I was a bit surprised to find that many of the drawer refrigerators I looked into use quite a bit more energy than a standard upright...something important to me as my new house is going to be off the grid.

Bormioli Rocco makes square carafes in a variety of sizes with hermetic seals to help take better advantage of refrigerator space

Here's a square pitcher with recessed handles. http://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-Pitcher-Stopper-64-Ounce/dp/B007QUN7DY/ref=pd_sim_79_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41i3JPjCJNL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR91%2C160&refRID=19559915087X0XCW4DEC

craig, could you start a thread about that? I am always interested.

We renovated our kitchen about 5 years ago and installed a double under-counter fridge drawer unit which we custom panelled. It was a supplemental fridge and we loved the extra storage and look, however it was a Jenn Air and the digital panel kept breaking. It must have happened at least 6 times. The upshot of the story is that they refunded the total purchase price of the unit and said they couldn't fix it. It still refrigerates but the digital panel and lights are non-functioning. Now I don't know if they have come up with a solution to this problem in the last couple of years but I would be very wary of buying another Whirpool product (KitchenAid, Jenn Air, Maytag are all Whirlpool).

How small can you live delightfully?

Under counter refrigerator units open up new ways of living. If thought of as a lifestyle change up rather than as a supplementary unit then they allow for a rethink of the traditional choreography involved in food prep.

For me, design follows function. While there are some items that may benefit from being seen from the top--as in a drawer--most refrigerated items present best from the front. Drawer freezers are common, but users report "lost" items frequently. I have one myself and share this view--but also love the amount of space I have in it. IMO, an ideal is a dedicated fridge and a dedicate freezer--great if they are paneled to match but not necessary. I have an apartment size fridge/freezer combo in my studio and a full size French door plus drawer freezer in the house.

We store deeper reaching items mid-shelf so that there's no loss at the back, e.g. cheeses in a plastic basket--one pull for the whole lot, grab what you want and the whole lot slips back in. Same with eggs which we often buy 18 at a time.

The one item I regret in my own kitchen is a built-in ice maker. Waste of space, extra cost, plumbing risk, etc.

I too would like an equal space, smaller fridge and separate small freezer. Maybe each 4 ft tall, 30" wide, something like that. fridge for veggies and cheeses, freezer for meats and left overs.

Perfect for the single person in a wheel chair. We don't cook too much, we can't reach too high, and we don't host large parties.. Same with two drawer stacking dishwashers. Who needs upper cabinets anyway? Unless it's to display all the sentimental gadgets and pottery you inherited?

I have thought about the drawer type refrigerator for things like fruits, vegetables, cheeses, lunchmeats, eggs & such, but I would never get rid of our traditional fridge. There are times when you just need that space. Thanksgiving & Christmas. Summer bbqs, birthdays parties, dinner parties, leftovers, etc. Also as others have said there are limits in the height of items you can put into the drawers & that would hind me throughout the year as well. Summer watermelons especially. YIKES! I MUST have room for my watermelon & honeydew melon & cantaloupe, etc........ :-)

i think there are 3 or 4 ideas to using the drawers, although, it was interesting to me the electric they use.

1. Do you have children, great to give them a drawer on the outside of the island for drinks and snacks.

2. do you host a lot of parties, if dips are drinks are in a drawer outside immediately cooking, it is way easier.

3. if you are very fresh minded, or i like setting things at different temps, and it would be nice for that. drinks - near freezing, same with meats, much warmer for veggie/fruit. and one for dairy.

4. you are older or handicapped, which would apply to me too. Kitchen should start at my kneecaps, end at my nose.

Does this sound like a fair consensus?

We put a drawer refrigerator in our newly-build loft because we like the clean look of nothing above the countertops. But the best thing about it is what many commenters see as a problem. It forces us to shop often and wisely. Thus we eat fresher food and don't have mystery containers of UFOs (Unidentified food objects) lurking in the corners of the frig.

Our laundry room is steps away from our kitchen. I have always wanted to put a 2nd refrigerator in it especially helpful when entertaining.

aren't they now?

I think a lot of people have science projects going on in their large fridges. Cook small portions to eliminate leftovers and for health reasons. (-:

de14031, saying the bottom space is unusable is a gross exaggeration. I have two of these fridges and the bottom drawers of both are very usable.

tell you the truth, for me, that would be unusuable anyway. i would rather the fridge stick out a couple inches? Oh, never mind it is not worth it. I am just not that big on why your fridge can not stick out, I guess it is true of the stove too? why doesn't everyone just have bigger cabinets? I am beginning to believe that sometimes style just sucks.

