Question to those who have a residential refrigerator

you will need to close off the top and the side vent.

Depending on the refrig
Air either comes in/out the bottom or it goes up and down the back.

If the back, then you should put in a spacer so the air goes up 1 side and down the other.

I think the clearance requirements differ by type of refrigerator.

Here's what works if your refrigerator does not have cooling fans and fins in the bottom of the refrigerator.

This is the Haier refrigerator I installed in our motorhome.



This refrigerator has no cooling fans, so it needs air intake at the bottom, and air flow upward along the back of the unit. I have very little clearance on the sides and the unit works great.

Refrigerators with cooling fans in the bottom would probably have very different clearance requirements.

I had space above the furnace (below the refrigerator) so I drilled several 3/4 inch holes for air flow. There is a 3/4 inch gap above the refrigerator, and I do get a flow of hot air out of that top gap when the refrigerator is running. That hot air goes back inside the coach. Since the refrigerator does not cycle on very often, the heat input to the coach is very small.

I closed off the ceiling vent. I also blocked the removable outside refrigerator vent by using some foam board so that I could still remove it from outside (to get to the 110 volt plug and/or bolts if I ever have to remove it).

Fred

And how is your residential refrigerator vented in your house? It isn't. And you see many refrigerators built in.

If I were to replace my propane refer with a residential unit, I would install the unit the same way I would install it at home. Build a cubby hole with a couple inches clearance all around. And seal up any other vents.

The one I had years ago. I left the rear & top vents open.
I sealed off the bottom front to keep heat & cold outside air from coming inside the MH.

I also put a small fan in the back to blow on the compressor in hot weather.

I have left the top and bottom vents open but I covered the space under the Rrfer with duct tape from the inside so you can not see it. Been using it this way for 10 yrs.

Ivylog wrote:
John, mine is a bottom vented model like yours. What vents did you leave open if any? I would think that by closing off the outside bottom vent the hot air would thermo siphon out the top vent instead of coming into the MH.

I sealed ours off on the back. The roof is technically not sealed (I have cables fed through it for various things) but really there is no room back there anyway. It's tight up against the back wall. Been in there roughly three years or so.

John, mine is a bottom vented model like yours. What vents did you leave open if any? I would think that by closing off the outside bottom vent the hot air would thermo siphon out the top vent instead of coming into the MH.

Ivylog wrote:
What happens when you block off just the bottom vent? This is where I'm going to start when I install the home refer I've already bought. I would hope the hot air would thermo siphon out the top vent.

Good morning. It will depend on your fridge but I suspect most are like ours. All the cooling is done through the front lower grill. In our case the top and bottom and sides can be completely sealed off. The space for a fridge in a house is the same and there is no circulation. If yours is a home residential I suspect it may be the same.

Cheers

How do they vent a frig in the home? My understanding is that no venting is required. Just leave the air space the mfg requires. Jmo

What happens when you block off just the bottom vent? This is where I'm going to start when I install the home refer I've already bought. I would hope the hot air would thermo siphon out the top vent.