Refrigerator under the window with your own hands

Imagine housing without a refrigerator is quite difficult. Storage of most products without this device is simply impossible. That is why there is a fridge in every family. It is bought by the first of the household appliances, along with the washing machine. It is difficult to imagine, however, it was not always.

In the middle of the last century, the household refrigerator in the apartment was the subject if not luxury, then certainly evidence of wealth and good ties in the field of trade. Boast good performance or spaciousness Soviet refrigerators could not. They disastrously lacked the place, they were noisy, it was impossible to keep food in them for a long time. Instead of improving the refrigerator, the genius of Soviet engineers came up with the original way out of the situation. They simply designed the bottomroom refrigerator. About how to make a refrigerator under the window with your own hands - further in the article.

Refrigerator under the window. Design of the refrigerator under the window made by hand

The sub-emergency refrigerator, or as it is also called "Khrushchevsky", became very popular in the 60s of the last century. He represented a niche that was made in the wall under the window. In the summer, she served as a small locker, in which it was possible to store not perishable products (vegetables, preservation, etc.). In winter, when the temperature outside the window is lowered below zero, the niche serves as a refrigerator. Due to the fact that the wall under the window is either missing at all, or its thickness does not exceed the Polkirpich, the temperature in such an improvised refrigerator is only a couple of degrees higher than on the street. It can even store meat products without fear for their safety.

This design was so successful that it can often be found not only in Khrushchev, but also in nine-storey houses. The dummy refrigerator has a number of advantages:

• More optimal use of an apartment area.
• Saving electricity. For the winter period, the ordinary refrigerator can be simply turned off, storing products in an improvised autonomous refrigerator.

However, when planning the structure of the sub-circuit fridge, it is necessary to think about the back of the coin. The fact is that with a decrease in the thickness of the wall, its thermal conductivity increases sharply, so so that in the kitchen it is warm, you should think about the good thermal insulation of the walls and the door of the refrigerator.

In modern apartments, where the walls are made of reinforced concrete, the ability to make a refrigerator built into the wall - no. In this case, it is installed on the window sill under the frame of the window.

Refrigerator under the window. Formation of a niche for mounting a submap refrigerator

In the initial stage in the construction of the winter refrigerator under the window with their own hands is the formation of a niche under it. In the production of these works, it is necessary to understand that in most houses, except for the construction of the "monolith-brick" construction, the outer walls are carriers and changes to their design should be coordinated with controlling authorities. Although the bottom of the wall does not affect the fortress of the overall construction, the sale of apartments may have problems with renewal. Therefore, you should ask in BTI, which documents need to be issued to legitimize such redevelopment.

Usually, radiators of centralized heating are installed in the suboofer niches, so at first it will be necessary to transfer it to another place. It is selected depending on the location of the riser. The distance from the refrigerator niche and the heating device should be as much as possible, otherwise the temperature in the Khrushchev refrigerator will not be low enough.

For the construction of brick houses, as a rule, a well-type of masonry is used, that is, the outer wall has emptiness. To improve the thermal insulation of the structure, such voids are filled with heat insulating material. In Soviet times it was an ordinary slag.

The order of work on the installation of the Khrushchev refrigerator under the window with their own hands:

