Side by side refrigerators open in a french door style with vertically designed refrigerators and freezers. The freezer is located on one side and the refrigerator located on the other. Both the refrigerator and the freezer have separate doors with handles that are opened by pulling the doors outward from the center. Because these doors are half the width of a typical single swing door refrigerator and freezer they are a great option for a small space or an apartment with a small kitchen that does not have the room for space obstructing swing open doors. Side by side fridge appliances can be placed closer to kitchen islands or kitchen tables without the doors hitting the furniture.
Because the refrigerator and freezer in side by side refrigerator appliances are about the same size as single swing door refrigerators, they hold the same amount of food but in a different way. Because the refrigerator and freezer sections are vertical rather than horizontal there are more smaller shelves per section rather than fewer wider shelves. Both the refrigerator and the freezer hold food items on shelves which start at the top of the appliance and continue down to the bottom. The refrigerator portion usually has two crisper drawers located near the bottom of the refrigerator like a traditional refrigerator would. The refrigerator portion of side by side refrigerators is typically slightly wider and therefore larger than the freezer and has larger shelves than the freezer portion. Some side by side refrigerators have pull out shelves so it is easy to see the food by pulling out the shelves in a crowded refrigerator or freezer instead of taking the food out and moving it around to see items that are closer to the back.
Most side by side refrigerator appliances also come with ice makers. These ice makers link to an ice and water dispenser that is located on the outside of the freezer door. Cups which need ice can be held up to the ice dispenser and pressed against the dispenser lever to easily add ice to a beverage without opening the freezer door. This dispenser helps to conserve energy because the ice can be accessed without continually opening the freezer door which would allow cold air to escape the freezer. The water dispenser can be used to fill glasses of water or to add both ice and water to blenders for smoothies.