My fridge, which I am quite positive is older than I am, was
on its last leg for some time and needed to be replaced. Not only does it feel
great to finally upgrade an appliance in the kitchen, but it also saves on our
electricity bill. Most new refrigerators are rated as Energy Star which means they are generally 20% more efficient than minimum federal
standards. Don’t forget to write off your purchase on qualified Energy Star
products when filing your
taxes as well as submitting for local
rebates and credits from your local electrical company. Three ways to save
or get paid to upgrade my fridge, how can I say no to that?
My old fridge was a standalone fridge with no special perks
that many new fridges now come standard with. No, I opted out of getting a
fridge with a TV and WiFi capability. Call me old fashion, but I believe my
fridge should store food and other basic nourishments.
The new fridge that I purchased has a hookup for water and
an ice maker. To maximize the use of my fridge, I am going to have to run a
water line from a cold water source to my fridge. I purchased a water hook-up
kit which included copper
tubing, a saddle valve, and a compression
union. I had to
also purchase a second compression union, which I will use to extend the line from the basement to the connection inside the fridge.
First thing I did was find a convenient location behind where the new fridge would be located to punch a hole in the wall. This is going to be a entry point to the first floor for the cooper line that I would be running from the basement. This would have to be a place that is out of the way and would not be an inconvenience should I decide to later move the fridge to another location. We do not have a nook or built in fixture for a fridge so we have a little more flexibility to where we can place our refrigerator. We decided to keep it in the same location and have no intent in moving to any other place in the kitchen, or at least in the near future.
Once I made the opening in the wall, I drilled a hole going into the basement. It wasn't easy as I could not drill straight down but was forced to operator my drill at an angle. But the advantage is that it provided me a general location of where to drill up from within the basement. Initially, I tried to start drilling from the basement but as you can see in the picture below, my measurements were slightly off. I thought I had made my measurements correctly but they were apparently 5 or so inches off.
also purchase a second compression union, which I will use to extend the line from the basement to the connection inside the fridge.
First thing I did was find a convenient location behind where the new fridge would be located to punch a hole in the wall. This is going to be a entry point to the first floor for the cooper line that I would be running from the basement. This would have to be a place that is out of the way and would not be an inconvenience should I decide to later move the fridge to another location. We do not have a nook or built in fixture for a fridge so we have a little more flexibility to where we can place our refrigerator. We decided to keep it in the same location and have no intent in moving to any other place in the kitchen, or at least in the near future.
Once I made the opening in the wall, I drilled a hole going into the basement. It wasn't easy as I could not drill straight down but was forced to operator my drill at an angle. But the advantage is that it provided me a general location of where to drill up from within the basement. Initially, I tried to start drilling from the basement but as you can see in the picture below, my measurements were slightly off. I thought I had made my measurements correctly but they were apparently 5 or so inches off.
As you already know, we do not have a finished basement so it makes it easier for me to find a water line that is the closest to the fridge with easy access for modification. If you have a finished basement, you have to be a little more creative in gaining access to the floor directly underneath your kitchen.
I than took my saddle valve and placed it over the existing copper water pipe. All I had to do was screw in either side and the device, which the pressure created by the tightening of the screws, punctured the existing water line without ever having to shut off the water supply to any other place in the house. Ensure you have the saddle value in the off position or you have a slight mess to clean up.
Take a compression union and connect the cooper tubing to the saddle valve. I kept a few feet of copper tubing and tied it at the connection point. Never hurts to have some slack for the flexibility of moving the water line should I need to for a future project.
I placed a plastic junction box in the hole that I made in the kitchen and fed the copper tubing through it from the basement. I placed a coaxial cable face plate over the copper tuning.
Follow the instructions of your refrigerator to make the appropriate connections to the fridge itself. Once the connections are made, take another compression union and connect the water hose to the copper tubing.
Go back to the and turn on the saddle valve to allow water to flow through the new junction you created. Keep an eye on all the connections to ensure there are no leaks or breaks in the tubing. Finally, I am now ready to get a glass and taste the fresh, cold and filtered water from my new fridge.
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