Usable Space Side By Side Vs French Door

Aside from aesthetics what really separates side by sides and french doors is the way they make use of the space inside.

Usable space side by side vs french door.

You can put a french door in the same space because the freezer drawer doesn t need swing room and the upper doors are the same as side by side and they ve become popular because you have so much more horizontal space in both the fridge and the freezer. Virtually all side by side refrigerators are the same design. Side by side were invented for small apartment kitchens that didn t have the swing space for a full width door. The freezer as far as we can determine is always on the left and the fridge is always on the right.

For instance side by sides tend to have a more even split between refrigerator and freezer space which is good if you store a lot of frozen food. Most french door options have at least one lower drawer that stores frozen items. Although french door fridges tend to offer more storage capacity in the chiller there are still some benefits to the side by side layout. French door fridges are on the upswing growing in market share each year.

The side by side refrigerators have vertical fridge and freezer space with shelving. If aesthetics are of high importance many prefer the french door to the side by side because the three door and four dour models break up a normally plain wall of stainless steel.