Built-in fridge-freezer question

[Adrian]

Hi All The new house we're moving to has a built-in fridge freezer in the kitchen - looks from the outside like two under-counter units side-by-side.

Never had such a thing before - so I've got a question...

Is this setup likely to be two separate electrical units - as in 'a fridge' and 'a freezer' - which are mounted side-by-side -

or

could it be a sort of 'combination' unit - with one half being a fridge and the other being a freezer....? - do such things exist ?

Reason for asking is that we prefer a fridge to be up off the ground as we find it's easier to use - and, if it was a couple of units side by side then they could possibly end up 'stacked' one on top of the other to achieve this.....

Anybody up to speed on these things & would be so kind as to advise....?

Thanks Adrian

[Guy King]

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Often.

[Adrian]

Thanks ! Can separate 'side-by-side' units be 'stacked' vertically in a suitable housing ??

Adrian

[Andrew Gabriel]

Side-by-side ones are separate AFAIK.

Yes, but in the case of one above the other.

That's usually explicity forbidden in the instructions for reasons of safety (toppling) and ventilation, unless the units were designed to work that way. Also, doors will open opposite way, although these are usually reversable nowadays, although holes made for door handles may be not be.

[Adrian]

OK - thanks

Understood

OK. I guess the 'toppling' thing could be overcome by use of a suitable housing (currently we have the cooker & the fridge up off the ground - both sitting in cooker housings - works fine) - but I imagine there might be problems with ventilation....

Hopefully the builder will have left the instructions behind..... !

Thanks Adrian

[Guy King]

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Don't see why not, but bear in mind that you'll need a lot of ventilation because you've got two heat-pumps chucking heat into the same space at the back.

Personally I'd chuck 'em and have a proper fridge-freezer simply to save on the power consumption.

[Adrian]

True

That's a thought. Thing is - they're brand new - seems a shame not to use them.... we'll see...

Thanks Adrian

[Guy King]

The message from Adrian contains these words:

You could always flog 'em - or see if you can find a swap for someone who's got a fridge-freezer.

[Lobster]

I don't think I've ever come across a fabricated kitchen unit designed to hold a separate fridge and freezer one above the other... my guess is that the only reason is that such a configuration makes no sense at all if your designing a kitchen from scratch; you'd simply have a single fridge-freezer of comparable size, which would be much cheaper to buy and to run than two. I suppose there's nothing to stop you building a bespoke unit though - I can't see any fundamental problem with either toppling or ventilation that can't be cured by the design. However, is this a new fitted kitchen - are you going to end up trashing it by all this work? Do you know which kitchen it is and can you still get more bits for it?

Yeah, right (sorry!)

David

[Adrian]

Yes, it's a newly-fitted kitchen, and, as it was done in the last couple of months I'd imagine that the same units / doors etc are still available.

We'd do our best not to 'trash it' - I'm sure that everything will become clearer for us once we have moved out there (the house is in the South-West of Ireland - and we're in Suffolk at the moment.... and we're trying to plan everything from the agent's photos, our memory and a set of plans that only vaguely resemble what's actually been built !)

Just now, it's a matter of doing some research - hence the questions about 'how' built-in units are arranged.

We might end up with a bog-standard upright fridge-freezer and just fit cupboards where the existing units are - we'll have to decide later. Hopefully we'll have a short visit out there before we actually move there, and we'll make some decisions at that time...

Many thanks all Adrian

[marvelus]

I had one so they are or at least were available.

[nightjar]

I'm think of chucking my fridge-freezer and replacing it with separate units, because of the better control that you get with a separate compressor for the fridge. In the recent hot weather, the freezer was working fine, but the fridge section was running at 10-12C.

Colin Bignell

[Guy King]

The message from "nightjar" contains these words:

Odd - the thermostat's usually in the fridge compartment.

[Jon]

"nightjar" declared for all the world to hear...

Get a fridge-freezer with twin compressors.