Can't give a review on the Summit becuase after looking at EVERY small fridge on the market we went with LG 24" bottom freezer and could not be happier. Everyday when I use it I get so happy. No more bending down to get veggies--and it holds a lot--enough for two people easily.
We got ours at a holiday sale at PC Richards (they service everything the sell) for about $799.

Here is a link---I strongly recommend the LG!

http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LRBP1031.html

Hi. We also are looking for smaller appliances for our kitchen renovation. We looked at several places last week and I thought the Summit refrigetors looked very cheap.

My parents built a little vacation house (and I mean little) and they bought all Avanti appliances, which are much smaller than our standard sizes here in the US. Since we don't use these every day, I'm not sure how they would perform on an every day basis, but so far, so good!

Hi Misswhisk, thanks for the comment, can you tell me where you saw the refrigerator, because I am having a hard time finding them in a store? Thanks

Fisher & Paykel refrigerator - I have it and love it. Its euro-styling means it is more streamlined. The freezer on bottom is great b/c I find I don't bother peering into it unless I specifically want something out of the freezer. Also, their stainless steel is coated so no fingerprints.

I too had a hard time finding a frig to fit a very narrow kitchen. I purchased a similar Summit frig in 2003 (It looks like your pic only with black trim on the handles) from Gringer in NYC. The price was really good at the time, $675. Other places in the city had the same frig for $1500. Quality is exceptable. It is a bit generic looking, but once it is in the kitchen environment it was fine. It blends well with the other stainless appliances. I suppose there is better quality available if your willing to pay the price. My big issue was needing a depth not to exceed the counter depth.

I love, love my Summit CP171W. We've had it 18 months and never a problem. And it uses less energy than a 60 watt bulb. And it's worth it's weight in gold for all the extra counter space we gained.

We have a summit fridge that fits under the counter. Plenty of space for our needs and we're very happy about it. We have a separate freezer unit (also summit, I believe) that sits next to the fridge, also under counter. They're part of a small kitchen island. It's great--counter space above the units, and extra space elsewhere as we have no tall fridge taking up cupboard/counter space.

I also got a Fisher and Paykel fridge and love it. It's counter depth, narrow and looks great. The bottom freezer is wonderful. I can open the top of the fridge while the dish washer is open. I'm surprised by how often I do that during clean up. Off topic, I also have a small GE dishwasher which is just the right size for a few people in a small space.

I crossed my fingers and ordered the Summit FF1325SSIM (24" wide!) from CompactAppliance.com without having seen it in person. A few months after the kitchen is done, I am satisfied. When it first arrived, I could not believe how loud it was... so much so that I called for service. The repairman pointed out that the coils are hanging off the back unlike most of what you'll find in the appliance stores today. That said, if your kitchen is as small as mine is I would still recommend it over a standard size and less counter.

I got an LG fridge a couple of years ago. (model GR-389) It's about 24" wide, 24" deep & over 6' tall. I think the capacity is 11.5 cu ft. Definitely enough for two. The bottom-mount freezer has several drawers in it to keep things organized & accessible. In the fridge part there are tons of adjustable shelves & drawers. I would definitely recommend this fridge.

I would also suggest an LG over a summit. I looked at both when I was redoing my kitchen, and my big problem with the Summit was that the freezer was not frost-free, which effectively reduces your freezer space if you don't diligently defrost. Of course, this was 3 years ago, so it's possible that they've upgraded since then.

LG makes a wide variety of models - I got mine at PC Richards for under $800. I think they discontinued my particular model to replace it with a more current version, but on their website they had a lot of 24" wide counter-depth models.

Actually, the link provided by taracakes looks exactly like mine, so either they're still making it or it's the newer replacement model.

We have a Summit and I have found it to be an exceptionally poorly designed refrigerator. The outer edges of the shelves curve downward--things slide off constantly. I cannot tell you how many bottles of milk have broken and spilled over my kitchen floor. The shelves on the door are very poorly spaced--it's almost impossible to get jars off the smaller shelves without taking other items out first. The refrigerator cycle is extremely loud, much more so than our old refrigerator, which was almost 20 years older. Additionally, the housing for the light above the top shelf dips down into the shelf area, making it very difficult to store anything that's higher than 5 inches--combined with the ridiculous 1" downward curve of the shelf, it's a lot of lost storage space. Additionally, each time the refrigerator door is shut, the reverberation is just great enough to pop open the freezer door. Apparently the closing mechanism on the freezer door--maybe something magnetic?--isn't strong enough to keep the door closed. They're very cheaply made and I can't recommend Summits at all. A shame really, as previous threads on Apartment Therapy had led me to believe they were of higher quality. Do not purchase one.

Believe it or not costco sells a counter deep refrigerator for a reasonable price. I think it is a vestifrost?
It is made in Denmark and it is 24 inches wide, freezer on the bottom in ss.
They deliver it inside your apartment and take the wrapping out.

