In a small space you want to use every corner. This is especially true for the kitchen, since modern rooms are not always spacious. Space saving comes to the fore. We must not forget about ergonomics and functionality.
Every housewife wants to create a cozy atmosphere in the kitchen, while placing the necessary household appliances. Such devices include a TV, and this is not surprising - the process of cooking without TV turns into a boring routine. Increasingly, a refrigerator is becoming a stand for it, but is it possible to put a TV on a refrigerator? Let's figure it out together.
Refrigerator as a stand
Installing a separate TV stand in the kitchen is impractical. Placing the device on a worktop is the same. They try to install the TV as high as possible so that it does not interfere with cooking and the image can be seen from anywhere in the kitchen.
Important! The placement height should be comfortable. An poorly placed TV is uncomfortable to watch. You will have to constantly raise your head.
The option of hanging a TV on the wall is not suitable for everyone. Installing a special bracket is even more unnecessary. There may simply not be a free area on the wall. Therefore, many owners place the TV on the refrigerator. Is this a rational decision?
The opinions of experts and manufacturers differ. Some believe that such an arrangement of equipment does not in any way affect its performance. Others argue that nothing should be placed on the refrigerator. Therefore, the last word remains with the owners.
It is clear that everyone strives to create comfortable conditions in the kitchen. But we must not forget about safety rules.
A refrigerator is considered a poor TV stand for several reasons:
- Compressor load. The device located on top disrupts the cooling mode. The performance of the capacitor deteriorates and the refrigerator motor starts more often. This leads to rapid wear of the unit and increased electricity consumption.
- Vibration. Older refrigerator models vibrate during operation. The process intensifies when the compressor starts and stops. Vibrations do not have the best effect on the TV. The image begins to distort due to lack of electricity. In addition, thin-screen TVs are unstable. Any vibration may cause the device to fall. Modern refrigerators are equipped with a more powerful compressor, which reduces vibration to a minimum. However, they consume more electricity. Therefore, when the unit is turned on, the TV turns off.
- Weight. Old TVs are often placed in the kitchen. These models are usually heavy. There is a risk of damage to the top panel of the refrigerator and more. The thermal insulation process is disrupted, followed by the normal operation of the unit.
Some housewives consider having a TV in the kitchen unacceptable. Why? Firstly, it distracts from the cooking process and prevents you from concentrating on the dish. Secondly, watching TV while eating disrupts your digestion.
Attention! There is an opinion that eating in front of the TV leads to weight gain. The person is focused not on the dish, but on the screen. He does not enjoy the taste of food, and therefore does not feel full. Therefore, during dinner, combined with watching TV, more than one extra plate may be eaten.
Correct location
The location of such equipment in the kitchen is excluded in several cases:
- Installation near a sink will result in moisture getting into the surface of the TV. With constant exposure, this will lead to complex breakdowns.
- A battery or direct sunlight also contributes to heating of equipment and rapid wear of its parts.
TVs for the kitchen do not have to have a large screen. The optimal size would be a design with a diagonal of up to 20 inches. They should be located at a distance of 2 m from the observer.
There are several ways to optimally position the TV in the kitchen:
Refrigerator with a built-in opening for such equipment
Please note that the hole size is often standard and you will have to select the dimensions of the equipment according to it
Closet. Shelves for installation can be provided at the design stage of the headset. In another case, you need to attach a special frame to one of the openings of the cabinet.
Bracket. There are many types of fastening systems on the market today. With their help, you can hang the structure on a special base. An alternative to such designs are rotating systems, which are located in cabinets and save space.
The location of the refrigerator and TV is theoretically possible anywhere, but it is advisable to take into account the manufacturer’s recommendations. You can install them on top of each other as a last resort.
How electrical appliances affect each other
Some new generation refrigerators have a built-in TV, but in this case, the manufacturers calculated all the harmful effects of such a neighborhood and installed protection. Modern developers understand that the kitchen can be simply overcrowded with all kinds of electromagnetic fields, and create models taking such conditions into account.
