On 12/16/2015 4:00 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/16/2015 10:45 AM, Don Y wrote:


A downside to the bottom freezers is they employ an open-weave *basket*
to hold the frozen items. So, opening the "drawer" lets all the cold air
"fall out" (including the air surrounding the frozen items -- i.e., the
freezer loses all its "cold". By contrast, a freezer *chest* leaves
all the cold air trapped in the bottom of the "box".

A drawer could have a bottom "surface" instead of the wire basket
approach. But, AFAICT, all have gone the open-weave approach.

I did not see any basket weave in these, but there has to be places for air to
move around.

Is there a *solid* bottom to the freezer "drawer"? Or, is it,
instead, a "chicken-wire" sort of arrangement?

Said another way, if you empty the drawer and open it, can you see the
floor *beneath* the drawer?

We liked the 4 door unit so we could move things to "convenient heights"
(thinking in terms of how much we want to *bend* to lift things that
we may want to access, often -- regardless of whether they are coming
out of
the *freezer* or *refrigerator* (i.e., you want a freezer AND refrigerator
on top and bottom -- without the side-by-side *forced* requirement.)

The downside is the bottom of the freezer is very low, but a sliding drawer in
it allows the most used stuff to be on top. We have an 18 cu. ft. freezer plus
another fridge so freezer space in the kitchen is of minimal need for us.

The freezer in our kitchen typically has ice and "frozen water half-bottles"
(i.e., half full with ice so you can add water and take it on a hike
minutes later -- knowing it will stay cold for most of your hike).

In Winter, SWMBO keeps frozen blueberries (which she eats with her
daily breakfast). Other times of year, they are *fresh* and kept in
the refrigerator section.

There are also many "cold packs" that we transfer to the two coolers
we carry on our weekly shopping sprees (otherwise, things don't
fare well in 100+F car interiors!).

And, some fraction of a pound of butter (e.g., 2 or 3 sticks -- entire
pounds are in the other freezer) and a bit of margarine (for pizzelles).

The freezer (in the garage) is maybe 15 feet away so easier to store
the 7 months of "fresh" OJ, 4G of spaghetti sauce, steaks, salmon fillets,
nut meats, majority of blueberries, ham steaks, chicken portions, etc.
out there where they'll stay colder and see less exposure to the
door being opened/closed.

We like the idea of the wide and easily accessed refrigerator space. Well, it
looks good, I'll have to get back to you after a couple of months of use.

The 4 door unit essentially gives you freezer, refrigerator and a
"third space" that you can convert to freezer or chiller. There are
some french door models now that have two "drawers" -- one of which
can be set to a different temperature than refrigerator or freezer.
But, the drawer form factor doesn't fit with most of the items we
keep "cooled" (i.e., it wouldn't work for tall containers unless
they were stored on their sides)

Visited a couple of dealers today. Both recommended the Samsung so that is
what we went with. Best price and service is from a small local, family owned
dealer. $100 less that Home Depot, $4400 less than a large dealer in the big
city.

Remember that they have a lot of floor space devoted to these items
so expect a fair "return" on that commitment!

Good luck with your selection!