No matter how big or small your home is, you’re going to have a kitchen, because you’re going to need to eat. While a few people do survive almost entirely on take-out dinners and microwaved meals, the majority of us will want to invest in a stove for cooking and a fridge and freezer for keeping food fresh and healthy. If you want a buy-it-for-life gas range, we’d suggest you invest in something like a 30″ Thor Kitchen (e.g., the HRG3080U) or Kucht (e.g., the KRG3080U) and call it a day. But if you’re in search of a fridge and freezer, aside from considering factors like price and reliability, you’ll want to keep ergonomics and storage capacities in mind, which is where our fridge guides come in. We’ve looked at the pros and cons of all refrigerators, top freezer fridges, and bottom freezer mount refrigerators. Today we’ll bring the same level of scrutiny to side by side refrigerators in our quest to help you choose the fridge that’s right for you.

What are the benefits and advantages of a side by side refrigerator?

A side by side refrigerator, as its name suggests, involves a pair of doors that open out sideways. Unlike top and bottom freezer fridges, which separate the fridge and freezer compartments through vertical segments, side by side fridges, share a closer lineage with all fridges; you can think of them as all refrigerators split in half, with an all freezer on the left 2/5ths and an all fridge on the right 3/5ths. While the capacities will vary in accordance with the height, width, and depth of the units, you’ll typically see at least 22 cubic feet of capacity at the lower end. To put it simply, these are large fridges. The design is popular enough to come in a range of finishes and with a wide variety of features, meaning it’s generally easy to find the style you’re looking for as long as your pockets are sufficiently deep. The Kenmore Elite 51773 28 cubic foot side-by-side refrigerator is a typical example of a quality model in the style; it’s large, powerful, and includes amenities like a built in ice maker and water dispenser.

Side-by-side fridges make fridge and freezer access equally convenient

Aside from the visually striking style and high-end look, the main reasons people choose side-by-side fridges have to do with convenience. While they don’t offer as much refrigerated capacity per cubic foot as top freezer fridges, they do offer more freezer space, and they make that freezer space far easier to access. As a result, storing, organizing, and retrieving frozen foods is easier in a side-by-side refrigerator than in any other combined fridge design. If you frequently store or use frozen foods like meats, poultry, and fish, you’ll appreciate the ease of access you get with the vertical, easily-surveyed layout of a side-by-side refrigerator. Beyond the food access ergonomics, side-by-side fridges are also favored by people with smaller kitchens due to the smaller doors that won’t need nearly as much room to fully open as those in top and bottom freezer fridges or in all refrigerators. If you want a fridge and freezer in one unit but want equally easy access to both, there’s no question: the side-by-side design is the most efficient on the market.

What are the cons and drawbacks of a side by side fridge setup?

However, not everything about a side-by-side fridge can be perfect, as there isn’t a single fridge design that works optimally for all individuals. The most obvious downside to a side-by-side setup is cost; you’re going to spend more to take one home than you would on a bottom freezer fridge like the Kenmore Elite 79043 24.1 cubic foot bottom freezer refrigerator pictured above. As a result, if you’re primarily focused on the amount of cubic feet of storage you get per dollar, it’s important to know that both top- and bottom-freezer fridges will give you more storage for your money than the side-by-side setup, which is considered a premium style in comparison. Similarly, while the ergonomics of freezer access earn high marks, a fact of the design is a reduction in width; as a result, if you have particularly wide or large trays, leftovers, or packages, you’ll need to get creative with them, as you won’t have the full width of the fridge or freezer to store them. To put it simply, you’re not going to store a three foot sub sandwich in a side-by-side fridge unless you chop it up first. However, if you can overlook these limitations, it’s a versatile design that can serve most families with ease.

You can buy the Kenmore Elite 51773 28 cubic foot side by side refrigerator in several sizes and finishes here on Amazon. For a bottom freezer design, buy the Kenmore Elite 9042 24 cubic foot bottom freezer refrigerator in a range of sizes and finishes here on Amazon. If you’d rather have a top-mounted freezer fridge, buy the Kenmore 71215 top freezer refrigerator in a range of sizes and finishes here instead.

Canadians , unfortunately the Kenmores aren’t available. However, you can buy a close relative, the GE Profile 20 cubic foot bottom freezer refrigerator here on Amazon. For a top mounted freezer option, buy the Kenmore 71215 top freezer refrigerator here on Amazon.

If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home appliances by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.