How tight should a refrigerator fit into a nook?
Getting a new refrigerator and wondering if a fridge with a 33 inch width will fit into a 35 inch nook. Is this not enough extra space? Or do you think it will be okay? It’s an old house and we want a side by side so our choices are limited.
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11 Answers
With the newer, heavily insulated refrigerators, 2” may not be enough room for the door to open. Measure the width, then add the door thickness to see if it will fit.
The part of the clearance that’s critical is where the coils are. You can always pull it forward to get door clearance.
The instruction book will specify minimum clearances.
@jaytkay You took your smart pills today, didn’t you?
Generally, as @dpworkin suggests, if you can open its doors then you should be golden. Clear space for ventilation should normally not be a problem. If the coils are on the bottom of the box, as on all new refrigerators that I’ve seen in the past ten years, then you need an ‘equal area’ of clearance around the box (which you should have, with an inch on each side times the height of the box (not to mention air space at the top).
@jaytkay‘s advice is, of course, the best.
A variation of the old RTFM, isn’t it?
2 inches more than you think is necessary !
Lube it up and slide it in ;-)
On the sides, you only need enough to open the door. It’s the rear clearance that you really need to worry about. Refrigerators are basically heat pumps; they take heat from the inside and move it to the coils on the back. Therefore, you need enough clearance for adequate airflow over the coils.
The manual should tell you how much space that is.
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