Fisher and Paykel’s new large capacity French Door Ice & Water refrigerator has been designed with family in mind. It features broad 900mm wide shelves that accommodate large platters, the convenience of in-built ice and water dispensers and the clever inclusion of deli storage compartments.
Two new models – one in EzKleen brushed and one in Iridium non-marking stainless steel - offer a generous 614 litres of usable storage capacity, making them the largest in Fisher & Paykel’s range. The French Door fridge is a new addition to the company’s top selling ice & water family - in-door chilled, filtered water dispensers and in-freezer ice makers proving very popular within Fisher & Paykel’s single-door, standard upright 522 litre stainless steel refrigerators launched in 2006.
The double-door refrigerator compartment is located above the spacious freezer drawer in an ‘upside down’ configuration offering a more practical use of space.
The pull-out freezer drawer is fitted on full extension runners and offers anti-racking for stability and ease of use. The ice maker is located in the freezer and makes fresh filtered ice as required, storing it in a dedicated ice bin fitted within the top tray. Remove this ice bin and the freezer will continue to make ice until the entire top tray is full.
“The unique ability to make large quantities of ice is a winner with consumers,” Fisher & Paykel’s national marketing manager, Peter Russell says. “With a little planning, the refrigerator can supply enough ice to fill an esky, keeping drinks cold while on a road trip or for a summer party.”
The filtered water dispenser has a number of convenient features, for instance, ‘measured fill’ measures out a preset quantity of water. Independent to the internal ice maker, the water dispenser is fitted externally on the right refrigerator door.
“Cold filtered water dispensed directly without having to open the fridge door is a luxury catering specifically to a hot Australian summer,” Russell says. “But it’s the means by which we’ve been able to include the convenience of ice and water dispensers in the fridge without compromising on internal storage space that makes it innovative.”
“Viewing the water dispenser externally on the door of the fridge would give the impression that a large proportion of the internal door storage space was taken up by the mechanics of the device, however surprisingly, the inside of the door shows no visible sign of the dispenser. The ice and water feature actually only occupies 3.5 litres of the appliance’s total usable volume.”
A point of difference included in Fisher & Paykel’s new French Door refrigerator, setting it apart from Ice & Water single door models, is the addition of ‘deli storage’ compartments. Beneath the humidity controlled vegetable bins are two drawers designed for containing deli items like cheese, salami and similar small goods making them easily accessible.
“The deli-drawer format is a very practical addition and also doubles as a defrosting zone,” Russell says. “Rather than place a frozen chicken in the general fridge compartment to thaw, it can be contained in the drawer out of sight and therefore won’t be shuffled around alleviating the possibility of raw meat juices cross-contaminating other foods in the fridge.”
The new French Door large capacity refrigerator will be produced exclusively in Fisher & Paykel’s Cleveland manufacturing facility, on Brisbane’s outskirts for local and export markets.