Measurements to Take Before You Purchase Your New Refrigerator

You’re thinking of purchasing a new refrigerator, but with the hundreds of models that are available, it’s hard to know exactly where to start.

There are side-by-sides, bottom freezers, French doors, and top freezer refrigerators. There are ones that come with water, without water, with ice makers, and without ice makers. There are full-depth, shallow-depth, built-ins, drawers, and it can feel a little overwhelming coming into a store and not knowing where to begin.

However, there are some steps you will need to take before you even come into our showroom that will save you time and energy later on.  More importantly, it could also prevent you from making a decision that may not necessarily work in your kitchen.

The most important thing you’ll need to do is to make sure you have all the necessary dimensions before you come in, which will allow you to be sure that your new refrigerator will fit into your space. There’s certainly nothing more frustrating than trying to bring a beautiful new refrigerator into your kitchen, only to have to haul it back out when it doesn’t fit.

Step 1: Measure the Overall Width – And More Than One Measurement

The first thing you’ll want to do is slide your old refrigerator out of the space and measure the overall width of the opening. Take a measurement at the top of your space, as well as the bottom, in the event that your cabinets have shifted or the floor is uneven. It’s not uncommon for floors not to be level, especially with older homes. This can cause a problem, particularly if you’re dealing with dimensions that are very close when you select your new refrigerator.

Step 2: Do the Same While Measuring the Height

The next measurements you’ll want to take will be the height of the opening, and you’ll want to measure from the floor to the bottom of the upper cabinet (if applicable), and it’s important to take a measurement from both the left and the right-hand side of the space. Again, this often helps prevent missing a key measurement, especially with older homes. As mentioned previously, it’s not uncommon for floors not to be level, which could give you a different height on both sides.

Step 3: Depth Measurement Also Has Caveats

The last couple of dimensions you’ll want to take will be to measure the depth of the cabinets adjacent to your current opening. Most cabinets are usually 24” deep, but with so many custom applications, sometimes this isn’t the case. You’ll also want to measure the overall depth of your current refrigerator, especially in the event that you’re in a tight space. The reason why this is important is if you only have so much space in your current application, you want to make sure that the depth of your new refrigerator doesn’t exceed your existing one.

Step 4: Measure Your Doorways

The next thing you’ll want to do is measure the width and height of your doorways. This is important because if you are in an older home where the doorways tend to be narrower, you want to make sure that you’ll be able to get the refrigerator into your home, and then into the kitchen. It is possible on most models to remove the doors from the refrigerator, so you can also check with your salesperson to be sure that you won’t experience any problems after your purchase.

Other Final Considerations:

The last couple of things you’ll want to check will be the door swing of your current refrigerator, along with the distance between the refrigerator and an adjacent wall. If your current refrigerator is not a side-by-side and has a full width door, check to see which side of the door the hinge (not the handle) is on. This is important because you want to make sure your new refrigerator opens correctly, and it will be critical to let your salesperson know which door swing you need as there are many models that need to be ordered with the correct door swing and may not be reversible.

The last thing you’ll want to check will be if your current refrigerator is next to a wall, check and see how much farther beyond the cabinets that wall comes out, as well as whatever space there is between the refrigerator and the wall. The reason why this is important is that if you purchase a side-by-side or French door refrigerator, you’ll want to make sure the door will open 90 degrees so that you’ll have full access to any drawers, bins, etc.

Making an appliance purchase is obviously an important decision for you and your family. Taking these steps before you come in to make your purchase will give you the confidence to know that whatever refrigerator you select, it will be a great addition to your kitchen.