Kitchen remodel quote

Is it true that we cannot put our existing fridge/freezer in a built in cabinet style thing with door to front? I was told that only integrated fridges can have a door to the front.
 
Is it true that we cannot put our existing fridge/freezer in a built in cabinet style thing with door to front? I was told that only integrated fridges can have a door to the front.
Yes and no.
Put your hand on the back on your fridge. You should feel some warmth. If you put the fridge into an unventilated cupboard, that heat will build up and the fridge won't work. So you first need to look after ventilation.
Then there's no way to attach a cabinet door to the fridge. So you'll have to first open the cabinet door, and then open the fridge.

Either go with a free standing fridge that you can see, or get an integrated one. You'll get annoyed with a free standing one in a cupboard.
 
Yes and no.
Put your hand on the back on your fridge. You should feel some warmth. If you put the fridge into an unventilated cupboard, that heat will build up and the fridge won't work. So you first need to look after ventilation.
Then there's no way to attach a cabinet door to the fridge. So you'll have to first open the cabinet door, and then open the fridge.

Either go with a free standing fridge that you can see, or get an integrated one. You'll get annoyed with a free standing one in a cupboard.
Thanks. I have two perfectly good fridge freezers. One I only bought last year for about €500. I would like to go for a new integrated one but I am too mean to dump my two good fridges. If I am going to spend €20k on a new kitchen I am not sure that I want to be looking at two free standing fridges in the corner of the room. :)
 
My brother did that once when he changed his kitchen, in fact I think it's still there, as he lives abroad I haven't been in his house for a while! But like that you had to open the cupboard door first to then open the fridge door. I thought it was odd but then again I was only there briefly, they seemed to be perfectly used to it and didn't even notice the two door opening thing!

Alternatively you could try sell them, always seems to be a demand for good quality second hand ones, I sold a freezer just as Covid was starting, if I'd held onto it for another short while it would probably have made more than it's new price such was the demand for freezers and lack of supply!
 
Thanks. I have two perfectly good fridge freezers. One I only bought last year for about €500. I would like to go for a new integrated one but I am too mean to dump my two good fridges. If I am going to spend €20k on a new kitchen I am not sure that I want to be looking at two free standing fridges in the corner of the room. :)
Why not? To be honest, I don't get the fashion for completely integrated kitchens where it's wall to wall cabinetry and you can't even see where the fridge is. It's a kitchen, after all; you should expect to see a fridge in it!

Plus you've got the heat / ventilation issue identified by RedOnion.

Plus integrated doors are fiddly and don't always close properly.

Plus integrated appliances are more expensive than equivalent free standing.

Plus integrated fridges almost always have thicker walls and less interior capacity than an equivalent sized free standing one.
 
All the above minus points are true but I must say I love my integrated fridge in my new kitchen. Yes it did cost me more than the freestanding version but it's up high which I like, I had undercounter one before, don't like fridge/freezer combos, want them separate. In fact the cabinet door is not closing level with the others which bothers me but I can't figure out how to fix it!

I also have an ordinary undercounter one still but it's not on view as such as it's under the island counter on the cooks side, I prefer two fridges than one huge one, that way you can operate separate temps and keep one for things that don't need to be taken out as much as say milk. That said I usually only turn on second one when I have more in house than normal.
 
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