If in your kitchen there is a refrigerator that is not the first one, and the TV is also old, the following troubles may occur:
- when electromagnetic waves are superimposed, radiation increases;
- the load on the mechanisms increases;
- an old refrigerator vibrates, this is not good for both the monitor and the eyes;
- a heavy TV can deform the refrigerator lid.
The Mschistota.ru resource found out from specialists that no breakdowns occurred due to this arrangement of devices. Indeed, on the day of installation and for a long time after it, nothing happens. The TV and refrigerator served their service life honestly and were sent for recycling. But no one knows how much longer they could have worked if they had stood far away from each other.
Tip: If you consider the refrigerator to be the best place for a TV in the kitchen, purchase a modern model of a freezing unit with a built-in plasma panel.
If you just can’t do without watching programs in the kitchen, you can put the TV on a special stand. Make a shelf for it or hang it on the wall using special brackets. Owners of flat, lightweight models sometimes want to hang the TV on the refrigerator. There is definitely no need to do this. There is a lot of movement around the freezer equipment, with all family members frequently opening and closing the door. In this case, there is a high probability of dropping and breaking the plasma panel.
Combining two devices
If you want to install a TV in the kitchen, it is recommended to follow several rules that will help maintain the functionality of any equipment.
- Purchase a refrigeration unit with a special opening for the TV.
- Order a cabinet or shelf that will be attached to the kitchen unit.
- Today, there are TV mounting brackets on sale that are fixed to the wall and are independent of other household appliances in the kitchen.
TV Mount Bracket
When buying a refrigerator with an opening for a TV, remember that the opening has certain dimensions for which you will have to select a TV monitor. It’s better to do this right away in the store. Sales consultants will help with the choice and tell you how to combine two devices in this case.
If renovation work in the kitchen has not been completed, it is recommended to order a kitchen set with a shelf to accommodate the TV. This will help to effectively solve the problem of combining the monitor with any other equipment in the kitchen. Ordering a bracket for mounting the TV will help in the same way.
bracket
Summing up
You can arrange all the necessary equipment in a small kitchen. When thinking about the placement of each device, do not forget to follow the rules of planning and arrangement of interior items in the room. If you want to place the TV on the refrigerator, use the advice of professionals. They will help you place the equipment correctly and extend the life of each device.
Is it possible or not to place the TV on the refrigerator?
The reasons why the TV is often placed on the refrigerator is to free up kitchen space and to position the device at an easy-to-eye height.
Despite the stated advantages of such optimization, it is important to remember the negative consequences that result from installing a TV on the lid of the refrigerator. These include:
- Increased load on the compressor. This, in turn, leads to cooling failures inside the food storage chamber. The capacitor operates intermittently. In this regard, the refrigerator engine is forced to start much more often. All this leads to rapid wear of the device and increases energy consumption. Food products begin to spoil much more often.
- Presence of vibration in older models of refrigerators. It increases when the compressor is turned on or off. The TV may fall over sooner or later. Modern models do not create strong vibrations, but consume more electricity. When they are turned on, the TV located on top turns off.
- Heavy weight. This primarily applies to older TV models. Placing them on the refrigerator lid can deform it. As a result, thermal insulation is compromised. The compressor may fail.
- Inability to concentrate on the process of preparing or eating food. Also, watching TV while eating disrupts the functioning of the digestive system.
From all of the above, the conclusion is that it is not recommended to place the TV on the refrigerator.
If the presence of a TV in the kitchen is still necessary, you need to take a responsible approach to choosing a place to place it. For this purpose, the options located next to:
- Wash (to prevent moisture ingress).
- A stove or heating radiator (this provokes overheating of the equipment).
- On a window in direct sunlight (possible overheating).
Results
You cannot place household appliances - a microwave, a TV, a stereo system, a multicooker or other heavy objects on the top cover of a refrigerator or freezer. This is due to the fact that, under the weight of equipment and other objects, the body of the refrigeration equipment may be damaged, and the vibrations of the unit will transfer to other equipment and will accelerate breakdowns.
Craftsmen who repair refrigeration equipment have not yet recorded a single case where a refrigerator or freezer has failed due to foreign objects and equipment placed on top, but this does not guarantee that there will be no precedent. An alternative is to find another place to place the TV and other household appliances, without putting additional stress on the refrigerator body.
