To fit or not to fit: Fridge suggestions, questions

10 years ago

I'm a newbie to posting here, but have lurked off and on and have read through a lot of posts about various refrigerators on here.

My situation is that I need to buy a new fridge to fit into a 36.5" space against a wall on the left hand side. I prefer something that is counter-depth, and am not averse to a built-in if that's the way I need to go. A full depth stand-alone fridge would intrude too much into the workspace.

I want to maximize my useable refrigeration space while having the door hinged on the left side to open against the wall so that it's convenient to an adjacent landing zone. I'm primarily looking at bottom freezer models.

Ideally, I would like a 36" fridge, and I like the Liebherr 36" model 2061, which I understand has zero-clearance hinges, but I think the handles may protrude too much to allow opening the fridge to 90 degrees. Does anyone here have that fridge who can tell me whether it will fit into my space? Do any of the drawers require the doors to open beyond 90 degrees?

So my question to you all is: will the Liebherr 2061 work for me? If not, what are some other options for a 36" fridge? Will a built-in work in this space? Are there models that don't require handles, but can open with a notch in the side of the door?
Or do I need to downsize to a 33" (or 30") model?

Comments (2)

rococogurl
10 years ago
I had a 30" Liebherr, left opening, installed in our apartment kitchen at the end of a cabinet run against a wall. It worked just fine but the wall was not the full length of the door.

I would not want to open a fridge constantly without a handle though I expect someone has paneled a fridge that way somewhere.

The issue really is whether the handle would hit the wall and whether it can be opened fully to 90 degrees so the crisper drawers can be fully extended and removed for cleaning.

"The wall is on the left" isn't specific enough. Measurements are required and I would want to triple check those against the refrigerator spec sheet. If freestanding, there also needs to be a small amount of clearance on top for ventilation. The water line and plug have location requirements.

We had a freestanding fridge made to look like a built in. For a true built in requirements would be on the spec sheet as well.

We loved our Liebherr. Quiet and reliable.
solidhit
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the reply. The left-hand wall is 4 feet long. The door (and handle) would be opening against that wall.
From the pics I've seen of the 30" Liebherr, it doesn't look like that model has the wide drawer that the 36" model has. I'm curious if the drawer in the 36" model needs the door opened wider than 90 degrees to be pulled out.
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