Measure the opening and pick the maker. You get the widest and tallest fridge it takes with that maker's own clearances, the deepest one that sits flush with your counter, and which real models fit.
Your fridge opening
Your 36″ opening takes a fridge up to 35″ wideWhirlpool asks ½″ a side · the widest model read that fits: LG SRFVC2416S, 35¾″
Quick answer: a fridge needs its opening plus the gaps its maker asks for, and the makers disagree: ⅛″ to 2″ a side. A 36″ opening takes a fridge up to 35″ wide by Whirlpool’s ½″ a side, 35¾″ by GE’s or LG’s ⅛″. Standard-depth fridges are 30 to 35″ deep (Samsung); the counter-depth models read are 24–24⅛″ without their doors.
How to use the refrigerator size finder
- Measure the opening’s width at the countertop’s edge, where it is narrowest. Add its height from the floor to the cabinet above, and its depth from the wall to the counter’s front edge, if you have them.
- Pick whose clearances: the maker of the fridge you have or want. Each set is that maker’s own, from the manual or spec sheet named below.
- Say whether a wall or a tall cabinet stands beside the door’s hinge: the door needs room to swing past it.
- Add your fridge from its spec sheet if you have one in mind: its width, its height to the top of the hinge, its depth without the doors.
- You get the widest and tallest fridge the opening takes, the deepest case that sits flush with the counter, which real models fit, and a verdict for yours, drawn to scale.
The rule behind the numbers
Every maker asks for a gap at the sides, on top and behind, and says why: Whirlpool “to ensure proper ventilation”, Samsung “for ease of installation”, LG “for adequate air circulation and to reduce energy consumption”. The numbers are not the same, and LG’s differ from one model to the next. So the opening a fridge needs is its width plus the maker’s gap on each side, its height to the hinge plus the gap on top, and, for a flush look, its case depth plus the gap behind. Samsung’s own sheet does the same sum: the RF23A9675 is 24″ deep without its doors and its “cutout depth” is 26″, the case and its 2″ behind.
A wall or a tall cabinet beside the hinge needs more: Whirlpool and Samsung ask 3¾″ so the door opens 90° without the handle hitting it, LG’s counter-depth sheet prints a 4¼″ “door edge clearance with handle”, and Frigidaire asks 3″ for 90° and 20″ for the 140° that lets the crispers come out.
Each maker’s clearances
| Maker | Each side | On top | Behind | Beside a wall | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whirlpool | ½″ | ½″ | 1″ | 3¾″ | WRF954CIHM Use & Care Guide |
| GE | ⅛″ | 1″ | 2″ | – | PNE25NYRKFS Installation Instructions |
| Samsung | ⅜″ | ⅜″ | 2″ | 3¾″ | RF29BB8200 / RF23A9675 “Will it fit?” |
| LG | ⅛″ | 1″ | 2″ | 4¼″ | SRFVC2416S spec sheet |
| LG (2″) | 2″ | 2″ | 2″ | – | LRFCS25D3S spec sheet; LBNC10551 manual |
| Frigidaire | ⅜″ | ⅜″ | 1″ | 3″ | FPUI2188L spec sheet |
Real fridges and the opening each needs
Each model’s width and height from its own sheet, and the opening it needs with its own maker’s gaps. The size in a fridge’s name is a little more than its width, and still less than the opening its maker asks for.
| Model | Size | Width | Height to hinge | Opening it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LG LBNC10551 | 24″ | 23½″ | 68⅜″ | 27½″ × 70⅜″ |
| Frigidaire FPUI2188L | 30″ | 30″ | 69⅜″ | 30¾″ × 69¾″ |
| LG LRFCS25D3S | 33″ | 32⅞″ | 69⅞″ | 36⅞″ × 71⅞″ |
| Samsung RF29BB8200 | 36″ | 35¾″ | 70″ | 36½″ × 70⅜″ |
| LG SRFVC2416S | 36″ | 35¾″ | 70¼″ | 36″ × 71¼″ |
| Samsung RF23A9675 | 36″ | 35⅞″ | 73″ | 36⅝″ × 73⅜″ |
Four worked examples
A 36″ opening, Whirlpool’s gaps. ½″ a side leaves 35″ for the fridge. Of the models read, LG’s SRFVC2416S (35¾″, ⅛″ a side) fits exactly; Samsung’s 35¾″ RF29BB8200 goes in but is tight: with its ⅜″ a side it asks 36½″.
The same opening against a wall. The door needs 3¾″ beside the wall, so the fridge may be 31¾″ wide: a 30″ fridge, not a 33″ one.
A counter-depth Samsung under a 72″ cabinet. The RF23A9675 stands 73″ to the top of its doors and hinge: too tall for the opening, before any gap on top.
Standard or counter depth, with the counter’s edge 25½″ from the wall. The RF29BB8200’s 29⅜″ case plus Samsung’s 2″ behind stands 5⅞″ past the counter, and the doors more. A case of 23½″ or less sits flush.
Common mistakes
- Measuring once. Take the width at the top, middle and bottom, and include the countertop’s overhang and any trim; the smallest number is the opening.
- Measuring the fridge to the top of its case. Its tallest part is the hinge cover on top, and that is the height the opening must clear.
- Comparing the depth with the doors to the counter. For a flush look it is the case without the doors, plus the gap behind it, that has to end at the counter’s edge.
- Forgetting the wall beside the hinge. A fridge pushed against a wall cannot open its door far enough to pull out a crisper drawer.
- Trusting the size in the name. A “36-inch” fridge is 35¾–35⅞″ wide and its maker still asks for a gap on each side.
Set the cabinets around it with the kitchen cabinet height calculator, plan the whole room in the kitchen layout planner, and draw it to scale in the free 2D planner.
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Refrigerator size questions
What are standard refrigerator sizes?
By width they are sold as 24, 30, 33 and 36″ fridges, and the models read are a little narrower than the name: 23½″, 30″, 32⅞″ and 35¾–35⅞″. They stand 68⅜–73″ to the top of the hinge.
What are counter-depth refrigerator dimensions?
The counter-depth models read are 35¾–35⅞″ wide and 24–24⅛″ deep without their doors: Samsung’s RF23A9675 is 28¾″ to the front of its doors, LG’s SRFVC2416S 30¾″ with its handles.
How deep is a standard-depth fridge?
“Standard-depth refrigerators typically measure 30 to 35 inches in depth” (Samsung). Its RF29BB8200 is 29⅜″ without the doors and 34¼″ to the front of them.
What is the standard refrigerator height?
The full-size models read stand 68⅜–73″ to the top of the hinge. Add the maker’s gap on top (⅜″ to 2″) for the opening under a cabinet.
How wide is a 33-inch refrigerator?
LG’s LRFCS25D3S, sold as 33″, is 32⅞″ wide. With the 2″ a side its sheet asks for, it wants a 36⅞″ opening.
How much space do you need around a refrigerator?
It depends on the maker: Whirlpool ½″ a side and on top and 1″ behind; GE ⅛″, 1″ and 2″; Samsung ⅜″, ⅜″ and 2″; LG ⅛″, 1″ and 2″ on its counter-depth sheets and 2″ all round on others; Frigidaire ⅜″, ⅜″ and 1″.
Will a 36-inch fridge fit a 36-inch opening?
It goes in: Samsung prints “fits 36″ opening” on its 35¾″ and 35⅞″ models. With Samsung’s own ⅜″ a side it is tight; a 35¾″ fridge with the ⅛″ GE and LG ask for fits exactly.