ᐅ Built-in fridge-freezer combination with fixed door for IKEA METOD kitchen system
Created on: 6 Jul 2015 15:18
K
kuki281
Hello everyone,
I’m new here and unfortunately, I’m having trouble with the above-mentioned topic... My question hasn’t been satisfactorily answered by IKEA, or no one wants to answer it...
First, a brief summary of the relevant information:
We would like to get a new IKEA kitchen (METOD) with Ringhult high-gloss white fronts and install appliances from other manufacturers (no IKEA appliances). Basically, the IKEA tall cabinets in the METOD range (for refrigerators and freezers) are only designed for integrated door mounting (panel-ready), as I’ve read in several posts here on the forum...
We would prefer a fridge-freezer combination and want to use the tall cabinet ME 720 (60x60x220 cm (24x24x87 inches)).
For example, IKEA installs the Effektfull fridge-freezer combination in this cabinet (W/D/H: 54/54.5/177 cm (21/21½/70 inches)), so the appliance we selected: Grundig GKNI 15720 (W/D/H: 55.6/54.5/177.7 cm (22/21½/70 inches)) should actually fit well dimension-wise (since it has the standard height of about 178 cm)...
That’s the theory...
My only concern is whether there will be problems mounting a fixed door (fully integrated) appliance like this, and no one at IKEA can or will confirm if it will work without issues.
My specific questions are:
1.) Does it matter for fixed door appliances if the upper cabinet door is significantly larger than the refrigerator door? The ME 720 has a lot of storage space above, for one or two additional shelves, and this area also needs to be completely covered by the cabinet door. Is mounting possible at all in this case? More importantly, would the upper cabinet door/front of the ME 720 (220 cm (87 inch) tall) be too heavy for the hinges used on the fridge door if fixed door mounting is even technically feasible in this case?
2.) Can the doors also be mounted separately with this appliance? Meaning, the refrigerator section is connected individually with the upper cabinet door, and the lower freezer door is connected separately with the lower cabinet door? Or is this appliance only designed to be connected to ONE LARGE cabinet door that covers both the fridge and freezer sections, so that you would have to open the entire fridge-freezer door completely every time?
If you think mounting in the ME 720 is not possible, is there another cabinet I could use that the Grundig GKNI 15720 would fit into?
Sorry if some of my questions might seem a bit basic, but as a business graduate I usually don’t deal with this kind of stuff. That said, I feel confident I could manage the installation once I know the fridge-freezer will fit properly.
I would be really grateful for any help. Many thanks in advance to everyone who can assist me here...
kuki281
I’m new here and unfortunately, I’m having trouble with the above-mentioned topic... My question hasn’t been satisfactorily answered by IKEA, or no one wants to answer it...
First, a brief summary of the relevant information:
We would like to get a new IKEA kitchen (METOD) with Ringhult high-gloss white fronts and install appliances from other manufacturers (no IKEA appliances). Basically, the IKEA tall cabinets in the METOD range (for refrigerators and freezers) are only designed for integrated door mounting (panel-ready), as I’ve read in several posts here on the forum...
We would prefer a fridge-freezer combination and want to use the tall cabinet ME 720 (60x60x220 cm (24x24x87 inches)).
For example, IKEA installs the Effektfull fridge-freezer combination in this cabinet (W/D/H: 54/54.5/177 cm (21/21½/70 inches)), so the appliance we selected: Grundig GKNI 15720 (W/D/H: 55.6/54.5/177.7 cm (22/21½/70 inches)) should actually fit well dimension-wise (since it has the standard height of about 178 cm)...
That’s the theory...
My only concern is whether there will be problems mounting a fixed door (fully integrated) appliance like this, and no one at IKEA can or will confirm if it will work without issues.
My specific questions are:
1.) Does it matter for fixed door appliances if the upper cabinet door is significantly larger than the refrigerator door? The ME 720 has a lot of storage space above, for one or two additional shelves, and this area also needs to be completely covered by the cabinet door. Is mounting possible at all in this case? More importantly, would the upper cabinet door/front of the ME 720 (220 cm (87 inch) tall) be too heavy for the hinges used on the fridge door if fixed door mounting is even technically feasible in this case?
2.) Can the doors also be mounted separately with this appliance? Meaning, the refrigerator section is connected individually with the upper cabinet door, and the lower freezer door is connected separately with the lower cabinet door? Or is this appliance only designed to be connected to ONE LARGE cabinet door that covers both the fridge and freezer sections, so that you would have to open the entire fridge-freezer door completely every time?
If you think mounting in the ME 720 is not possible, is there another cabinet I could use that the Grundig GKNI 15720 would fit into?
Sorry if some of my questions might seem a bit basic, but as a business graduate I usually don’t deal with this kind of stuff. That said, I feel confident I could manage the installation once I know the fridge-freezer will fit properly.
I would be really grateful for any help. Many thanks in advance to everyone who can assist me here...
kuki281
Z
zetterberg8 Jul 2015 07:28Questions: [/B]
1. You mentioned that the appliance needs to be elevated (placed on a shelf insert). - In theory, that’s clear. Would I then need to lift the appliance on the shelf insert using the adjustable feet? Is that sufficient? Or should the shelf insert generally be installed higher than with the EFFEKTFULL? - Or both?
2. Assuming the adjustable feet are fully unscrewed, would it still be possible to properly secure the appliance on the shelf insert? (Or are the adjustable feet basically only intended to compensate for unevenness?)
