New kitchen - fridge size future proofing

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KellyP

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#302549 1-Dec-2022 11:01

As the title says, we are getting a new kitchen (in January)

Most items have been decided, one of the things to decide is the fridge size. At present, we have 1800mm H x 777mm W max to work with.

Looking at the specs of what is on sale at present (around the 400L~ sizing), there doesn't seem to be a standard for height and width. The only requirement is a bottom mount freezer.

Do I just go for the best overall fridge for that size?

KellyP

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#3003978 1-Dec-2022 11:06

Surprised to find out that there is a 7-star rated fridge....

trig42

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#3004035 1-Dec-2022 11:28

777mm wide is pretty decent, but not big enough for a French Door.

Most fridges are under 700 (F&P are 635 or 680). You do need to factor in ventilation, and a gap for the door to swing open if it's up against a wall or other cabinets.

I'd say just pick the one that you like best.

I'd be going with a 680 wide F&P with Ice and Water in your situation (so long as you can plumb it and you can fit a fridge with the hinge on the right as you're looking at it - F&P don't do a LH hinge one with ice/water I don't think?)- I haven't fouind another brand that does plumbed Ice/Water in single door fridge/freezers and now that we've had it, we can't go back :)

alasta

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#3004068 1-Dec-2022 12:16

trig42:

You do need to factor in ventilation, and a gap for the door to swing open if it's up against a wall or other cabinets.

This is really important. Most manufacturers specify much larger clearances than you might expect.

My small apartment has what appears to be a generously sized space in the joinery for a fridge, but the options are actually very limited when you factor in the required clearances.

rscole86

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#3004071 1-Dec-2022 12:22

I would recommend the 470L Mitsubishi Electric french door fridge/freezer. However, its bottom drawer is for vegetables (beer) with the next draw up being the freezer.

BlargHonk

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#3004081 1-Dec-2022 12:49

The RF442 from F&P (680mm wide) is pretty bomb proof. Get one of the ones with a front mounted handle, rather than the pocket handle in the side. Freezers Door models have lower warranty than Freezer Drawer ones, but have better ergonomics. These only have Water Dispensers available on the RH hinged models if that is important.

If you want to go fancy (and expensive), F&P have an Integrated RS7621W (762mm wide) which is built-in to your kitchen cabinetry.

mattenz

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#3004083 1-Dec-2022 12:58

alasta:

trig42:

You do need to factor in ventilation, and a gap for the door to swing open if it's up against a wall or other cabinets.

This is really important. Most manufacturers specify much larger clearances than you might expect.

My small apartment has what appears to be a generously sized space in the joinery for a fridge, but the options are actually very limited when you factor in the required clearances.

My understanding is that it's generally for them to hit their stated performance specifications. Just like your heatpump will still cool on a very hot day, just less efficiently. You can get away with a bit less.

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OllieF

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#3004286 1-Dec-2022 16:58

In my opinion when you get your new kitchen do not build a cavity for the fridge. Ours just stands next to the bench which finishes a bit short. We recently upsized and it was no issue.

insane

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#3004325 1-Dec-2022 20:03

OllieF:
In my opinion when you get your new kitchen do not build a cavity for the fridge. Ours just stands next to the bench which finishes a bit short. We recently upsized and it was no issue.

I fell into this trap, built my kitchen assuming that fridges will remain the same width. My current 10yr old Westinghouse is 400L and fits into a 660 wide gap. Now seemingly anything larger than 350L is 700 wide, and any fridge narrower than 700 is much smaller and have the most flimsy glass shelves etc.

fe31nz

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#3004387 2-Dec-2022 00:02

insane:

I fell into this trap, built my kitchen assuming that fridges will remain the same width. My current 10yr old Westinghouse is 400L and fits into a 660 wide gap. Now seemingly anything larger than 350L is 700 wide, and any fridge narrower than 700 is much smaller and have the most flimsy glass shelves etc.

It depends on how old your old fridge is, but the new star rating system has meant that fridges need much thicker insulation. When we replaced our 1975 vintage fridge about 8 years ago, we could not get anything like enough freezer space any more due to the insulation making the fridge walls more than double the size, reducing the internal volume considerably. We ended up getting a vertical freezer as well as a bigger fridge, and they now obscure the window on the right of where the old fridge went. But the new fridge is much better than the old one, with pull down capability and very good year round temperature control. And it costs a lot less to run the fridge and freezer combined than the old fridge did.

MikeAqua

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#3004486 2-Dec-2022 10:05

rscole86: I would recommend the 470L Mitsubishi Electric french door fridge/freezer. However, its bottom drawer is for vegetables (beer) with the next draw up being the freezer.

We have this (or a very similar model) and I would also recommend.

We were tight on clearances, so I pulled the fridge forward slightly to get hinges beyond the cavity walls and used Mr Holesaw to add ventilation through the cupboards above the fridge and back into the kitchen.

Mike

elpenguino

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#3004609 2-Dec-2022 11:52

Make sure anything you buy will fit through the door(s) to get into place. That can catch you out.

Also FWIW , regarding height, our fridge spot has a cupboard above the fridge - when the fridge was changed some years ago, the cupboard had to come out and be cut down (up really).

As mentioned, it's a mistake to custom size cabinetry to fit the fridge cos fridges die and the next one will be a different shape and size.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21