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What you can and cannot put on the refrigerator
There are devices that can be conditionally placed on the refrigerator and which absolutely cannot be placed on the lid of the refrigeration unit.
Devices that can be placed on the refrigerator
These include relatively light appliances - a multicooker, an electric kettle, a microwave.
In this case, you must follow the safety rules:
- Availability of free space around the device. The microwave and multicooker have air ducts. If they are blocked, the device will quickly fail.
- Refrigerator height. If it reaches a height of 2 meters, then the use of objects placed on the unit will be problematic.
- Using a cardboard sheet. Positioning it between the refrigerator lid and the bottom of the microwave will reduce radiation levels.
- Infrequent use. Appliances that are constantly running should not be placed on the refrigerator or freezer.
Devices that should not be placed on the refrigerator
First of all, it is important to remember that a refrigerator is not a lifting device. It also requires careful care and careful operation. Devices that should absolutely not be placed on a refrigerator or freezer include:
- Another refrigerator or freezer. The presence of an additional unit in an apartment is often necessary for the people living. However, placing one such device on top of another is prohibited. Even a small refrigerator can damage a larger one. If the device installed on top has the “No Frost” function, then sooner or later water will begin to flow onto the refrigerator located below.
- Other heavy objects (for example, coffee machines).
- Flowers. Insufficient air and generated radiation negatively affect plant growth and flowering.
You should not ignore the recommendations. Otherwise, the refrigerator will break down regularly. You will need to contact service centers or buy new equipment.
Choosing the right place
As can be seen from the above facts, placing a TV in the kitchen on the refrigerator is a rather unfortunate (one might say extreme) solution, which does not lead to anything good both in terms of human health and in terms of the performance of the equipment adjacent in such close contact.
If there is even the slightest opportunity to change the situation to reduce negative consequences, you need to take advantage of it. To do this, you should look for another place in the kitchen for the TV, rather than using the refrigerator as a stand for it.
And the main criteria should be the following points:
- to make it convenient to watch TV both in height and at the required angle;
- distance to the screen - at least 5 diagonals;
- the screen should not be exposed to the sun;
- away from wet places (that is, the TV can be placed away from the sink);
- The kitchen stove also does not fit next to the TV.
Based on the above, we can conclude that the best place to place a TV in the kitchen is a wall cabinet or a special shelf.
Only when ordering or selecting kitchen furniture is it necessary to take into account the factor of choosing a place for the TV. But we must not forget about ventilation of the space around the device.
The second option could be wall brackets for hanging a TV with a rotating device. The same rotating device can be installed in a closet to make viewing comfortable.
For information on where to place the TV in the kitchen, see the following video.
Microwave
As you know, having a microwave in the house simplifies heating and cooking food.
However, there is not always a place for this device in the kitchen, so many people have to place the microwave on other household appliances. The microwave on the refrigerator takes second place in the ranking of the most common placement options after the TV.
However, in life you can encounter this phenomenon quite often. If there is no additional space for the oven in the kitchen, further measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the location:
- Please note that for the oven to function properly, it requires free space on all sides. If the refrigerator’s dimensions allow for a distance of 20 cm and is not pressed tightly against the wall, then you can confidently place equipment on it;
- Consider the ease of use of the oven. If the refrigerator is relatively short in height, then you can place a microwave on it. Ready-to-eat products can be easily obtained;
- It is worth placing a board made of wood or cardboard between the two devices; this helps reduce the negative impact of both units. Accordingly, the level of radiation, heating and vibration will become lower;
It is worth taking care of the frequency of use. If the oven is used only a few times a day, the use of the oven will not result in significant radiation emissions. If the microwave will be used systematically, then placing the microwave is not acceptable.
What is electromagnetic radiation
Household appliances that run on electricity produce electromagnetic waves. Scientists cannot come to a clear conclusion about the harm of their influence on human health.
Some argue that in the modern world there is no need to be afraid of electromagnetic waves: the technology is designed in such a way that the body practically does not feel their effects. But many say that electromagnetic waves in any quantity can cause harm.