You can view the fridge on the costco website. Everything in Denmark is well designed and made well.
It might be a similar price to the summit

Maybe, you would like to share your designers name and contact info.
I live in manhattan and am planning a similar job in a condo.
I can be reached at cityofparis@yahoo.com
Good luck with the work.
Once its done it will be pleasure to be in the kitchen.

I have an LG refrigerator with bottom freezer as well & have been very happy with it -- all the bits come out so it's easy to clean, it's the right size for a tiny kitchen, and it has 3 freezer drawers so it's very well-organized. It is not, however, EnergyStar, so that's something to consider.

i'm not 100% sure if it was counter-depth, but we had a small whirlpool fridge we put into our tiny kitchen in our last house. we got it at lowe's and i want to say it was only around $500-600. i very happy with it.

I purchased a Summit fridge this past fall. I don't remember which model number, but it was the largest of the counter depth fridges. I've been very happy with it and decided on this one vs the LG fridge becuase of the interior dimensions (I'm a rare New Yorker who cooks a lot and keeps a full fridge and freezer) and becuase it's significantly more energy efficient than the LG. My only complaint is that the fridge occasionally makes a high-pitched ringing noise, but it's not bothersome enough to regret the purchase or to which I had gotten something else.

I had a brand new Summit fridge in my old rental and it was fine, but like many have said, pretty noisy for a fridge (then again, I had a pullman kitchen and so it was part of my living room!) Also, the plexiglass shelves got fogged up and/or frosty, which wasn't that attractive, but maybe other fridges do that, too, and maybe that had to do with the temperature I set it to.

I solved this problem by making the counter deeper to match the refrigerator (pulling base cabinets away from the wall to correspond.) The additional 2-3 inches feel quite spacious.

I laughed when I read this, because I thought it was only us!! We went through the same exact thing last year. We bought a Fisher & Paykel from Gringer and LOVE it. We paid approximately $1,300. And you can choose between chrome and white, rounded door (kind of retro looking) and flat, and right-hand or left-hand orientation. Make sure to choose the correct one, because you cannot switch sides.

http://www.fisherpaykel.com/refrigeration/?productUid=9BB284F5-9477-B523-EF376F6A113E6000

Best of luck!

This is Gringer, by the way. They were great!

http://nymag.com/listings/stores/gringer_and_sons/

Thanks to everyone for the response.

After seeing the Fisher & Paykel in person I think we are leaning that way.

Carla
We are actually going to make a trip down to Gringer tomorrow, I like the idea of trying to help keep family businesses going and they are the only ones that have all the smaller models on display.

Did they give you good service?

I have to give another shout out for the Fisher & Paykel fridge. It's awesome and looks amazing. We got ours for $1200 at Drimmers on Coney Island Avenue. When we went there (back in May of '07) there was a special on these, but when I went back it was more expensive. I spoke to the guy who previously helped us and he was more than willing to give us the lesser price. Nice service. Try to bargain wherever you decide to buy.

Javier at Gringer was very helpful! I went down there last week and bought the Liebherr 24" refrigerator with bottom freezer. I can't wait to get it into the apartment! It's definitely more expensive than the others, but we're suckers for design and an ice-maker, so we had to bite the bullet. Also, a while ago I did a comparison of slim refrigerators on my blog so you can check that out if you'd like to see them all in one place:

http://katiekdesign.blogspot.com/2007/10/slim-refrigerators.html

Sorry, just saw this. I loved the service at Gringer. They were not pushy and really helped us decide what to do. There was no hard sell like you might find at a large appliance chain. Hope you had a good experience, DavidNYC!!

I'm with everybody who recommended an LG bottom-freezer model over Summit - I've just specced one for a client in Manhattan; the LG is attractive, efficiently designed and less than half the price of a comparable Summit. Also, LG makes an excellent over-the-range microwave which is the only one I've found that will fit over a 24" range. LG products are readily available at several online distributors, often with no shipping and no tax - you can't beat that!

I am very angry with Summit Appliances. I bought a 24'' twist air. The door was defective and food kept on falling out when I opened it, often breaking jars and wasting food. I called and they sent me a new door, but instead of being Stainless like I originally ordered, it was gray. I called again and they basically told me to go to hell. They are very rude. I will never buy another summit appliance again.

I just got a Summit refrigerator FF1425. The salesman at Gringer said it was quiet, but when I got home it does have a significant noise when the coolant mechanism goes on. I'm really disappointed and would rather not have to get used to it. Has anyone else had any problem with Summit's refrigerator noise?

I chose the Summit FF1152SS for my off-grid solar home, because it is "off the chart" economical - estimated $33 yearly on an EnergyStar label that normally starts at $35. (There are similar 309 kWh/yr Sanyo and MicroFridge 10.3 cu.ft. models that aren't as nicely designed, and supposedly an Absocold model I couldn't find.)

Pricing and delivery costs varied wildly, some places asking over twice what others wanted, and several insisting they could deliver directly to my house when I know no freight van will ever get within three miles of here. It seemed every salesperson had to call Summit to find out this week's price, and they apparently got different answers...

