Fans of French door refrigerators, the wait is over. This summer brings a newcomer to Sub Zero’s classic line of built-in refrigerators: a French door model.
Favored by many for their space efficiency (opening the doors requires half the space of full size doors) and energy efficiency (opening one French door keeps more cold air inside as compared to one large swing door), Sub-Zero’s 36-inch French Door Refrigerator has two 18-inch refrigerator doors over their classic pullout bottom freezer drawer.
As far as we can tell, the door configuration is the only shake-up in this new model. Other high performance features standard in Sub-Zero refrigerators are all there: an air purification system, water filtration, adjustable glass shelving, and a dual-compressor operating system that separately controls the temperature and humidity of the refrigerator and freezer compartments. A well-considered investment, my Sub-Zero was installed in 1996 and is still going strong.
NB: See 10 Easy Pieces: Built-In Refrigerators for more options.
Above: The Sub-Zero BI-36UFD French Door Refrigerator is available in stainless steel with tubular handles (as shown above) or pro handles (shown below), or ready to be fitted with a custom panel overlay and frame handles; $9,750 and $8,310 respectively through an authorized Sub-Zero Dealer.
Above: Known for their superb performance and design, Sub-Zero took their time entering the French door refrigerator market, choosing instead to perfect their design to combat issues with door sealing that many such models encounter. The result is a design based on a pivoting center mullion such that each door has an independent seal.
Above: The Sub-Zero interior is spacious with adjustable, sturdy, and easy-to-clean glass shelves. The 18-inch wide doors open independently or in tandem for full access to the refrigerator’s interior even in narrower kitchen spaces.
Finally, get more ideas on how to evaluate and choose your kitchen refrigerator in our Remodeling 101 Guide: Kitchen Refrigerators.
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