fridge cabinet

[Aangelique1611]

does anyone know of a very reasonably priced flat pack kitchen company in the sydney area that has fridge cabinets ... you know the ones where the fridge looks like a pantry door with some slidy mechanism that attaches to the fridge? I wanted to do an ikea one but they dont have one of these as an option ...

[Just George]

Lincoln Sentry is a place to start. They may know of other places if they can't help.

[arms]

does anyone know of a very reasonably priced flat pack kitchen company in the sydney area that has fridge cabinets ... you know the ones where the fridge looks like a pantry door with some slidy mechanism that attaches to the fridge? I wanted to do an ikea one but they dont have one of these as an option ...

you are not looking for a cabinet for this you are looking for a door to match the other doors in your kitchen ,usually the fridge is in an enclosure made up of two tall side panels with a small cabinet above ,all you need is a door on the front with a "refrigerator door attachment mechanism "
ring hafele (pronounced hafaley) and ask for part no 568.16.007 phone number is 02 8788 2200.
you may also need special hinges for this if your fridge hasnt got enough clearance beside it ,then ring hettich 02 9616 7777 and ask for ET 582 refrigerator hinges catalogue number 072 134

[sco]

Here is that part in their online catalogue:
http://www.hafele.com.au/isapi/onlin.../tchff_514.asp

[Aangelique1611]

thanks for the info guys. Qu though ... dont the 2 side panels usually fall short of the depth of the fridge? I know this shouldnt be rocket science but most places that im looking at kitchens (mostly flat pack jobs/ikea etc) the end or cover panels or whatever they are measure about 60 or just under deep so that wouldnt fit the fridge in generally? (only just out) that was my rational for thinking i needed a deeper bottomless carcase and the thought that end panels might not support the door weight and movement properly? that might seem silly but it was just my line of thinking. If all i need is doors i will do the same (minus attachments) for my underbench washer dryer ... which would be pretty exciting because i have been looking for a way to conceal it!

[sco]

You might need to talk to someone who can do custom side panels for you. Have a chat to Sybarite or arms on this forum.

[arms]

You might need to talk to someone who can do custom side panels for you. Have a chat to Sybarite or arms on this forum.

Aangelique1611<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_491884", true); </SCRIPT> just p.m me or sybriate with your concerns and i am sure that between the both of us we can help you

[Sybarite]

Hey thanks for the shout out guys, like Arms I am more than happy to help if I can.

One thing I have noticed about a lot of fridges is that they are designed so that the door itself needs to open past 90 degrees if you want to do something like pull the vegetable crisper drawers out...especialy the models with very thick doors...

This is one reason for a fridge to "stick out" from the cavity provided for it.
If you extend the end panels/gables of your cavity far enough to put a panel across the fridge you could compromise the doors ability to open adequately.
One way to handle this is to make the cavity significantly wider than the actual fridge, which will allow the door to open past the width of the machine...or as Arms suggested, there are also specialty hinges to deal with this.

As said, this is just an observation about some types of fridge (including ours) that I have dealt with and if this isn't the case with yours then what the other guys have said is spot on - you just need to get some deeper ends speced up - the end panels get fastened to the wall and pinned to the floor.
The overhead unit should brace everything up enough to hang a door off.

Cheers everyone! (By the way, that is a Fantastic looking vanity Sco...)

[soundman]

One thing that is real important to understand is that a fridge is a heat exchange device.
It gets cold inside by pumping heat to its outside....... this heat has to go somewhere...... if you plan to enclose your fridge...... you must provide some substantial ventilation, I would argue forced ventilation.

It is all to common for this to be ignored..... look carefully at any fridge manual & it will recomend clearances all arround the fridge & these assume the front of the cavity is open. It is common to see fridges crammed into tight spaces with little air circulation.

give it some thaught.
cheers

[Harry72]

So its vented behind the upper cabinet?

Does it vent into the roof cavity at all, what about dust?
(Im building my kitchen ATM)

[soundman]

It doesn't have to vent into the roof cavity.... that makes things a bit hard.
You just have to provide or allow some space to allow air to circulate.

In the past all domestic fridges had a sort of radiator up & down the back.

these days that is all concieled in the walls of the fridge......( I cant see how that is all that efficient) ... so the sides of the fridge radiate heat.

I'm not quoting anything... but.... at l;east 100mm clearance back top and both sides would be a good idea..... more if you can.

It is much harder to get air to move without pushing it than most people think.

I know here on a hot 30c of hotter day our fridge is stressed and there is at least 100mm all round.
On hot days I get a fan blowing down one side of the fridge.... it whips around the back and out the other side.
Improved performance and reduced outer wall temperatures are easily noticable.
I'm planning to come up with some sort of more eligant fan assist for hot days.

See in the past the fridge stood all in the open in the kitchen with its back to the wall... many models had a protrusion on the base that stoped you pushing it hard against the wall..

Now with all these fancy homes people dont want to see the fridge so the try to hide it.... there fore enclosing it...... without any thaught to the heat disapation issues.

check out your own fridge & give it some thaught..... most people (including those who should know better) give it no thaught at all.
Hell you might even get out the manual & give that a read.

cheers