I live in the tropics. I use 2 refrigerators. If I shopped and cooked daily I could get by with smaller units. I am really not able to do much deep bending and digging around in the back of a deep refer is too painful! I do not want under counter refers or freezers that require me to get on my knees to see what is in the back. I have found that the foreign (not USA market) refer/frz are narrower and more shallow which is useful. If I could afford to replace what I have with the ideal solution, I would get 4 Meile units, that can be used as either frz OR refer. If there was a way to use drawer DW or Freezers or Refers lined up horizontally, not stacked, it would be ideal for me. and my back. and my climate

Perhaps because I am not vertically challenged I have difficulty understanding all the comments about having to get so low to get/see into bottom of fridge/freezer drawers -- they are not that deep -- just lift an item & there are the rest of your containers, etc. This is much easier than loading/unloading the bottom rack of your standard dishwasher. Has no one realized how 'silly' these comments are re: deep, lost items, etc.? If you haven't used it, don't knock it!

All i can say nana is that when you knock something, because you have not experienced it, it tends to happen to you. it shall be a truly rude awakening i guess. Due to my oxygen difficulties, followed by my lovely arthritis, Apparently 50 years of great health has its downside. All my kitchen cabinets, fridges, etc. should start at my nose and end at my knees and nothing should be deeper than my arms. And i do not even have a bad back. Keeping my fingers crossed.

My All Fridge at the moment has the mechanicals in the bottom. The drawers are quite usable if a bit short, but the other advantage of them being in the bottom is they are easy to clean, AND it puts the shelves up a bit higher, less bending. I rarely use the bottom drawers as they do harbour interesting science experiments. I do not have upper kitchen cabinets only bottom drawers. They start at my knees and end at my waist.....perfect.

I have been using 4 SubZero refrigerator drawers since our kitchen remodel. I only had one wall for a refrigerator so we went with the drawers and a coffee bar on top. I love, love, love them. Everything is visible and organization is a dream. I kept my counter depth refrigerator in my pantry for freezer space, wine cooling and entertaining essentials. When hosting parties all the food goes to the traditional refrigerator and the drawers are perfect drink chillers, guests help themselves and beverages are always cold. Would never go back to the traditional refrigerator.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And remember we are over 35 million, if we opt out, it will make a difference!

I love the idea of this. But why do you have to open the device to tell if it's on or off. I understand that the designer has thought that the kitchen looks more sleek, but as a usability designer and Industrial designer I think that's a big design fail. The same fail can be seen e.g. in many dishwashers.

Why do you want to hide everything? Would you like to drive a car that looks like a garage door? :D

I think i get what your saying, you think they should not be disguising them. I really don't have a problem with that, somethings just are functional,period. But, the only way to tell if any quiet ref. works is to open it?

My grandparents in Minnesota used to store perishable food on their unheated (but enclosed) back porch from October through March......cheese, fruit, cold cuts etc. It did not work very well due to lack of temperature control. When severe cold was expected, food would have to be moved back inside. They were trying to replicate the root cellar lifestyle even though they had a huge modern refrigerator. This did not make sense....

I think the drawers are a great option for people that don't usually keep a lot of food in their refrigerator. Like me. My family usually don't have a lot of leftovers either.

The nicest fridge I ever used was a 1960s vintage counter-depth wall-hung unit (this was in a rental house when we were first married in the early 70s). It was easy to see and reach everything, there was a built-in counter right under the reefer doors and 2 freezer drawers underneath. We didn't have kids then, but it would have required some assistance for little ones to use- on the other hand they could get their own popsicles!

I really didn't know anyone would be using the fridge drawers as their primary. To me that would be highly impractical. I love fridge drawers as complements to, not as a replacements for, regular refrigerators. Each with an assigned purpose. Water/juice or fruits/veggies or meats/cheeses. Stuff that are fairly often used (especially when guests are over) and/or stuff that do better at their own temps. The big appeal to me was that I would no longer have one item determining the temp at which an entire is kept. When I had much smaller fridges in the past, I found that it actually caused me more money, because I was limited to how much I could buy and keep at a time. If my supermarket or Costco had a sale on a certain item I like, I couldn't buy it in bulk to keep because I had no space. Rarely do things spoil on me because the fridge is cleaned every week and if organized properly, nothing gets lost.

I find a drawer fridge as a primary fridge as practical as I find a drawer dishwasher. It's great until it isn't. Great for certain size items. Then throw a party or need to clean a stock pot and suddenly it isn't so wonderful.

That was really how i saw them too. Especially since someone said they cost more to run. But you know, much of the world only needs one drawer, because they buy daily.

