Fridge with small door-in-door?

[fan-of-fans]

Last week at Habitat Restore, I saw a GE side by side with a drop down door in the fridge door. I saw a lady open it and look inside.

It occurred to me that this is only the second or so of these I saw in person, though I have seen them in my Sears catalogs. It seems there are none of these made anymore. What brands offered this feature? It seems like the ones I saw in the catalog were either GE or Kenmore.

I also recently saw a commercial showing a 90s GE top freezer fridge, that had a large door on its fridge door also. This seems even rarer.

 

[rp2813]

I'm only familiar with GE's that had this feature, but I know there were other types that had even larger doors (but maybe not the flip-down tray).

 

Now I'm seeing ads on TV for the same thing from one of the Korean manufacturers, like it's some sort of revolutionary new idea.

 

[askolover]

I remember Kenmore having these too back in the '80's

 

[whirlcool]

The idea was that you would place commonly accessed good near the small door so you wouldn't have to open the entire door, letting cold air escape.

 

[goatfarmer]

Kenmore/Whirlpool had them.

 

[yogitunes]

the fridges were originally made by GE, but did an ungraded clone for Kenmore....if I correct it was the biggest SxS that was available at 27cuft

I had the TOL from 1988 of the Kenmore Digital version...that door/station was mainly for items like milk, where that area was kept colder than the rest of the fridge...plus the supersize ice bucket, never ran out of ice

once moved to the basement, this fridge made a great drop down BAR.....Ice and water on tap, and chilled liquors at the ready.....I mis that fridge, it had more features than you will ever find today....

GE does a similar version of the drop down door today, but not quite the same

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

My in-laws also had a GE Side X Side Snackfinder fridge...

 

There was an ice & water dispenser and a diagnostic "computer board" on there, as well...  The latter two features, their new Whirlpool fridge has, too...

 

 

-- Dave

 

[gansky1]

Whirlpool made a door-in-door refrigerator in the 80's IIRC, it was a larger door than the GE drop-down hatch door. Kenmore also had the WP version for a while, but not too long. These extra doors and cubby holes come and go with time, I think Samsung or LG offers one now.

 

[super32]

If i remember, GE called them space center 25 and 27. 25 was the top freezer and 27 was the SXS. I had the 25 for awhile but move on to something else. Hopefully this link works. im not good at adding links.

 

[ptcruiser51]

@ The Home Depot

We had the GE model on the floor for awhile, not a good seller. Factory rep said the idea of the drop-down door was so you could put glass or cereal bowl on it to fill, rather than leaving door open while you walked to table or counter and back. Clever idea, but not too popular.

 

[turquoisedude]

Didn't Hotpoint have a 'snack door' on some of the fancier 70s models also?  I seem to remember seeing ads that touted this feature as being an 'energy saver' because you weren't opening the full refrigerator door as often, but I'd be really surprised if this really did reduce cycling of the refrigerator. 

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Hotpoint had the Ice Service ice chute on their '70's Side x Sides--and I loved that feature!

Sears tried the same thing w/ their Tilt-Ice on their Coldspot fridges, and there was Whirlpool's Ice Magic, both available on the top freezer and side-by-side fridges, in that same era...

-- Dave

 

[turquoisedude]

Ah! So that's what I was remembering about the Hotpoint.  Thanks, Dave!

 

[fan-of-fans]

The pictures I saw from catalogs showed the door being used as a countertop with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses of ice sitting on it. I think the area inside the door was a separate compartment, although in the pictures it didn't look that way as the door was clear. So this may have kept air from escaping as much. Some models used air from the freezer to chill this area cooler for drinks. Amanas had the feature also, but I've never seen any with the outside access door.

Also on the GEs and Kenmores I saw this feature always came accompanied by a digital display and buttons over the dispensers that would show codes if there was a problem. Also had a door alarm if door was left open.