Residential fridge replacement

Nice work. That should support it and you didn't add a bunch of weight. Now you have to come up with a way to fasten the new one in for travel. I lagged mine to the plywood from outside through the old vent.

Also you're going to have to come up with a way to keep the door closed.

It is in and it fits! The doors are not on the new fridge yet but there should be about 1-1/2" clearance. The floor has extra 2 x 4 support on all 4 corners. There is still the electric and water hook ups to be done. Those can be accessed from outside thru the old fridge vent. Should have more pictures shortly!


Everything out and ready to be re-engineered:



Bracing started:



New floor with access for water and electric:

Make sure to beef up the floor. The Norcold weight was carried largely by the face frame, so the floor is usually not strong enough for a residential.

Thanks everyone for the advice/info.

The old Norcold is out! The new fridge is in. All went thru the door with no problems. Thanks to our Home Depot delivery guys, we didn't even have to help! They were awesome!

The new fridge is sitting on the motorcycle jack waiting for the floor to be lowered. Now it will be a little easier since we have the actual unit to measure. We plan on leaving the furnace in place. It still looks like the new fridge will fit. Should be about an inch clearance from the ceiling after we remove the trim board. Will try to post some pictures.

Being over the furnace will not hurt the fridge or the furnace
And you may need to find a little more clearance at the top
Maybe remove the trim and put it back after the new fridge is in place
Never seen an RV fridge that went all the way to the ceiling and no trim

No, one has really answered your question.
No issue with the install over the furnace.

I built a plywood platform over the bottom drawer in my Sunova that the fridge sits on and cut the cabinets so it fit. It you look at the big box DIY stores, you may be able to find some finished trim that matches your woodwork. Look in with the paneling, molding and flooring. Sounds like if it's that close you may ave an easy install. We went with a bigger fridge that the Nevercold brand that was factory installed. You also need to think about what you're going to do with the old fridge vents. They may be open to the outside with no screening since they are vented due to burning propane. I replaced my side vent with one of these:

Google "boat hatch"
and then removed to roof vent and sealed it with:

I made sure I had airflow around the new fridge by venting it above and below to the inside of the RV. You're going to have some 12 volt wiring that you need to "cap off" so there's no short later down the road. You may think of some use for it. The only drawback is you will be able to keep ice cream and it will make you fat.

Take a look at my install - link below - While I did not have the furnace below as we have aquahot, we did have a drawer there which I removed. I used slotted angle iron from Home Depot to build the base. I used stainless 1/4" bolts to hold it together. Great support for the residential fridge. You'll have to scroll down to see pictures of the support structure.....Good luck, you'll love the mod....Dennis

Samsung install

I installed that same refrigerator in my Jayco 5th wheel. I didn't have a furnace under mine, just a drawer. I had to remove it and redo the floor with 2X4s and 3/4" plywood. The Samsung refrigerator
Is taller by a few inches but had no problems installing it after I fixed the floor. The Samsung works great. Very pleased with the outcome. Good luck

Do not remove the furnace. Unless you never plan to be in cool weather and plan to never sell the RV. It's likely that the floor can be lowered a tad if you need extra space. Lowering as much as possible also makes the top of the fridge more accessible to shorter folks (DW?).