Summit is indeed clueless, they can't answer even simple questions, and were no help at all on my technical questions. I was lucky - turns out the 1152 has simple mechanical controls that work fine even when my power inverter goes into sleep mode. It also has mechanical slider valves to regulate how much of the cold air goes into the freezer, so the freezer is frost-free and you can get it well below zero if you want. (My Sunfrost had no adjustment, and the freezer typically stayed in the twenties if the fridge was above freezing. The dual-compressor Summit CP171 would solve that problem very nicely, but it is rated 380 kWh/yr.)

The 1152 powers up at around 140W, quickly ramps down to around 100W, and typically has dropped to around 85W before shutting off. It cycles more frequently than the Sunfrost, but runs for much shorter periods. A typical cycle reads 0.030 kWh on my Kill-A-Watt. It uses a Panasonic compressor made in China, with classic external zigzag tubing and fine wire condenser "coils" outside the back of the cabinet. The sides and back of the cabinet are within a degree of ambient, so the insulation must be decent even though it is much thinner than a Sunfrost.

It makes a soft whirring noise, a combination of the compressor and internal fan. In a quiet space it is obvious, but it blends well with ambient sound and I often can't tell whether I'm hearing the fridge or one of the hydronic floor pumps.

The box was assembled in Mexico. Mostly the finish is perfect, but there are a couple of puckers in the stainless door that become obvious with just the wrong light. The dropped-edge shelves people used to complain about are gone, there is now a black plastic front edge that provides a tiny lip to keep things from sliding off the front, without interfering with the shelf space below. The single crisper drawer has its back corners relieved so it can be removed even if the door can only open 90 degrees. The door shelves are soda-can sized, just barely tall enough but far too narrow for a pint Mason jar, except for the very bottom one which is half-gallon carton sized. You can't easily open the door from the side, or with your elbow, or via any other means than the grip space between the fridge and freezer doors - but it looks great.

So far, I like it!

I agree with hpenny and abcd123 about Summit's horrible customer and repair service. Three weeks ago, my two-year old fridge stalled, but I jump started it (I kid you not) with bags of ice). Now it's just been dead for more than two weeks (apparently the "walls" were full of ice and it needs a new heater for defrosting, although virtually no ice melted when the fridge stopped working). It takes ages to get someone on the phone (they come in late and leave early and you always get put on permahold), appointments are not available for days, and the repairman has been clueless and swarmy (my dog does not like him and he likes everybody). Both times he has come (yes, only 2 attempts in 2 weeks), same scenario: he arrives with a dainty/wallet-sized toolbox, asks to use the bathroom, leaves the toilet seat up, goes to the fridge, pokes his head inside, grumbles, and says he doesn't have the right parts. Back at Summit (when I can get them on the phone), they can't make another appointment until they get the repairman's (pathetic) report. They can't get that report until the next day or two. They can't schedule a same (or often, next) day appointment, so I had an appointment on Monday and one on Friday. Now it's the next Monday, and no word about finally fixing this piece of crap. Never, ever buy a Summit. Don't do it. PLease do not.

I am coming very late to this party, but I have a Summit (the counter-depth commercial one - not sure of the model number) and I would NOT buy one again. I agree that they are very cheaply made. We had one expensive repair after about 1.5 years, and the post about the freezer not staying closed is true (although I find it to be sporadic).

I would spend more money to get a better refrigerator next time.

We just got one of these, and the freezer is TINY. Also, the vegetable bin is really hard to open. I say pass.

This is a really late comment, but I'm surprised at how many people like their LG refrigerators. I loathe mine and am looking to replace it. It leaks every day, big pools of water across my floor. The bottom freezer drawer is constantly frozen shut, and the capacity is way too small for two people who cook even intermittently. Maybe it's all right if all you ever do is stick a container of leftover takeout on the shelf, but I'm constantly rearranging things to fit in a half-gallon of milk. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of small counter-depth refrigerators to choose from, but I would stay far, far away from LG.

I run a property management apartment firm - after buying several refrigerators all these years - Summit refrigerators you must be careful that they are auto frost free - many are not. As for the person who had problems with their LG - I definitely think they got an lemon. Bought several LG LRBP1031 (currently back ordered as 0f 12/2011) which the tenants love and it is quiet. These are for single persons only who really don't cook alot since space is limited in the apartments. Remember the noise factor is one big one to consider living in a small condo or apartment. On top of that, never push your temp over the recommended range - since it just will freeze the fan and you end up with a damaged condenser and alot of spoiled food -- too many tenants think that the higher the temp the better it is -- only its just the opposite.

I'm wondering if any of you LG lovers can tell me about the sounds it makes. I don't only mean the regular humming that fridges make when they're running. I'm wondering in particular about an irregular popping or clicking sound.
Also, what has your experience been with LG's customer service?
I need to decide in a couple of days whether to get an LG or not.

Thanks a million!