American Fridge Freezer Plumbing

[leccyblue]

Hi,

We've bought an American style fridge freezer that requires plumbing. It's going on the wall in the kitchen that is opposite to the water supply, so no water supply nearby. In the loft above (bungalow) there is a nearby mains cold feed to the CH header tank which I can tee into.

My question is; I don't really want to run 15mm pipe from the loft down the wall near to the fridge freezer, nor do I want the included inline filter on show, and I don't think you are allowed to mount the filter behind the fridge freezer itself? Is there any reason why I shouldn't tee into the supply pipe in the loft above with a washing machine valve, connecting the supplied 8mm pipe directly in the loft, and also have the inline water filter in the loft so it's not on show. Then simply run the 8mm tube through the ceiling in some trunking and connect into the fridge? Perhaps with an additional inline 8mm isolator?

This will be the most visually appealing and tidy way of doing it but I wasn't sure if the loft heat in the summer would affect the inline filter in any way? I know I need to ensure the filter is mounted upright.

Obviously it means a trip into the loft every six months to change the filter but I can cope with that...

Thanks!

 

[Madrab]

Don't see why not, as long as it isn't exceeding pipe lenfgth or the like, as far as the MI is concerned. Only issue would be changing the cartridge or isolation if the pipe/push fit connections ever popped.

 

[dilalio]

It'll be fine... Only issue is clambering into the loft to shut it off when there's a leak, or to change the filter cartridge.

However, you could always use a SureStop to shut it off from below, using the button.

 

[muggles]

Check your instructions but the cartridges usually need changing every 3-6 months on these, so are you prepared to scramble into your loft to do that? The only other potential issue I can think of is that the thin plastic pipe isn't going to be rodent resistant, so if you get mice in your loft and they chew through the pipe you'll get a flood.

 

[dal5band]

Changing the filter is a little more complicated - you have to run the new filter into a bucket to clear out loose carbon - quite a lot of black stuff comes out. This means carrying a bucket of water downfrom the loft each time. Then you run a tall glass of water to see if it is running clear , best to hold up the glass to a window. So it's best to have the filter easily accessable.

 

[leccyblue]

Thanks all for your responses. I've thought of a way now where I could run a 15mm pipe down from the loft, by buying a few larder units and 'building in' the American FF, leaving ventilation gaps etc. I can run the water supply into the cabinet next to the FF, and keep the filter and isolator local. It'll look better and give us heaps of new storage too. Thanks for all the input!

 

[foxhole]

My fridge just required running water thru fridge itself after changing to rid any debri , don’t need a bucket in the loft .