If you’re a homeowner interested in purchasing a new refrigerator, you may be wondering if there’s a standard size available.
This is an important question to ask when considering the space you have available in your kitchen and the variety of refrigerators available.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at the common question – what’s the standard refrigerator size?
What’s the Standard Refrigerator Size?
Refrigerators. These necessary appliances work to keep your food fresh, your drinks cold, and your popsicles frosty. Ever since their creation, they are a must-have appliance in every home. But, are they all created equal? In short, no. But let’s dig a bit deeper.
What’s the size
What constitutes a standard size? Is this is the size of the majority so it just becomes standard? Or was it created to be a specific size and kitchens were designed around them? While we may need to dig deep into refrigeration and design history to find the answer – or we may never even find out at all – for the sake of this article, we will refer the refrigerator-size that is the most popular. You know, the one that fits nearly every kitchen.
Why Size is Important
Are you currently remodeling? Do you have a kitchen that you adore, but you want a new refrigerator? When it comes time to replace your refrigerator, despite your reasons for doing so, you need to make sure you have the space to accommodate the refrigerator you want.
This is when the standard size becomes important. If you have a standard sized refrigerator and you would like to replace it with an updated model, you will have lots of options to choose from. However, what happens when your refrigerator is smaller, larger, or even custom designed? You may find that you have difficulty discovering a refrigerator to fit your kitchen space – if you even find one at all! In fact, this can severely limit your available options.
Let’s not even talk about the installation! Finding a refrigerator the same standard size as yours often comes with a simple removal and reinstallation into the same location in your kitchen (unless, of course, you are remodeling). However, purchasing a refrigerator that is either smaller or larger than what you used to have, means that you will have to figure out a way to accommodate it. You may have to fill space or cut cabinetry to open space.
What is the Standard Refrigerator Size?
Here is the information you have been waiting for:
Ok, so now that you know what size is important, what size is actually considered standard? Typically, the standard size for a professional-grade refrigerator falls between 30 to 36 inches width, 67 to 70 inches in height, and 29 to 35 inches in depth. When it comes to the interior, the refrigerator itself should provide you with 14 to 20 cubic feet of space. Totally, however, you are looking at an average between 22 and 31 cubic feet.
Of course, some smaller kitchens may consider a smaller size refrigerator to be more standard. In fact, it is very common to find smaller refrigerators in places such as condos and rental apartments. These smaller sizes, however, are not the standard size.
How to Properly Measure for Your Refrigerator
Whether you are wanting to know what size your refrigerator is before you head out shopping (which is a very wise choice) or you are just curious if yours fits the standard bill, you need to know how to properly measure the current refrigerator you have.
Height
Measuring the height of your refrigerator is simple, as long as you remember that refrigerators do need a little bit of breathing room to function optimally. Measure the space from the floor up to see how tall your refrigerator can go. Remember to take overhead cabinets into consideration.
As for the breathing room, you will want to leave at least a ½ inch on either side and the top of the appliance.
Width
Having an accurate width measurement is very important. Use your measuring tape to measure the width of the space you have available, whether it is from wall to wall, cabinet to wall, or cabinet to cabinet.
The number you reach is the width of your refrigerator space. However, be sure to add at least ½ on the sides, as stated above, to allow for breathing room.
Depth
When it comes to refrigerator depth, you basically have two options in mind – counter depth or standard size. If you are looking for a refrigerator that fits neatly with your countertops without too much protrusion, then you are looking at a counter depth refrigerator. Otherwise, standard size refrigerators often stick out a bit further than the counters do.
To measure, you will want to use your tape measure from the wall to the edge of your counters. That is your counter depth size. If you want to go bigger, then add an additional 6 inches to this number.
When determining the depth, one of the biggest things to keep in mind is that you need to make sure you will have room for doors and drawers to open without hitting a wall or island in front of it. Measure the additional kitchen space you have in front of the refrigerator to determine the size you can comfortably fit.
Real life specs
Having a real example is often a great way to get an idea of specs for your refrigerator. To help you out, here are the real specs from a very popular refrigerator model.
Thor Kitchen’s Model HRF3602, French door refrigerator with two freezer drawers and recessed handles gives you 22.5 cubic feet of interior space. Here are the dimensions of this counter-depth refrigerator:
- Refrigerator Size: 36 inch
- Product Width: 35.8in
- Product Depth: 7in
- Product Height: 9in
- Depth Excluding Handles: 28.7in
- Depth without Door: 24.4in
- Depth with Door Open 90 Degrees: 43.15in
- Height to Top of Door Hinge: 69.80in
- Height to Top of Refrigerator: 68.70in
- Refrigerator Capacity: 16 cu. ft
- Freezer Capacity: 6.5 cu. ft
Conclusion
If you take care to measure diligently and understand your available space – and your limitations – you should not have any trouble at all with finding a refrigerator to fit your space. Will it be the standard size? Perhaps. Although, you have a lot of options to choose from so find what works best for your family and your space.