Out wth the old, in with the new!

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We have a relatively new residential 'fridge in our sticks & bricks and an even newer freezer in the garage.  Both of them are energy star and both seem to run almost all the time.  They are pretty noisy too.  And my hearing ain't what it used to be.

I wonder if the noise might be a problem in an RV.  My DW has gotten up in the middle of the night and turned the heaters off 'because they're too noisy'. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
 
Our Whirlpool Gold fridge in the house is fairly noisy, compared to its Samsung predecessor anyway, and it also runs more, even though it is a smaller fridge.  I wouldn't say it runs all the time, but more than I expected.
 
Rats! I found a dimension error on the base drawing I used to plan everything out. Measured it twice too, but measured in the wrong place each time.  I measured the total cabinet depth (right to the wall), but when I put it on the worksheet I labeled it the working depth, i.e. after allowance for a 2" air space at the back.  I did some rework of the cabinet and gained a bit more space, but I'm  still gonna have about 1.25" less depth to work with than I thought. That's the difference between allowing the fridge door to swing a full 90 degrees open or not.  I think its still gonna be ok, but now I'm worried! Well, the fridge gets delivered Saturday, so will know for sure soon enough!

Hate it when I do dumb things like that!!!  :-[
 
I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work.  As it was said before:  The best laid plans of mice and men...are about equal.  Gallagher
 
The "oops" with the door not opening more than 90? is the possibility that the drawers (if any) or shelves will not come out for cleaning as they can hang up on any molded in shelves on the door itself.  I have that situation in the sticks and bricks but the fridge can easily be rolled outwards to solve the problem when needed. Not usually the case in an RV!!
 
Well, a new issue cropped up. Lowes refused to carry the fridge inside an RV - said it is "against Lowes policy" to deliver to "anything with wheels".  Guy kept muttering that it would have to go to an RV shop and it "costs over $1000 to install in an RV".  That number, of course, included cabinet mods and removal of the old fridge from the wall, work I have already done. Fridge had a dent in the freezer door anyway, so I told them to take it back.

The guy couldn't - or wouldn't - distinguish between carrying the fridge through the door in and "installation". The manager at the store said they could give a 10% discount if I arranged my own installation, so I might go that route if I can get an undented model.
 
Have you measured the depth of the new refer without the doors on Gary? If it slide through the door by simply removing the refer doors, delivering would be a breeze.
 
Yes, it will go through the entry door once the fridge doors are removed. With about 1.5" to spare!  The dash console sticks way out in the center, so a fairly sharp turn has to be made on the way in.  Not exactly a breeze, but certainly do-able. I wanted to have the fridge lifted over the passenger seat to avoid removing it (a real PITA on mine), but have decided to bite the bullet and remove the chair from its pedestal to make it easier to bring in.
 
I struck a deal with Lowes and will get 20% discount for the small dent and lack of delivery service. They will bring the fridge to the yard but not carry it inside. But maybe if i wave some $$ around when the guys bring it, something good may happen. If not, I have to hire a couple strong backs with the money we saved.
 
On the plus side, I solved the problem of the door opening by doing some further small mods to the cabinet. I went down to Home Depot (who has a near-identical model on display, but in white) and did some detailed measurements. That enabled me to figure exactly where the choke point would be.  It turns out there is a 1" bump on the bottom back of the cabinet and all I had to do was accommodate that to gain another 0.75" of depth.    I now have 0.5" to spare instead of being 0.25" short.  :)

As a further plus, we shopped a local furniture store Sunday looking for fridge alternatives and I stumbled across a clearance sale on a small powered recliner that will fit in my office at home and matches the decor well too. Got a great deal, so now have a comfy recliner (aka reading & sleeping chair) in my den. Sometimes adversity brings side benefits!
 
Lowes re-delivered the GE fridge yesterday and we tested it out on in the carport.  It cools quickly and takes the freezer below zero on even its warmest setting.  Today a couple younger fellows in the neighborhood moved it into the coach for me and I gave them the $50 that Lowes discounted for not delivering where I needed it. Now everybody is happy!

I still have the final cabinet trim to add and some retainers to make so that the fridge stays in the cabinet no matter what the roads are like, but we are getting near completion now!
 

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Gary RV Roamer said:
Lowes re-delivered the GE fridge yesterday and we tested it out on in the carport.  It cools quickly and takes the freezer below zero on even its warmest setting.  Today a couple younger fellows in the neighborhood moved it into the coach for me and I gave them the $50 that Lowes discounted for not delivering where I needed it. Now everybody is happy!

I still have the final cabinet trim to add and some retainers to make so that the fridge stays in the cabinet no matter what the roads are like, but we are getting near completion now!
Click to expand...
  Awesome! Wanna sell that recliner??? ;-)
 
My wife Nancy is already in love with it! 20% more space, and much deeper shelves.

Yesterday I made retaining brackets for the bottom and today will make them for the top. I'm using 1/8" thick, 1.5"  aluminum angle and aluminum bar to fabricate them. Painted black to match the fridge, there are almost unnoticeable.

We also decided not to install the door handles, which stick out a bit on this model. It's just as easy to grab the edge of the door and pull.
 
For those wondering how we selected this fridge model (GTE15CTHRBB), it was really basic.  We went with a top freezer and full depth (as opposed to cabinet depth) for cost and size reasons. Models with a bottom freezer or cabinet depth seem to take a big jump in price, often double or even triple. That also meant a full door rather than "french" doors, so we had to be very concerned about the space needed for the door to swing wide open (see previous messages about that problem). Manufacturers don't seem to offer any french door models in smaller sizes or top freezers.  Also wanted an Energy Star rated model to minimize power draw and runtime. The rest was just measurements. I had originally planned on the 15.5 cubic ft model, but it was a hair too tall, so backed off to the 14.6.

If your RV has the fridge in an open area, the door swing is probably not a concern, but many have a cabinet or hallway opposite. If something opposite overlaps even a few inches, the door may not open wide enough to pull out bottom drawers or easily access stuff on the hinge side of the fridge. Measure really carefully!
 
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