What are french door refrigerators?
Since the first French door refrigerators hit the market in 2005, the new design’s notoriety has been soaring. French door refrigerators are now rapidly gaining popularity and respect among homeowners all over the world.
This massive success is mainly due to the innovative design that put the pull-out freezer below the dual side by side doors from which the design has taken its name. By uniting the capacity of Bottom Freezer Refrigerators with the Side by Side models’ divided door design, this highly space efficient configuration gave birth to such advanced features as the in-door filtered water dispenser and icemaker.
Although the demand for French Door Refrigerators is still on the rise (partly due to the recent increase in customer demand for Bottom Freezer Refrigerators), French Door Refrigerators are still manufactured in relatively small numbers compared to the more traditional-looking fridges.
The following table provides a brief comparision of the different models:
| Model Type | Model description | Advantages and disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Top Freezer Refrigerators | Freezer is mounted in top of the refrigerator. | Usually smaller and cheaper than other models but harder to access items in the back of the freezer. |
| Bottom Freezer Refrigerators | The refrigerator section is mounted on top of the freezer. | Easy to access fresh food but the pull-over drawer slightly restricts your freedom to move. More expensive than Top Freezer Refrigerators yet usually have lesser capacity. |
| Side By Side Refrigerators | The refrigerator and the freezer are next to each other | Easier to see and access the content of the freezer but fitting in wide items is more difficult due to the decrease of horizontal dimension. Slight increase in capacity compared to Bottom Freezer Models. |
| French Door Refrigerators | Refrigerator is mounted above the pull-out freezer section. | The design of separately opening doors slightly decrease energy cost but the pull-out freezer design forces you to be more organized. |
| Compact Refrigerators | Being fit into smaller spaces, these models are also called as counter height or dorm fridge refrigerators. | Ideal for smaller places but also comes with limited capacity and with or without a freezer. |
| Built-In Refrigerators | The refrigerator is built-into the kitchen cabinetry. | Has an elegan, integrated design but usually a lot more more expensive as well and quite difficult to replace. |
