Fixed or sliding hinge fixings for integrated fridge/freezer?

[MJNewton]

There is plenty of information online describing what the difference is between fixed hinges (door carried by the appliance) and sliding hinges (door carried by the carcass) for integrated fridge/freezers but I haven't come across any discussion of pros and cons of each. Can anyone shed any light?

 

For what it's worth, the unit I'll be using will be this one from DIY Kitchens.

Edited October 17, 2019 by MJNewton

[Vijay]

if using those hinges you'll be opening two doors for the appliance.

[MJNewton]

Which hinges? The ones on the linked unit? They are for use with a sliding hinge appliance - the fridge/freezer comes with a kit to link the fridge/freezers doors with the unit doors so when you open the unit doors they open the fridge/freezer too. For a fixed hinge appliance you remove the unit hinges and attach the doors straight to the appliance.

[MJNewton]

Here's a pic that illustrates better:

 

[ryder72]

Be careful with this one.

 

Fixed hinges appeared on the scene about 15 years ago and while on the face of it, it is a better system and appears more robust we have come across more of these failing in time compared to the sliding hinge system which appears to be more clunky.

 

Perhaps the reason for this is that the fixed hinge system carried the furniture door as well as the appliance door while the sliding hinge system splits the weight.

 

Manufacturers are moving towards the fixed hinge system and features such as the soft closing is only available with the fixed hinge system so this may well be a case of change for change sake without actually materially improving anything.

[MJNewton]

Thanks Ryder72; fixed hinges did seem to me to be the obvious preferred choice but I suppose cabinet doors - particularly large ones for a fridge/freezer - really are quite heavy. Perhaps I won't factor it in to my choice and just go with whatever happens to come on my preferred appliance. Whilst I am a big fan of soft-close hinges I don't mind it being absent from the sliding hinge type as I don't imagine a fridge/freezer would slam in quite the same way as a normal cupboard.

[ryder72]

I dont really have a definitive answer. On the face of it fixed hinges on fridges and freezers looks more substantial but they are only 2 load bearing points which is perhaps inferior to sliding hinge systems where there are multiple loading points.

 

Most of the higher spec models in any range seem to come with fixed hinges only with the sliding hinge systems usually seen on the lower spec/cost variants.

 

Soft close is nice to have but I dont think its the end of the world. The only way your door would slam is if it your fridge alignment wasnt correct or you slammed it shut. Soft close does howevver eliminate the possibility of appliances left open by mistake.

[joe90]

In my last house I built my own units and used separate fridge and freezer, stacked and made my own sliding door attachments, they worked very well for years. I did not fancy the weight of both doors on one set of hinges plus (apart from removing the handles) didn’t want to “mess” with the appliance.

[MJNewton]

Thank you both. As mentioned I'll leave it to chance as to what I'll get, but will be doing so better informed. It's looking most likely that they'll be sliding (I'm at the lower end of the cost spectrum ryder72 ?) 

Edited October 21, 2019 by MJNewton