Shallow

A shallow depth refrigerator (24 inches depth with or without the door) is a good design idea for upscale kitchens. Since the refrigerator cabinet does not protrude into the kitchen, the refrigerator can be placed anywhere. You also do not see a textured or unfinished side.

SubZero actually manufactured the first shallow refrigerator in the 60's. Now almost everyone manufactures some type of shallow product. There are three styles: regular counter depth, professional and integrated.

Have a peek...

Counterdepth (regular): This is the least expensive option starting at $1349. It is a refrigerator only less shallow. The doors protrude, but the actual refrigerator is hidden in the cabinet at 24 inches.

Professional: Professional is the style started and popularized by SubZero. Compressor is on the top for a more commercial appearance in stainless or can be paneled.

Integrated: This is the newest and fits within a cabinet at 24 inches WITH the door. Unlike the Pro and the regular, an integrated refrigerator is totally hidden inside the cabinet.

KitchenAid Refrigerators?

Whirlpool purchased the KitchenAid division from Hobart in the 80s in order to leverage what was then the best dishwasher and disposer brand in the world. Hobart should have continued, because they actually started manufacturing decent cooking products.

Flash forward to 2010, KitchenAid dishwashers are under assault by Bosch, Miele and Asko. Their cooking products are not as compelling as Electrolux, Bosch and GE Cafe.

Salvation can be derived in unexpected places for this venerable brand (does that read too melodramatic?). They actually have great refrigerators, or three in particular.

Shallow Depth French Door: At $1749, this is the least expensive for a shallow french.

Shallow Depth French door Part 2: This one is 22 cubic, which is the largest.

27 Cubic Foot Regular depth french door: This a very likeable product. It is larger with an interactive, digital icemaker and is not much more expensive than the standard 25 cubic footers.

Shallow Depth

Shallow depth refrigerators do not protrude beyond your cabinets. Its really a much nicer look than a regular depth refrigerator. A shallow depth will deliver the same type of look as a professional (yesterday's post) at a fraction of the price.

But which one do you consider?

Bosch

Electrolux

Cafe

Samsung

KitchenAid

Buying Guide

1. Do you want french door or side by side?

2. Price varies from $1349 to over $3000

3. Consider rebates...they are huge, buy the same manufacturer if possible to maximize potential savings

Professional Refrigerators

SubZero manufactured the first professional refrigerator back in the 50s. With the building boom in the last 20 years (deduct the last 2.5), every manufacturer produced these ultra high end refrigerators.

I have always defined a professional refrigerator simply as products with compressors on the top like a commercial refrigerator.

Here is what they look like and what to look for...

SubZero

Viking

Thermador (Bosch, Gaggenau, Miele have the same box with different interior)

Monogram

KitchenAid

Liebherr

The best of the bunch is still SubZero with 2 compressors, the best seal and temperature control. In 2009, they added an air scrubber to keep food fresher and an advanced water purifier as well. However, there are less expensive alternatives...Here are the best of the rest.

Bosch, Thermador, Miele, Gaggenau: This is an integrated refrigerator, which is really great looking with panels as it blends perfectly.

Liebherr: This German company is also the greenest and has some interesting configurations of products.

Viking: Bought Amana's tooling 10 years ago, and has finally righted the ship

Buying Tip:

1. Rebates: Even the venerable SubZero company has one when combined with their sister company Wolf...There is not a huge price spread between all of them and features have been replicated.

2. Panel Vs Stainless: Look at the product with both.

3. Repair: Insure there is service available....it is different than fixing a regular fridge.

4. Price shock? Consider a regular shallow (non top compressor) refrigerator and save $5,000 plus.

VideoBlog

My first iPhone videoblog....It's more of a test, because we can only hope I become more acclimated to this format (to be kind).

This post is about new French Door refrigerators

Intro



Regular Depth



Shallow depth

Finally

Look at this seemingly ordinary Samsung refrigerator...

You are looking at a 33 inch shallow depth french door refrigerator. In fact you are looking at the only 33 inch french door refrigerator. It's significant, because 50% of you have 33 inches of depth or less for a refrigerator, and as of last week almost all were 36 inch.

BTW, this is also only $1349 or $500 less than most other (larger) shallow depths.

