do i

[Mac Man]

Originally Posted by bazonix

+1 with Nigels comments.... and like i stated previously, living alone makes freezing more viable and the actual pizza boxes (for eg.) are a standard size, so they will only go in 3 of my compartments out of 7, coupled with the fact i freeze my bread, spinach, home made food, vodka and jumbo bags of 'prime atlantic cod fillets'.... im not left with much space for other larger boxes... if i had a choice, i would swap the two around and enjoy a much bigger freezer with a seldomly used fridge..... (beer and butter and thats it) it looks empty all the time where as the freezer is full to bursting.....

a stand alone freezer much more suits me as its a very workable size and is uniform throughout..... obviously my brand new kitchen with granite worksurfaces and all the integrated toys prefers the look of the american fridge/freezer... and so do i

See where you're coming from fella.

Ours is used the opposite way. The fridge is almost always chock full and the freezer never carries more than a weeks worth of pre-prepared food that we cook up on the weekend (if we have the time). Tend not to buy much frozen stuff at all. So it suits us very well. But I guess if we shopped at Iceland a lot, things might be different

[Greg]

I've been interested in one of these for a while now, although we need to do some major reshaping and moving of the boiler in the kitchen to get one in.

Of the ones I've seen, I'm now more leaning to the ones that have the filtered water in the fridge section. The ice maker and dispenser is great, but it takes up a massive amount of what is a small freezer. At least with the ones with the chilled water in the fridge, you get a decent sized freezer.

Samsung do some nice looking ones with the Brita water filter in the fridge section door.

[lentrix]

Don't touch the samsung's - major breakdown problems and have been on watchdog ! check the web for more info