3. Do you see any issues connecting the refrigerator door (999.8 mm (39.4 inches)) with the 120 cm (47-inch) door? Will the fixed door mounting system work smoothly then? (And with the 80 cm (31.5-inch) door at the freezer below—the freezer door measures 629.6 mm (24.8 inches), as you found out.) The basic principle of the fixed door mechanism should be the same or at least similar among manufacturers, right?
I’d like to know in advance whether the fastening and installation of the locking mechanism will work without problems or at all, and whether it generally fits with the 80 cm (31.5-inch) and 120 cm (47-inch) doors...
1. The bottom panel in METOD is reinforced and mounted on steel brackets, so its height can be adjusted to fit with the 80 cm (31.5-inch) door front. For comparison, IKEA lists a door panel height of 617.5 mm (24.3 inches) for the freezer compartment in the Effektfull product catalog (height of the freezer door on the appliance).
2. The adjustable feet on the appliances are only meant for leveling; the IKEA cabinet’s bottom panel is somewhat flexible in height as well. If that’s not enough, you can drill three new holes per side in the cabinet walls.
3. The drawing specifies roughly a 100 cm (39-inch) height at the top, so you would have about 20 cm (7.9 inches) of space where the door doesn’t have a fixed point attached to the appliance or cabinet, which should be sufficient. However, I would avoid a framed door and instead use a single continuous panel to prevent warping over the years—that’s just a precaution on my part.
4. According to the Grundig drawing, the cabinet bottom must be cut out in the center. I see this symbolically and would not recommend doing it due to the stability issues mentioned by the IKEA expert. This cutout is only for sufficient ventilation of the compressor/condenser at the back of the appliance. Although I am not familiar with Grundig’s components, Arçelik (the parent company) manufactures other parts, and typically, with built-in appliances (refrigerators), only the required cross-sectional ventilation area is specified. For IKEA appliances (AEG and Whirlpool/Bauknecht), this is 200 cm² (31 sq inches), and with this cross-section, both the cabinet bottom and the reinforced shelf supporting the appliance, as well as the cabinet top, remain intact. Still, download the full installation manual from the manufacturer’s website— the required ventilation cross-section should be listed there.
I do not know any kitchen manufacturer that cuts a hole in the center of the bottom panel for ventilation, precisely because of stability concerns, as the IKEA expert pointed out.
Well, why Grundig?
I just can’t get behind components assembled in Southeast Anatolia and Romania—that’s my personal opinion. For me, besides price, equipment and quality matter and must be in a reasonable balance.
@ IKEA expert & zetterberg,
Thank you very much for the feedback.
@ zetterberg (or anyone else who can and would like to help me one last time):
So, I just reread what I wrote yesterday and realized I unfortunately forgot a key piece of information, namely whether the 120cm (47 inches) door on top and the 80cm (31 inches) door below might possibly be too large – not too small... I have no idea how large the gap or free space between the end of the front panel (cabinet door) and the edge of the refrigerator or freezer door can be at most, in order to install this fixed door system (due to construction-related reasons)...
It’s clear that the fronts or cabinet doors have to be larger than the appliance doors – that’s not the problem here, because with 120cm (47 inches) and 80cm (31 inches), the doors are big enough.
But: In your opinion, is there a maximum size difference allowed?
That is the only information I still need... (I’m not familiar with the construction of this fixed door system at all)...
Thank you all in advance.
kuki281
Thank you very much for the feedback.
@ zetterberg (or anyone else who can and would like to help me one last time):
So, I just reread what I wrote yesterday and realized I unfortunately forgot a key piece of information, namely whether the 120cm (47 inches) door on top and the 80cm (31 inches) door below might possibly be too large – not too small... I have no idea how large the gap or free space between the end of the front panel (cabinet door) and the edge of the refrigerator or freezer door can be at most, in order to install this fixed door system (due to construction-related reasons)...
It’s clear that the fronts or cabinet doors have to be larger than the appliance doors – that’s not the problem here, because with 120cm (47 inches) and 80cm (31 inches), the doors are big enough.
But: In your opinion, is there a maximum size difference allowed?
That is the only information I still need... (I’m not familiar with the construction of this fixed door system at all)...
Thank you all in advance.
kuki281
I
IKEA-Experte8 Jul 2015 20:44Basically, the door can be any height as long as it does not become too heavy.
Z
zetterberg9 Jul 2015 07:28...
@ zetterberg (or to anyone who can and wants to help me one last time):
...So, you have a METOD cabinet with a 200 mm depth and an 80 cm door. The dimension sketch (which I just briefly reviewed again) shows 629.6 mm, but the measurement (only for the freezer section) is taken from the bottom edge of the door to the hinge top edge of the freezer door. What’s missing is the raised part in the middle of the sketch on the freezer door since we connect the cabinet front directly to the freezer door (fixed door).
If you take these measurements and mentally add the proportions according to the sketch, you get a cabinet dimension of about 70 cm. This is the standard size around 70 to about 74 cm that nearly all kitchen manufacturers use for base cabinets.
To prevent the freezer door front from overlapping the refrigerator door, you need to raise the combination accordingly (IKEA provides reinforced shelves in the cabinets) so it fits properly. Above that, there is the 120 cm front for the refrigerator, using the same size basis as the freezer section, although there is still some missing measurement at the top.
Therefore, the overlap of the 120 cm door at the top without a fixed point, due to raising it and missing measurements in the sketch, is estimated to be about 8 to a maximum of 10 cm.
So it fits.
Ventilation, which is also included in the sketch, requires at least 200 cm² (about 31 square inches), the same ventilation size as IKEA’s cooling appliances.
I hope this is clear now.
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