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colinbowern:
I'm looking casually at the moment at the quad doors. Currently leaning towards the FP RF605QNU in Stainless once it pops up on sale. What's on my mind is:
* Is ice in the freezer or fridge door better? I suspect freezer, but no evidence
* Is variable compartment going to work well in the long run? I hope so, I like the idea of a drinks compartment.
* Will the shelves fit our stuff or have an awkward bit? Will drop in store to visually check out.
* Will the shelves and drawers be durable for the long run? Will drop in store to visually check out.
Ideally I'd prefer a fridge that can vent out the front, so it can back closer to the wall, but those are only available in the high end $10k+ models from Sub Zero and co. I'd also like a stainless interior for more efficient cooling, but those come in the $6k+ range for the back panel being stainless. I'd love to have no water as I read a lot of them don't have large water reservoirs to keep cool and we already have a filtered water tap.
We've had an F&P quad door for a bit over 2 1/2 years. We will soon be starting on a new build and have recently gone through an exercise in choosing what fridge to have for that. So, I can provide a few comments.
Firstly some pros:
The current fridge is generally good. It's utterly dependable for doing what it's supposed to (chilling and freezing). As has been pointed out, the internal storage design is very good - in fact, far superior to most top line Euro brands - e.g. much better storage compartments in the doors, and all the shelves are at an accessible and realistic height. Glass shelves are good quality - the top one is split, allowing a range of heights.
The variable storage compartment is probably useful, but tbh, we have only ever used it as a freezer. A single drawer freezer would have more volume overall, but we really like using doors - particularly when accessing the ice maker.
Now, some cons:
Build quality of the French doors has been the main issue. When delivered, the doors were way out of whack and wouldn't close properly (it shouldn't have left the factory like that). It took two separate F&P technician visits to fix it. (It was at this point that I swore we would never bother with F&P again). And just in the last few weeks, we have had them out again to replace the flappy thing that seals between the doors. A spring managed to wait until a few months out of warranty period before failing!
The water dispenser on the door front doesn't chill very well. And we tend to get visible lime build up in the seams and joins of its drip tray.
The ice maker can be really noisy and groany - I think it gets a bit constipated sometimes...
The door hinge design is simplistic. When opening, the doors swing out quite a bit wider than the main body, so you either have a large gap down the sides, or have the fridge sit out proud of the cabinetry.
However:
We have recently had to specify a fridge for a new kitchen. We want to have a wide compartment with french doors, with freezer below, and built in/integrated with cabinetry panels on the doors. Having sworn off F&P, we started by considering the Euro brands (Miele, Liebherr etc.). After rocking back on our heels at the prices, the main thing that struck us was the designs, particularly the heights. With all of them, the fridge compartment start at least at chest height to my wife and most of the shelves are actually above her head. Some models are around 2000mm high, with all the useful bits up in the higher regions. And things like door storage are noticeably inferior.
So:
We have gone full circle and actually settled back on an F&P model, purely for the better design and usability.
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