ᐅ Freezer and microwave in the pantry, no ventilation.

Hello everyone,

we are about to sign the contract for our house. Now we have some final questions, including about the pantry.

There will be a window in the kitchen, but the separate pantry (a lockable room, about 3.5 sqm (38 sq ft)) will have no ventilation options, as it has no window and no ventilation system.

However, we want to store a freezer and a microwave in the pantry.

Is this possible, or could the lack of ventilation cause problems for the other stored food?

What do you think?

Looking forward to your answers!

Why should there be any problems?
If you want to feel more secure: just add a ventilation slot to the door. That should definitely be enough.

I completely agree.

Lone_Starr89 schrieb:
There will be a window in the kitchen, but the separate pantry (a lockable, individual room of about 3.5 sqm (38 sq ft)) will have no ventilation options, as there is no window or ventilation system.

However, we want to store a freezer and a microwave in the pantry.

First of all: storing a freezer and microwave is not a problem. The use of the microwave, however, could be more of an issue. When you take a pot of hot soup out of the microwave, you will release some water vapor into the room.

The pantries I know from the good old days were ventilated. This was usually done with a small hole in the exterior wall, about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, covered with a perforated metal plate. In winter, you could stuff a blanket or something similar into the opening from the inside. That’s how it used to be done. I probably wouldn’t build it like that today… but who knows.

I would think carefully about using the microwave there. Everything else should be fine. The freezer will release heat to the outside. You will see how this develops in practice and how it affects the items stored there. Of course, it also depends on what you store (just canned goods, or also fruits, vegetables, bread, etc.).

Good approach – but why would a microwave be placed in the pantry? For me, it belongs in the kitchen...

We have moved the microwave to the pantry since it is used so rarely. With the oven and steam cooker, we have enough options in the kitchen.
Regarding the heat emission, especially from the freezer, I would definitely plan some ventilation—possibly passive as well.