Our first house was a model from the 50's or 60's with the upper cabinet built in refridgerator, they didn't work right in those days something regarding the motor not big enough or something. Everyone was remodeling the kitchens. I have always liked the concept regarding our current refridgerators as dinasours in the kithen. I would love built in if they indeed worked right without issues.

My parents had a built in double refrigerator in their 50's kitchen and 2 freezer drawers. The fridge was at waist height and up and the drawers just below with room under them for deep storage drawers. The only thing the new owners kept from the old kitchen when the house was sold in 1978 was the fridge freezer set up. I believe its still there or they had a custom unit made to fill the space. The unit sat in an alcove beside the basement stairs. Still the best set up I have ever seen. The ones today are too big, and just seem like elephants in the room. Especially the Stainless ones that are the first and sometimes only things you see in a kitchen.

We are promoting the concept of modular refrigeration, the idea that you break away from the conventional 'big-box' refrigerator, and instead install strategically placed undercounter refrigerators throughout your space based on your lifestyle. You can do a mix of undercounter refrigerators with glass shelves and pull out drawers, ice makers, freezers, beverage centers, and wine cellars. We are getting positive responses from families that have remodeled with this modular refrigeration approach. Want to learn more about how modular refrigeration works? Visit www.ModularRefrigeration.com to learn about a kitchen remodel in California, and visit http://blog.u-line.com/modular-refrigeration-remodel-in-parkcity/ to learn about a kitchen remodel in Utah.

@U-Line, what is your warranty on the products? I am interested in the beverage centers and wine fridges (the double door ones)

Our first home had been a model home from the late 50's, with the latest ideas of that era. We had to remodel the kitchen because the upper cabinets on one side of the kitchen was a refrigerator that no longer worked. The story was that the motor burnt out on this concept and they no longer were used. So everyone remodeled their kitchen to provide a conventional refrigerator. I used the refrigerator in the garage until our remodel, running back and forth. I have never forgotten that refrigerator. Todays refrigerators are deep dinosaurs containing unreachable forgotten items in the back, even the counter tops stick out interfering with opening drawers and cabinets in my kitchen. I am not alone with this frustration. I am constantly trying to figure out alternative answers. Someone has to come up with a better idea. Why does the current refrigerator drawer type have loud motors. Why would their motor be any noisier or costly than the standard refrigerators. If technology can make an i-phone and battery run car it certainly can come up with a better refrigerator.

I think it depends on need. My parents home had a full size refrigerator and a full size freezer and my mom also had a refrigerator freezer combo in the laundry room, but most nights we had 14 or 15 people at the table. I don't need the space my mom had, but I think I would like the counter depth full height fridge. The freezer could be a small chest or 2 drawers. There simply is never enough room in my fridge with a gallon of milk and a gallon of OJ and a gallon of this, that and the other, water and sodas and beer and no room for food. I have also thought about getting a beverage fridge of some sort that would leave me a fridge for food.

We have an extra fridge in the garage for drinks and extra food, also a freezer for our bulk frozen food.

@ U-Line, I hope you come back to this discussion! Can't believe you're the only refrigerator industry pro to have commented, and that says an awful lot for the others in the industry - and not in a good way - doesn't it.

Anyway, I'm definitely interested in NOT having a standard big refrigerator, but instead want a bank of highly efficient refrigerator drawers, set at slightly different temps according to the contents: meats, fruits & veg, dairy, booze, etc.

Hope U-Line residential undercounter refrigerator systems are available in Canada.

U-Line is really the future kitchen. the idea has been out there for many years, it just hasn't taken off. I think a lot of people are tired of the refrigerator issues and would consider alternatives.

Until fairly recently, fridges in the U.K. were mainly under-the-counter types. They are available in different voltages for the export markets. The best ones are German-made.

Evaporative Cooler Fridge

• A shelf unit

• Burlap bags

• Clamps or clothespins

• Large pan for water (if needed)

• A cheap PVC shelf unit from you local hardware store works well. It’s lightweight and inexpensive.

• Assembling Instructions:

  • Assemble shelf with the top shelf inverted (shown in picture) to use as a built-in tray for water.
  • Cut burlap to fit around shelf. I recommend doing this ahead of time in case you need to sew pieces together.
  • Soak burlap in water and place around shelf as shown using the clamps or clothespins to hold cloth in place.
  • Fill the top (or large pan/cookie sheet) with water.
  • Leave an extra amount of burlap folded over on the top to soak in the water.As the water wicks down the burlap there's a cooling effect on the items placed inside on the shelf.

  Putting it in the shade is of