When our first refrigerator finally stopped working eight years ago, we knew that we wanted to replace it with a bottom-freezer fridge. We ended up buying a floor model of the **Amana ARB224RCW** (*bottom freezer with door instead of drawer*). Our model came with clear plastic door shelves and included blue rubber shelf-liners (very convenient for cleaning and keeping things from sliding around every time you close the door) as well as an ice maker. I was amazed at how much I could pack into my bottom freezer, even with an ice maker taking up room! At one point I was able to freeze a turkey, a ham, multiple pounds of ground beef and chicken breasts, plus ice cream and freezer packs for lunch boxes. **I was (and still am) so impressed with the size of the freezer!** The upper refrigerator portion is equally easy to pack and clean. The glass shelves are easy to remove and spills are contained due to the slight edge on each shelf. I can pack a lot in to the meat/cheese drawer and my vegetable and fruit drawers hold quite a bit. **My biggest complaint with the fridge is that it can get a bit too cold on the bottom and top in the back**. I have had things freeze (like lettuce) when I have stored it in the back behind other items. However, for the most part, it cools evenly and I hope it lasts for a long time, but... **After four years, the compressor DIED**. One day it started making a horrible noise and then no noise at all. The fridge started to heat up and the next thing you know we were running down to the local home improvement store to pick up a small "spare" fridge so we could keep our food from going bad while we had work done on the big fridge. I was* totally unimpressed *that our compressor would die after four years - apparently everything is disposable now. Fortunately, when we purchased our fridge, it came with an automatic five  year warranty - *they no longer offer that and you get a year only* (unless you buy a warranty package). We contacted a local Amana dealer and within two days we had someone come out with a new compressor and replace the dead one with nothing out of our pocket. We're going on four years with this new compressor and are holding our breath to see if it lasts longer. I hope so because I love my fridge/freezer, but I don't want to have to replace a compressor every four years! So, my **overall opinion** of this fridge is that I LOVE it when it's working properly. The ice maker is a great asset and I'll never go back to a fridge on the bottom again (who thought of that??). However, I'm not impressed with the quality of the product when major parts die after four years. I had always thought Amana was a better brand then that, but apparently even they have gone cheap. **Buyer beware - buy the warranty because you may end up using it!**

BusyNothings

Elizabethton, TN