Khrushchev's refrigerator. How to make a refrigerator under the window

The generation of the '90s does not even remember about such a phenomenon as Khrushchev's refrigerator, and meanwhile it in due time has very much helped our mums and grandmothers. The original design, created specifically for the "Khrushchev", replaced the full, albeit seasonal, refrigerator. But time goes by, houses built in the 50's still stand, but built-in refrigerators in apartments have long demanded, if not dismantling, then major repairs. On how to make a refrigerator under the window and upgrade the existing design, read in our article.

Features

construction imagine modern life in an apartment without a refrigerator is simply impossible, butin the 50's and 60's few people can boast of their own refrigerator, so the Soviet architectThe inventors invented a truly unique device - Khrushchev's refrigerator.

This design is a niche located under the windowsill in the kitchen. The outer side of the niche is much thinner than the load-bearing walls of the building and has through holes. Through them, cold air arrives in winter, which provides an acceptable low temperature for storing food in the winter.

The dimensions of the refrigerator box allowed the residents of "Khrushchev" to significantly save the kitchen space and store products longer, only 5-6 months a year. Plus, over the fridge was a very wide window sill, which could be used as a full shelf or a small table for cooking. In summer, such a ventilated refrigerator could store cereals, vegetables, fruits, sunflower oil, flour and other non-perishable products, which are usually placed in kitchen cabinets.

The inventors of Khrushchev's refrigerator made special flaps, which helped to regulate the temperature inside. Over time, this innovation of the mill is so popular that it has found application not only in "Khrushchevs", but also in more modern residential high-rise buildings - "brezhnevka" and even some nine-storey houses.

Advantages of construction:

1. Significant space saving in a small kitchen.
2. Ability to convert and increase the usefulness of the area.
3. Energy saving - in winter it is possible to turn off the usual refrigerator and store all the products in the winter refrigerator under the window.
4. An ideal place to store home preserves.

Khrushchev's fridge with your own hands

If you urgently need to increase the usable area of ​​your small kitchen, the construction of Khrushchev's refrigerator will be the best solution. Make it with their own hands is not so difficult already, especially when it comes to old brick houses.

Deepening the niche under the window

First of all it is necessary to create a niche under the window in which the refrigerator will be located. To do this, knock off the plaster from the wall to get to the brickwork. If you are frightened by the fact that you are working with a bearing wall and can break the integrity of the building, the experiences are completely vain - the part located under the window does not affect the fortress walls. Under the window frame there is a strong concrete beam, which is responsible for the integrity of the bearing wall.

The image above shows the principle of a well brickwork used for the construction of residential buildings. The voids are filled with heat-insulating material( slag).Based on your preferences, deepen the niche by dismantling part of the masonry inside the house. Thus, the wall will become thinner by about 25 cm.

To better understand the principle of operation, one should take into account the characteristics of the brick parameters. Its length is 25 cm, width - 12 cm, the thickness can vary( height of a poke and a spoon).Thus, the thickness of a single brick is 6.5 cm, one-and-a-half - 8.8 cm, double - 13.8 cm. Specifically, in our case, it is necessary to focus on the width and length to control the thickness of the wall in the process of dismantling the masonry.

When you dismantled the inside of the masonry and knocked down part of the bricks across the masonry( poke), the wall will remain in the width of the brick. This partition should be plastered with cement mortar. Shpaklevku can not be used, because it does not have watertightness and other performance characteristics of the cement-sand mixture. Note that when dismantling the masonry from the outside of the wall, gaps and cracks may appear, through which moisture will inevitably penetrate the first rain. In winter, the water will freeze, ice, as is known, will increase in volume, create pressure on the plaster and tear it apart. Therefore, the only acceptable solution is to cover the wall with cement, and already on top of it you can apply a finishing filler or other finishing, for example, tile the refrigerator with ceramic tiles.

Khrushchev's refrigerator has one significant drawback - condensation forms on the walls. Therefore, mold is formed very quickly there, the tree rot, a musty smell appears, the structure collapses. These sad consequences will help to eliminate modern vapor permeable materials. During the warming of the chamber, it is enough to lay a permeable membrane around the perimeter and forget about the dampness forever.

Finishing the winter refrigerator under the window with ceramic tiles has its own characteristics. Putting it is recommended on the prepared plaster base, using special tile glue. If you live in the northern regions, it is preferable to use frost-resistant adhesives, for example, Ceresit CM11.Tiles can use absolutely any, even tile battle. In this case, only a smooth waterproof surface is important.

Doors of the Khrushchev refrigerator

When the organization of the interior space of the refrigerator is finished, it is necessary to solve the second, but no less important task - the replacement and installation of doors. The doors in the design of the winter refrigerator play a decisive role, responsible for keeping the cold inside the box and heat - inside the apartment. Therefore, the requirements for them must be too high.

The best option is to install strong doors with exterior trim, like the rest of the kitchen. Then the refrigerator will harmoniously fit into the interior and will not be noticeable. Valves can be made by yourself or by contacting the workshop.

Features of the door installation:

1. To hang the doors on the winter refrigerator and make them sealed, the niche should have perfectly smooth edges with angles strictly under 90 degrees. To achieve such parameters manually is rather difficult, especially without having professional building skills, but to help industrious owners there are a couple of tips - align the corners with ceramic tiles or make a separate frame in the form of a frame on which the facade will hold. If the edges of the frame diverge from the walls of the niche, you can hide this defect with a baguette or plaster.
2. Position the central part of the groove for singing at 22 cm from the corner of the facade. From the end of the door to the center of the hinge leave a distance of 7-12 cm, depending on the size of the door and individual preferences. If you use very heavy panels, it makes sense to add another loop in the middle. In this case, it is necessary to calculate the distance between the canopies so that they do not come in contact with the shelves of the refrigerator.
3. To cut the hinges, use a face milling cutter with a diameter of 35 mm. You will need to make a groove depth of 11-12 mm, so if you work with a thin furniture panel in 16-18 mm, drill very carefully, so that the cutter does not pass through. To make it easier to control the depth of the passage, it is necessary to sharpen the drill before work.
4. The second end of the loop can be fixed directly to the tile, if you have made perfectly straight corners of a niche without a frame. To do this, use dowels( 5-6 mm) and screws( at least 3-4 mm).To accurately make holes for dowels, make a preliminary marking on the tiles and use the winning 3-millimeter drill.

