Clearance To Open Refrigerator Door

My 33 side by side has a 20 inch door so a 21 inch pantry is in the corner for proper spacing to fully open the door.

Clearance to open refrigerator door.

The other issue is the width of 15 year old or older refrigerators. These refrigerators need very little clearance on the sides typically 1 4 to 1 2 inch for. Many of the newer refrigerators are taller than the older products of 10 15 years ago. When you purchase a new refrigerator just measure the old refrigerator as well as the cabinet.

The standard depth of a refrigerator extends about six inches past the front edge of the counters. Many newer fridges have zero clearance doors doors that open flush with the sides of their cabinets. Whether you are envisioning a bottom freezer top freezer side by side or french door model fridge you can expect a standard fridge to have exterior measurements that range from 28 3 4 inches to 39 3 4 inches in width 61 3 4 inches to 71 1 4 inches in height and 28 3 4 inches to 34 5 8 inches in depth. So plan on the width of the door to be opened.

With all the crap hanging from the door you need to open it almost 180 degrees to clear all the shelves. The french refrigerator doors are half the size of a standard one door refrigerator. Refrigerators are designed for these cabinets widths. It s always tricky putting a fridge next to the wall because of clearance unless you have a sub zero or something similar.

Generally the refrigerator is 2 inches narrower than the opening. However most of the issues are height. Refrigerators are available in a number of standard sizes which fit into 30 33 or 36 inch wide spaces. This makes them ideal for small spaces because they require less clearance than the traditional refrigerators.

Looking at the specs for your fridge the width is 33 however with the doors open 90 you need a width of 40 3 8 including handles obviously this is not a problem on the left but on the right even if you had the extra 3 5 you wouldn t be able to remove the vegetable.