1. Work on the arrangement of the niche is to dismantle the inner part of the wall masonry to deepen already available deepening. First of all, it is necessary to remove the plaster from the wall. This is done with the help of a hammer. For greater speed, you can use a perforator in the "Grinding Hammer" mode with a special flat nozzle.
2. It is necessary to work carefully, so as not to destroy the desired part of the plaster. When removing the latter in the room will be very dusty, so the furniture and household appliances are better to cover with a wet matter.
3. At the end of the first stage, you can proceed to dismantling brickwork. To do this, you can use the same perforator.
4. To control the process of dismantling the masonry, it is necessary to understand when it needs to be stopped. To do this, you need to know the secrets of brickwork. Typically, the outer wall was laid out in two bricks. The thickness "in the brick" meant that the wall has a thickness of 25 cm. That is, for the refrigerator device you need to remove one wall "in the brick", and one left, without damaging it.
5. After the required amount of brick is removed, the niche must be attached to cement mortar. A simple plaster for this is not suitable, since, in contrast to the cement-sand mixture, it does not have such waterproofing properties.
6. After the "coarse" work with the surface of the wall in it, small through cracks are formed. With atmospheric precipitation, moisture will accumulate in them, which at a minus temperature will freeze and simply break the plaster. Therefore, cement-sandy solution for such work is the most optimal solution. From above, you can already put a putty, or glue ceramic tiles. For sticking the latter, it is necessary to use waterproof glue, such as CM-11 from Ceresit, otherwise the tile can simply disappear.
7. For the refrigerator device, there is an absolutely any tile, even trimming or battle, which remained from the facing of the kitchen or bathroom.
8. As an option for finishes, many builders use plastic panels. They are easily mounted, it is not expensive, and have a long service life.
9. Some masters advise to make a hole in the wall in which a small tube is inserted, providing a flow of cold air to the refrigerator.
10. The shelves are better to install from plastic, they better withstand the drops of temperature and humidity.

Refrigerator under the window. Doors for "Khrushchev" refrigerator

Doors for the subcast refrigerator can be made independently and order in the workshop. Most often for such purposes use two options:

• MDF facade. The unconditional plus of this material is that it can be chosen under all the facades of the kitchen, thereby making a single design ensemble. Another way to choose such doors for the winter refrigerator under the window is their price. MDF facades are installed on furniture loops that are screwed to the inner surfaces of the refrigerator. The disadvantage of this version of the door is that it is very difficult to achieve a dense fit of them and is very difficult to surface. And this, in turn, leads to penetration of warm air inside and cold outward the refrigerator.
• Metal-plastic profile. Such a door is no different from a miniature metalplastic bivalve window. Only instead of the glass package in it is inserted by a sandwich panel, which has a low thermal conductivity. Thanks to the accessories, such a door fits tightly to the frame, excluding the penetration of warm air into the refrigerator. This door is manufactured at the factory and comes in finished form along with the frame. It is installed on the edge of the niche on the anchor bolts, the gaps are fought and closed with plaster. Work on the installation of such a door must be started to the inner cladding of the refrigerator. The only disadvantage of metal-plastic doors for the Khrushchev refrigerator under the window is its price.

Refrigerator under the window. How to redo the winter fridge

Some owners who have already been installed such a refrigerator, prefer to get rid of it. He simply seems unnecessary to many, and there is no desire to invest in its modernization. First of all, when dismantling the Khrushchev refrigerator, you need to warm the outer wall. Otherwise, the cold from it will penetrate the rest. If there is no desire to mess with brick masonry, you can use polystyrene foam, which separated the whole niche. Then you can simply launch and sharpen it.

Next, the niche of the winter refrigerator outside the window can be used for other purposes:

• Install the heating radiator in it, thereby freeing a little useful area.
• Install in it built-in technique (electrocompute, dishwasher, etc.) However, this can be done only if the area allows.
• Build a french window. Some apartments have the opportunity to dismantle the entire wall on the width of the window opening and install a full-fledged French window. This, although it does not add a useful area, but will make the kitchen much lighter.
• After dismantling the winter refrigerator, you can use for storage of wines. To do this, you can not too warm the wall, put in the refrigerator glass shelves for storing bottles. So that the structure looks more beautiful, it is better to order glass doors for it and set the LED backlight. Such an improvised bar will be an excellent addition to the design of the kitchen interior.
• The easiest option can be the construction of the shelves for storing dishes and various kitchen utensils. They can be stylized under the overall design of the room.
• In a small kitchen, you can close the niche doors with built-in mirrors. This visually will expand the room.

Winter refrigerator design under the window: photo

Refrigerator finishing under the window with your own hands: Video