As doors it is possible to use not only a furniture facade, but also double-glazed windows, wooden frames with glasses, plastic or metal inserts. When creating a door for a winter refrigerator, it should be borne in mind that wood is the best thermal insulation material. The plastic for this is too thin and will require additional insulation with polystyrene or styrofoam.

If possible, make a door with a feigned strap. This insignificant at a glance element performs an important function, increasing the airtightness of the door and contributing to a better cold retention inside the box. Even if you purchased or ordered a door, attach to it a cross bar, erecting it from a conventional baguette.

Modifications of the Khrushchev refrigerator

If you already have an old Khrushchev refrigerator, you can not disagree that its design requires substantial refinement to at least somehow fit into the modern interior. And even if you are not going to use it for the intended purpose, this space can be arranged to store kitchen utensils and save space in the apartment. But the first task is to create a good thermal insulation of this zone, because the through holes in the wall, even if they are enclosed by the door, bear colossal heat loss in the cold season.

There are several modifications applicable to the design of the winter refrigerator:

1. Completely fill the space under the window sill, creating a dense thermal insulation layer and tightly covering the cold bridges. As a result, you get a flat wall or a small notch under the window into which you can install a radiator.
2. Remake the refrigerator, make the right insulation using modern building materials and use the design for its intended purpose.
3. Complete reorientation of the space with the subsequent installation in the niche of a gas cooker, dishwasher or washing machine. Alternatively, you can fill the notch with a drawer with drawers, install a hob or sink on the sill.
4. Completely remove the brickwork and install the French window. Such a cardinal solution will make a small kitchen more light and visually increase its size. You can save on lighting, especially if the window is facing north or covered from direct sunlight by other houses or trees.

Sealing a niche in a refrigerator

The simplest, inexpensive and fastest option is to completely seal a niche from a winter refrigerator. So you immediately solve the problem of heat leakage through a thin wall, especially if you live in the northern regions of the country. The other types of modifications will require much more time, effort and resources.

Moments to look out for:

1. It is necessary to fill the space with bricks, since only this material can provide a full protection against the adverse effects of weather. To determine the required wall thickness, use SNiP 23-02-2003, but without any documentation it is obvious that to create a quality thermal insulation, you can simply fill a niche and make it level with the rest of the walls. You can also leave a small notch in 15 cm - this will also be enough to keep the heat in the apartment.
2. Do not use gypsum board sheets for plating and closing the niche, because due to the temperature difference, condensate will appear very quickly on it, the material will be covered with mold and will collapse.
3. If you decide to leave a small niche, we recommend to install a radiator in it, so that the heat in the apartment is 100%.

Modernization of Khrushchev's refrigerator

If you do not want to part with such a convenient design, it can be "refined" and made more functional.

Highlights for which to pay attention:

1. The thin rear wall of the refrigerator has through ventilation holes, which must be cleaned from dust and dirt.
2. From the cold air, the apartment is protected only by thin wooden doors, which have not changed since Soviet times. Take care of purchasing or building new doors.
3. Shelves should also be replaced. You can put glass, plastic, metal or wooden shelves.
4. Pay special attention to space ventilation and the need for it. If you decide to leave the outlet to the openings, prepare for the fact that inside the refrigerator in winter there will be a very low temperature, at which not all products can be stored. If the holes are closed, then at -10C-20C in the street in the refrigerator will keep the temperature to + 10C.Do not clog the holes tightly with mounting foam or cement mortar - give preference to mineral wool.
5. Refrigeration of the refrigerating chamber takes away not so much time, how many means. From your preferences and design ideas will depend on the cost of work.
6. Choose the simplest accessories - latches, fasteners, hinges, etc. It is not at all necessary to make a slippery system for such small sizes, it is enough to install a conventional swing door. As an option, you can put sliding doors, which will save space in the kitchen. The slidors system reliably isolates the inner space from the cold in the niche.
7. Think about what you will be cooling the inside of the refrigerator - with tiles, plastic, wood or plaster. If to make an internal covering from plastic, the refrigerator will always neat, pure and well-groomed( it is easy to wash).
8. It is recommended to install the latching system in order to minimize the risk of loose doors and drafts.

Helpful hint: Install internal LED lighting with 12V or 24V power supply and down converters.

As you can see, it's not so difficult to make a modern functional and stylish refrigerator under the window with your own hands. The main thing is to exert a little effort and imagination, then the brilliant invention of Soviet architects will heal with a worthy second life and will please its owners for more than one year.

Interesting ideas

Finally, we offer you to be inspired by original solutions embodied by hardworking owners of Khrushchev's refrigerators with their own hands.

Make the door from a conventional double glazed unit, and use the LED strip as a backlight:

If you do not want all the products in the fridge to be in sight, install a glazed unit with frosted glass:

Great option for a small kitchen - installation of a cabinet with drawers inniche from the refrigerator:

A clear demonstration of how an ordinary apartment in a "Khrushchev" can turn into stylish modern housing, if you dismantle the refrigerator under the window and install a window in its French positionle:

Nowhere to put the oven or dishwasher - install it instead of the refrigerator:

Mirror inserts on the doors visually increase the space: