American Fridge Freezer Door Clearance

Danny30

Hi, just re-posting on the right thread. I am looking to buy an american fridge freezer but one side will be against the wall with a 13 -14 cm gap. Will that be enough clearance to open the door? I know it is not ideal but would it work?
Something like this :
https://ao.com/product/hb16wmaa-haier-american-fridge-freezer-stainless-steel-48432-27.aspx

grumbler

It's really worth checking very carefully for the exact model.

My fridge isn't American, but the door opens towards the wall and because of the big handle 20 cm gap is hardly sufficient for opening the plastic drawers.

JIL

My American fridge freezer is against the wall with a 10cm gap. On the freezer side. The freezer has one very small drawer. It doesnt cause a problem. However if the door could not open fully or to 180° on the fridge it would be an issue. Probably because it's used more, but also due to the three drawers and the numerous shelves that would not be as easily accessible.

Danny30

JIL said:

My American fridge freezer is against the wall with a 10cm gap. On the freezer side. The freezer has one very small drawer. It doesnt cause a problem. However if the door could not open fully or to 180° on the fridge it would be an issue. Probably because it's used more, but also due to the three drawers and the numerous shelves that would not be as easily accessible.

This fridge I am looking at is handleless so may be okay? Do you think your fridge open wider without handles?

silvercar

Depends on the exact model. My last Samsung american F/F the doors opened wide of the unit ie the hinge swung the door out past a line you could draw forward of the unit. This one does so to a much smaller extent.

rob7475

Most will open far enough with a 10cm gap. However, you may not be able to open the door wide enough to pull any drawers completely out.

JIL

Danny30 said:

JIL said:

My American fridge freezer is against the wall with a 10cm gap. On the freezer side. The freezer has one very small drawer. It doesnt cause a problem. However if the door could not open fully or to 180° on the fridge it would be an issue. Probably because it's used more, but also due to the three drawers and the numerous shelves that would not be as easily accessible.

This fridge I am looking at is handleless so may be okay? Do you think your fridge open wider without handles?

It wasnt the handles that caused the issue. The door needed to open wide enough for the drawers to be pulled out. Remember the doors will have shelves inside, so they will also need factoring in. If the doors cant be opened wide enough it becomes difficult to put things away and also to retrieve things. As well as looking for things such as mayo, sauces and other bits and pieces.  There is a reason fridge doors open so wide.

grumbler

Obviously, any door will open wider if the handle is smaller or hidden.

In my case it's the rubber seall that is critical for using the chiller drawer, not the door shelves. And in the above fridge all door shelves are higher than the only drawer in the fridge compartment.

That said, my fridge's handles are really big - https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201510/20151013150538644/DA99-03417A-16.pdf

Danny, stop guessing. It's a serious purchase. Wait until you can have a look at some real fridge before buying it.

ETA: check the manual - the information you need can be there. In my manual see the top left picture on the page 14. According to the picture, it's 960-595=365mm (!), but I think this is overkill.

Danny30

Thank for the answers. I am going to wait for the fridge. The reason for the question was I am buying a new kitchen so am trying to plan how much space I would need to leave for the fridge. I had to order the kitchen this week so had no time to wait to see fridges unfortunately as nowhere to go. 

grumbler

For Haier HB16WMAA the manual says (1188-700)/2=244mm

https://www.haierhome.be/nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HB16WMAA-user-manual.pdf - page 30

Danny30

24 cm seems a lot for clearance. Maybe that is for full opening