A Question of Samsung

Samsung is currently one of the most popular brands of appliances. It is highly rated, stylish and has niche products.

Have a look...

Highlights:

33 inch shallow depth refrigerator

3 fan convection ranges....if 2 is better than 1, than 3 must be better than 2

Very, very interesting laundry

The question of Samsumg to me is simple. Does it work? Does it create service issues? Guess we will find out together...

Shallow Depths and Thank Yous

First, Tax Holiday was a rousing success. A big thank you to our customers and to the sales, warehouse and customer service people who made it happen. You are a great group.

Shallow depth refrigerators are the number one keyword (or product of interest) according to Google Analytics for the Yale Blog.

Let's exclude SubZero's and integrated refrigerators like Thermador, Miele and Gaggenau for a moment. A regular shallow depth refrigerator is 24 inches plus the door. As such the cubic footage drops from 26-28 cubic foot to 20-25, and you will pay $500-1000 more for what is less.....

Have a look at why: Same refrigerator....

Shallow

Regular refrigerator

The regular depth will protrude another 6-8 inches into the kitchen. Although this is not bad at the end of kitchen, the shallow will look far better with an island or in the middle.

Columns

So SubZero is now manufacturing integrated columns. It is similar to their current 700 series just as an all freezer or refrigerator.

Integrated columns allow independent placement, which is a fancy term for placing the fridge/freezer anywhere you want. It is also hidden...have a look at this kitchen...

Have a look now...

Thermador/Gaggenau and Miele columns are available in 24 and 18 inch widths.

Thermador has a 36 inch french door as well

It's a great, but expensive option with panels

Kitchen Of The Year...Part 2

Welcome to Monday

Part 2 of our renovation of the House Beautiful "Kitchen of The Year" (video below). In part 1, we specified the best. In part 2, we deliver a very nice kitchen on budget.

Have a Look:

Refrigeration
House Beautiful: JennAir JB36NXRW
Yale Beautiful: Bosch B22CS30

Ok, its a side by side...but the Bosch B22 is attractive, counter depth and stainless. At $1700+ after rebates, this unit is around 5-6,000 cheaper than the JennAir.

Wall Oven
House Beautiful: JennAir JJW2830
Yale Beautiful: Bosch HBL3550

Bosch does not have gadgets, just stainless steel and convection. At $2300, it is also $3,000 cheaper than HB.

Cooktop:
House Beautiful: JennAir JED3536
Yale Beautiful: Frigidaire FPCC3085

Lets see, ours is 2 burner induction...Theirs is not. Our vent is easier to clean and way more powerful.

Sinks:
House Beautiful: No idea
Yale Beautiful: Majestic M24 and Franke NAX110

Simple, popular D-shape sinks...If I had to guess, you would save probably $3,000-5,000 between this and the HB.

Lights:
House Beautiful: German import
Yale Beautiful: Tech Lighting canopy with your choice of pendants...

I have been thinking about this one all weekend. Ok, part of the weekend. Look at the canopy and combine it with any pendant to customize your own light.

House Beautiful video



Well, we are at least $15-20,000 less expensive than House Beautiful.

What do you think?

Frigidaire French Door

Frigidaire has finally marketed a french door refrigerator. This is good for consumers in general. Since they are a quality, yet low price producer, other companies will suddenly re-market their products at lower prices.

Have a gander:

Frigidaire 28 cubic foot french door...

Is $300 cheaper than a Bosch 26 cubic foot...

and $600 less than this GE profile unit (GE does have the cool touchscreen)...

Unfortunately, Frigidaire chose the wrong segment to attack first. Most consumers by the french door smaller or counter depth. Hopefully, they will be on the market soon.

Do This OR That

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I was away in Kennebunckport and saw some blog worthy material. Last couple of years I have focused on renovating more cost effectively. This post will be a continuation....Have a look.

The SubZero 600 series. You have to love the vacuum seal, self sealing crispers and overall fit and finish of these units. Then again at around $11,000, these units should be pretty good.

We show them panelled. Stainless built-ins look like this together (different units than the 600 series).

At The Captain Lords Inn in Kennebunkport, there lies a pretty good alternative. The Frigidaire Commercial Series, complete with wheels at the bottom. Nice looking and under $3000 for the set.