Single door is nicer bc you only have to open one door, the french doors you often have to open both bc they are too small to get to things unless it’s in the door compartment. Opening or closing both doors with things in your hands gets old, and if you want to get into the meat drawer you have to open both sides fully then slide a huge tray out to get to it. Good luck opening one door and trying to squeeze a casserole dish in.
Single doors close somewhat automatically, might need a knee or hip nudge. French doors are more manual, closing each door individually. French doors often beeping bc they didn’t get closed correctly. They have a little flap between the doors that gets worn out and loose, so that will also make it annoying to close.
Single doors open up out of the way, french doors always have one side flapping in the way making sure neither side of the counter can be used easily.
Single door type fridges are usually very simple, easy to fit a lot of stuff in them, french door fridges seem bloated, tons of wasted space.
French doors are more expensive and seen as a luxury item, despite single door fridges being common due to cost I think people perceive french doors to be an upgrade, but imo it is a downgrade, thus unpopular.
Relevant Technology Connections-video: https://youtu.be/CGAhWgkKlHI
Ehhhh, better is a subjective thing. You made your argument well for one range of use cases though.
For me, with my back issues and arthritis, a side by side is better than either. You get the freezer on one side, where you can prioritize supplies based on how easy/hard it would be to pull them out at a given height. The fridge is the same, but it’s less likely to have heavy things in it, or at least not heavier than a gallon of liquid, which is easy enough to manage if you have adjustable shelves (we do).
The meat drawer part is kinda brand and model dependant. My best bud has a French door fridge with freezer on the bottom, and their meat drawer is a little deeper than ours, but is only on one side of the fridge, so you can open that door by itself. All of the shelves and drawers are configured to be openable with only one door open. It was a ridiculously expensive fridge though. Doors shut well with a gentle bump in that one as well. Only time it’s a problem is when a drawer is open part way.
But, yah, you gotta open both doors to put in large dishes. However, the French door fridges I’ve used have tended to stay open better, making it easier to get big things in and out overall.
The counter issue is a kitchen layout issue.
I would counter your opinion with “it depends, and there’s no objective standard for better”
I would have agreed before living where I do now and not being able to fully open my fridge because the pantry door literally blocks it because whoever designed this apartment is a dumbass. A shorter right-side door like the French ones would at least open all the way.
Different purposes. The french door will cut the needed clearance space in half.
They also consume more power than single door fridges due to additional seals and breaks in insulation.