However, experts agree that a refrigerator is not the best place to install a TV. The fact is that these household appliances have the same range of electromagnetic waves, which will negatively affect their operation. This will manifest itself, at a minimum, in a decrease in quality and operational failures.
It is also important that such an arrangement will lead to a blow to the family budget, since electricity consumption will increase.
Design parameters
Electromagnetic radiation is just one of the reasons why it is not recommended to install a TV on a refrigerator. This arrangement is also not the best option because it significantly increases the load on the refrigeration unit.
- Any large object installed on top interferes with the full movement of air along the back wall of the refrigerator. As a result, ventilation and airflow of the housing are reduced, and the parts are subject to overheating. This will lead to frequent engine starting and rapid breakdown.
- Do not forget about the vibration that occurs when starting or stopping the engine. It will affect the operation of the TV: interference or image distortion may occur.
- Looking at a periodically flashing display is harmful to the eyes: the increased load will make them tired and sore. It should be noted that in the latest models of refrigerators, vibration is minimized.
- The old TV is quite heavy. If it is on the refrigerator, it can cause deformation of the case.
- The refrigerator lid will sag, which will not go unnoticed by all the functions of the appliance. This does not mean that the solution is to install a modern, lightweight LCD TV on the refrigerator.
- They do not have a stable base and can simply fall when opening and closing the refrigerator.
There is a rather controversial assumption that a TV in the kitchen can deteriorate the quality of food. But this is unlikely. There are appliances in the kitchen that have much more power. For example, a microwave oven.
Consequences
We can assume the result from the actions of the owners who place the TV on top of the refrigeration unit in the kitchen.
- The refrigerator will consume more energy and turn off less often, trying to maintain the set temperature inside. The reasons for this: incorrect operation of the compressor due to increased load on it under the weight of a heavy TV, and also, possibly, damage to the thermal insulation of the top panel of the refrigerator. As a result, faster failure of all refrigeration equipment than the design resource allows for proper operation of the unit.
- Compressor motor overheating due to insufficient cooling in a confined space. The reason for this phenomenon may be the closing of the rear upper air gap between the wall and the refrigerator by the protruding part of the TV (ventilation will be impaired).
- Vibration of the refrigeration unit can cause failures in the operation of the TV: there will be desoldering in electrical connections, shedding of the kinescope phosphor, and flickering of the image. It is also possible that the receiver may fall.
- An increase in electromagnetic radiation from the kitchen space has a negative impact on human health. However, watching TV programs while eating is harmful to the digestive tract.
- The electromagnetic effect of devices on each other leads to breakdown of both devices.
- Uncomfortable viewing of TV if it is located on a large refrigeration structure can affect diseases of the eyes and cervical vertebrae.
Is it possible to place appliances in the freezer?
The surface of the refrigerator, at first glance, is the best option for placing electrical appliances. If you install a TV on it, this will provide a good viewing angle and will save space in the kitchen.
Despite all the advantages, placing electrical appliances in this way is not recommended for several reasons. They are as follows:
- The load on the refrigerator increases.
- The radiation intensity increases.
- Devices located on the surface of the refrigerator are affected by vibration. This is especially true for older model refrigerators.
- Exceeding the permissible weight causes the lid of the refrigeration unit to sag.
- Insufficient air to cool the radiator of a freezer or food storage chamber contributes to their rapid failure.
It is best to place the microwave or multicooker on other surfaces. These include a table or window sill. It is possible to organize a special niche in the kitchen furniture, placing it next to a separate outlet. You can install the devices in another room. This arrangement will also protect electrical devices from moisture and contact with water.
How to position equipment correctly
When deciding to get a TV in the kitchen, you need to take into account several important rules.
- Large sizes are best left for the hall. In the kitchen, a 20-inch is sufficient. Finding a place for it will not be difficult, it will not interfere or harm other equipment.
- Do not install the TV at a high height (another reason why the refrigerator is not the best place). If you always have to raise your head to view, this will lead to problems with vision and the cervical spine. The optimal height is no higher than two meters.
