Keeping the fridge in a corner allows you to grab what you need, then move into the center of the kitchen for prep and cooking. Make sure to leave enough room to fully open doors if placing one side against the wall. Near a countertop or bench.
Usually you should place your refrigerator in a corner and a position which is easily accessible, near to your Kitchen or inside your Kitchen (if space allows) and should not be offer any hindrance in passing across.
According to Vastu Shastra, the best direction to place a fridge is the southwest corner of a kitchen. The fire element of the kitchen helps balance the energies. The southeast direction, which is associated with the fire element, is another favourable direction to keep a fridge in a house.
If you don't allow enough space, the fridge will have to work harder to stay cool, which could shorten its lifespan and will definitely cost you more in electricity bills. "We generally recommend allowing at least 5cm on each side, 10cm on top and 5cm at the rear," says Ashley.
The kitchen design “Triangle Theory” says the refrigerator, sink, and stove should form a triangle to make meal prep as easy as possible. The three zones of kitchen storage fall in line with that way of thinking, suggesting that the sink should be in between the refrigerator and stove zones for optimal efficiency.
Do not install the refrigerator near an oven, radiator or other heat source because that may cause it to work harder to stay cool. The fridge must be near an electrical outlet. If your fridge has ice and water dispensers, it must also be near a water line.
10 top tips for fridge storage
As much as possible, keep raw and cooked foods separate from each other. Place cooked and ready-to-eat items on the top shelf, always higher than the raw food, to avoid the chance of the latter dripping or falling on to cooked food and contaminating it. Be vigilant with meat.
Kitchen design experts suggest that the ideal space between a stove and refrigerator should be at least a foot, but ideally more like 3 to 4 feet. This gap helps to keep the heat from the stove from making the fridge work too hard. Having enough space between these appliances also means you'll have a safer kitchen.
You can expect a standard fridge to stick out about six inches past the edge of the counter. While it doesn't seem like much, these six inches can be just enough to disrupt the kitchen work triangle. If you have a kitchen island in front of your fridge, these six inches can mean a lot of space.
As a rule of thumb, allow for a single-door fridge around 800mm in width and 780mm in depth. A French-door fridge that contains a double door is around 1200mm wide and 850mm deep. On top of that, check your fridge's required ventilation space in the manual to incorporate this space into your planning.
But where in the fridge matters. Milk, no matter if it's whole or skim, is best kept at around 37°F, which, depending on your fridge, usually means somewhere in the back on a lower shelf. You may need to store the milk on its side so that it fits easily. Avoid keeping milk in one of the door's shelves.
Generally, it's advised to maintain at least 12 inches of clearance between fridges and gas stoves and 9 inches between fridges and electric stoves for optimal safety and convenience.
Refrigerator Storage: Refrigerate eggs at 40°F or less. Store them in their original carton on an inside shelf and away from pungent foods. The temperature on an inside shelf remains more constant than one on the door, which is opened and closed frequently.
The kitchen triangle design rule. This rule dictates that the three most important appliances to influence your kitchen layout – the refrigerator, oven and sink – are positioned to loosely form a triangle on your floor plan, increasing the efficiency and flow of the room.
The refrigerator should be placed in the southwest corner. Avoid putting the refrigerator in the direction of the north or east. Always ensure the fridge isn't close to a corner or hooked to a wall when positioning it. The appliance can be positioned in the west, north, or northwest directions.
There should also be a space of 1-2 inches on the back of the fridge to allow proper air circulation. Newer refrigerator models have their coils at the back so leaving space is imperative to have proper ventilation. On each of the sides, there should be a space of 1/2-1 inch.
Guidelines recommend 15” of space on either one or both sides of the refrigerator, 15” above an under-counter refrigerator, or if that is not possible, to have 15” of landing space no more than 48” in front of the refrigerator. Here we see the landing space in front of the refrigerator as well as beside it.
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Measure the Ventilation Space
The refrigerator will need minimum clearances of 2 inches from the back wall, 1-inch from the upper cabinet and 1/8-inch on either side of the fridge.
Next to the oven or stove
Experts at Hisense UK reveal that “Placing a refrigerator next to heat sources like an oven or stove can make the appliance work harder to maintain its internal temperature, leading to increased energy usage and potential wear and tear on the unit.”
The ideal refrigerator temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below in the main part of the fridge. The optimal temperature for keeping foods cold is 37 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remember to leave 25 mm of free space around the top, back and sides to allow for the heat produced during refrigeration to escape. Be sure to also measure clearance (entryways, doorways etc.) to ensure that when your fridge is delivered it will fit safely into the home, and your old fridge can be safely removed.
Butter is best stored in its original packaging, according to the American Butter Institute. It should be stored in the back of the refrigerator, which is the coldest part of the fridge.
If you need to lay down the refrigerator, make sure it is on its side, not the front or back. If the unit has to be laid down (not upright) for an extended period of time, wait 8 hours before restarting to allow the system to reset.
Dairy. Dairy products are ready to eat, which means that they are best stored at the top of a fridge. Different items can be kept open for different amounts of time, so you should always check the storage instructions on things like butter, milk and cheese to see when the manufacturer recommends you should consume them ...