Air flow for residential fridge

[4x4FF]

I am in the process of installing a residential fridge in my 5er. I am going with the Whirlpool WRT111SFDB. You can see it here: Whirlpool WRT111SFDB at Home Depot

My fridge is in a slide. As a result I have 2 fridge vents in the wall of the slide (An upper one and a lower one) but no roof vent. My question is 'How much should I block the current vents off?'

In my new fridge the coils are exposed on the back and I know I need to have some airflow. There is not really going to be any airflow from the sides or top because it fits in the space very tight. I also know that I need to restrict some of the air from the rear vents just not sure what is the appropriate amount.

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Steve

[Ontarian]

I installed a Samsung over two years ago. It is in a slideout, and I sealed and insulated both vents. It gets its ventilation through a 3/4 inch gap at the sides and top. For good measure, I installed one of the 12 volt fans from the original Norcold installation in the bottom side of the wooden fridge enclosure, and wired it through a cheap thermostat so the fan comes on when the temperature behind the fridge exceeds 90 degrees. The fan pulls interior air into the fridge enclosure and pushes heated air out through the gaps. No problems since we installed it.
Check our blog for details of the installation, here.

[routemaster]

I installed a Samsung 2 years ago in our Everest sealed up the vents outside kept the factory look, have air space all around the fridge works well.

[4x4FF]

What you all are saying makes a lot of sense. What I will probably do after reading all of your insight is to cut a small vent in the upper sidewall of the fridge cabinet in the camper (Not the outside wall, the wall toward the kitchen cabinets), block off the outside vents let it draw air in from the bottom then out the vent if necessary. If I see there are cooling issues I will open an ever so small hole in the upper outside vent and see what happens.

Steve

[netjam]

byronlj wrote:
We live in our rv at least 6 months a year. There is no way I am going to heat and cool the rig because I left two holes open in the wall. Leave yourself 1/2" on the sides and an inch on the top and seal those vents. That is the way mine is and it looks and works just fine.
Dave

I did mine the same way. Works great fulltiming. A friend left the rear vents open with his residential fridge instal. It took his first trip down the highway seeing all the dust blow in (with an rv fridge the fridge is sealed so that outside air cannot get into the living area) to decide to seal up the vents.

[RustyJC]

byronlj wrote:
We live in our rv at least 6 months a year. There is no way I am going to heat and cool the rig because I left two holes open in the wall. Leave yourself 1/2" on the sides and an inch on the top and seal those vents. That is the way mine is and it looks and works just fine.
Dave

Doesn't seem to make much sense on the surface, does it? Buy the best insulation package possible, spring the $$$ for the double-pane insulated windows, and then cut a hole in the wall for the heat/cold to come and go as they please.....

Rusty

[Dog_Folks]

Steve, Concerning the vent issue, I can only share what I did.

I sealed the lower vent and left the roof vent open. My theory, at least, is that way the refrigerator will draw it's air from the lower, front of the unit flow rearward, over the coil and then upward out the roof vent.

That way the unit is getting room temp air,(not too hot or cold) and working the way is designed to work in a home.

Again, right or wrong? I can only say my refrigerator has been in two years now, working full time and doing fine.

Good luck with your project.

[byronlj]

We live in our rv at least 6 months a year. There is no way I am going to heat and cool the rig because I left two holes open in the wall. Leave yourself 1/2" on the sides and an inch on the top and seal those vents. That is the way mine is and it looks and works just fine.
Dave

[4x4FF]

Dog Folks wrote:
From the manual for your refrigerator:

"To ensure proper ventilation for your refrigerator, allow for a 1/2" (1.25 cm) space on each side and at the top. Allow at least 2" (5.08 cm) between back of cabinet and the wall. If your refrigerator has an ice maker, make sure you leave some extra space at the back for the water line connections.

If you are installing your refrigerator next to a fixed wall, leave 3 1/8" (8 cm) minimum on the hinge side (depending on your model) to allow for the door to swing open.

NOTE: This refrigerator is intended for use in a location where the temperature ranges from a minimum of 55°F (13°C) to a maximum of 110°F (43°C). The preferred room temperature range for optimum performance, which reduces electricity usage and provides superior cooling, is between 60°F (15°C) and 90°F(32°C). It is recommended that you do not install the refrigerator near a heat source, such as an oven or radiator.

Manual

Hope this helps.

Yes, I get that and have read their manual. I will have some space around the fridge everywhere except in the front. It is questionable how much I can cut down the face frames. Dang near every post on this and other forums about upgrading to a residential fridge have the same issues and the pictures of the installs all wind up looking the same and that is usually with the fridge having a built in look if not sealed in or trim added to seal it in. Outside of the face frame I am golden. I would prefer not to cut back the face frame if I absolutely don't have to In lieu of that I was considering leaving 'some'ventilation available through the OEM fridge vents. Based on everything I have read I don't want to leave them wide open (due basically to outside temperature extremes) but I also don't want to block them off completely. I am trying to find some recommendations for just how much to leave open. Does that make sense?

Steve

[Dog_Folks]

From the manual for your refrigerator:

"To ensure proper ventilation for your refrigerator, allow for a 1/2" (1.25 cm) space on each side and at the top. Allow at least 2" (5.08 cm) between back of cabinet and the wall. If your refrigerator has an ice maker, make sure you leave some extra space at the back for the water line connections.

If you are installing your refrigerator next to a fixed wall, leave 3 1/8" (8 cm) minimum on the hinge side (depending on your model) to allow for the door to swing open.

NOTE: This refrigerator is intended for use in a location where the temperature ranges from a minimum of 55°F (13°C) to a maximum of 110°F (43°C). The preferred room temperature range for optimum performance, which reduces electricity usage and provides superior cooling, is between 60°F (15°C) and 90°F(32°C). It is recommended that you do not install the refrigerator near a heat source, such as an oven or radiator.

Manual

Hope this helps.

[past-MIdirector]

From an old appliance repairman. Read the paper work that comes with the fridge. They all need air flow not only for the coils to keep from over heating but also on some makes the circuit boards. You also need to be able to clean the coils yearly with a brush either the under the bottom coils or back! Also access to the drip pan in the bottom to clean yearly!

[Endricken]

My 2007 Whirlpool has coils in the back. I left the two legacy vents on the RV Sidewall in place. They've essentially waterproof and what else could I do with 2 holes in the wall? I've got the Fridge sealed up inside/the front, so that's the only ventilation it gets. I did re-install the old Dometic RV Fridge "pancake" fan between the 2 outside vents where it was before. I've never heard it run and I did successfully test it before re-installing, so it must never get too hot back there even when that side of the RV is in the sun.

[newman_fulltime]

4x4FF wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
You mightwant to look at the vasanifridge at homedepot it has no coils on the back

I have actually been told that with my space constraints that the coils on the back are the best thing for my application. I am NOT a refrigeration guy so I don't know.


Steve

I can say I installed the vassaniin mine have hadno issues

[Ivylog]

I'm going to install a Whirlpool: WRT771RWYW which does not have any coils on the back in place of my NoCold 1200 . I'm going to seal off the vent holes on the bottom cover (still be able to take on/off) and I'm leaving the roof vent open as it's going to be a tight fit... no open area at the top of the refer.

[RustyJC]

Our Mobile Suites was built with a residential fridge. It has no vents in the exterior walls, but rather gets its ventilation from the interior of the RV around gaps at the sides, top and bottom just like a fridge set back into a refrigerator bay in the cabinets of a sticks-and-bricks home.

Rusty