- Make sure that the TV is at a sufficient distance from the sink. Moisture on its surface may cause malfunction or failure. What's worse is that an accident may occur. If there is no other installation option, order a special protective screen made of thick glass or plastic.
- The TV should not be placed near heating appliances or gas or electric stoves. Due to exposure to sunlight, the location next to a window is not the best option. Heating will lead to rapid wear of equipment parts. In addition, daylight will interfere with viewing, creating glare on the screen.
Pay attention to the wires: they must be securely hidden. A dangling wire touched by carelessness will cause the TV to fall.
Modern manufacturers have taken care of those who want to cook and watch movies at the same time. The installation problem was solved by creating a refrigerator with a built-in LCD screen. Those who decide to change all their equipment at once should take a closer look at this option. This refrigerator is easy to use and ergonomic. The only negative is the rather high price. The purchase will cost more than if you buy the equipment separately.
Another option is a refrigerator with a special opening for installing a TV. Of course, here you will have to adapt to the existing sizes, and not choose at will. Modern kitchen sets include a special niche for the TV.
Triangle rule
According to the “rule of the triangle”, the main units in the kitchen should be located at a certain distance from each other, ideally they should be located in three corners of the kitchen, opposite to each other.
Designers advise arranging the kitchen in such a way that there is free space next to each item. It is convenient to remove food from the refrigerator, placing it freely on the table. Cooking requires a separate table, and washing dishes, in turn, requires a tabletop for folding them.
Let's sum it up
If you are planning a kitchen renovation, take into account the rule described above. By acting on the triangle principle, you will make the kitchen comfortable and spacious, and the appliances will delight your family for many years
Allowed options for mounting a TV above the refrigerator
Modern, flat and lightweight, the TV can be attached anywhere in the kitchen using specialized fasteners. Such hangers can be purchased in every store that sells household appliances. Fasteners may vary in type and cost. There are four most common fastener options:
- Fixed - tilting and turning the equipment is eliminated, and the cost of such fasteners is low.
- Tilt-and-rotate – make it possible to adjust the tilt of the equipment so that the image is not distorted when viewed from anywhere in the room with a maximum tilt and rotation angle of 180 ̊.
- Inclined – compact models that allow a vertical tilt angle of 20 degrees.
- Ceiling - it is possible to adjust the tilt and rotation by 360, they are the best option for rooms with high (3 m or more) ceilings.
The wall bracket for TV equipment is selected after purchasing the TV. The key selection criterion, after the owner of the LCD panel is convinced that the bracket is suitable, is the goals being pursued and the desired angle of inclination with rotation.
Kitchen without TV
The question arises whether a TV is needed in the kitchen. This is a special room, where food is prepared, the family gathers around a common table. It is no secret that most programs do not contribute to a good mood: talk shows discuss the problems of dysfunctional families, the news is filled with chilling stories. Do you enjoy having lunch while your nail affected by fungus is shown on full screen?
Good housewives know that when cooking they need to focus only on this process and not be distracted by anything. At this time, they even turn off their phone. The quality of a dish largely depends on the mood in which you cook it. If you cry over the problems of the characters in a melodrama or get carried away by a crime series, don’t be surprised that the food turns out to be tasteless, and all family members will feel heaviness in their stomachs for a long time. If the TV is on the refrigerator, the temptation to turn it on is very great, and you are unlikely to prepare a tasty and healthy lunch.
If you are bored of working in silence in the kitchen, turn on the radio or player with your favorite tunes that will create a pleasant emotional atmosphere.
Doctors do not recommend watching TV shows, discussing serious issues, or talking on the phone while eating. Disconnect from all your problems, enjoy delicious food and don’t forget to praise the hostess. Share good news and make each other happy. You can then watch the missed episodes of an interesting detective story on the Internet.
Each person must decide for himself whether it is possible to place the TV on the refrigerator. If you think that it is impossible to think of a better place, take care of the safety of all family members. All devices must be installed firmly and stably. Place the electrical cord and antenna cable so that they cannot be accidentally touched or pulled. And yet, keep the screen off more often; communicating with family and friends is much more interesting than with characters in TV series.