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I've used several fridges (refrigerators) whose manuals say something similar to

Never put anything on top of the fridge.

The manuals don't explain why things should not be stored on top of the fridge which is frustrating when the top of a fridge is an ideal place to store things.

Is there a general answer to the question "what goes wrong when you put things on the top of a fridge"?

snoram
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    Just buy a fridge that doesn't give this advice and expect stuff to get a little warmer due to the emission of heat from the fridge. – Andy aka Jun 15 '16 at 17:22
  • You can put something heavy there which will eventually fall on someones head and injure/kill them. Then you sue the fridge maker. Profit. – Eugene Sh. Jun 15 '16 at 17:46

1 Answers1

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It's probably just a liability thing -- remember, that for any given warning, some idiot probably did the thing that the warning was written for. And in the States, we're litigious as f**k.

Most of the heat from a conventional upright fridge is going to be radiated out the back, and I think the compressor / refrigerant usually hangs out at the bottom. Sure, the top might get a 'little' warm but tens of thousands of people have put stuff on top of their fridges for decades.

Obvious exceptions apply if the fridge is designed to be recessed / nicely integrated into a kitchen, has hinges on the top that get in the way, etc.

Krunal Desai
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    Its probably a warning for US market, where everything needs warnings with nice stickers. – Marko Buršič Jun 15 '16 at 17:30
  • It may be a combination of that, and ventilation. Some manuals here used to specifically say "do not fully enclose top of backside of the refrigerator", but don't put anything on top was definitely not there in the 90's over here in NL. Post 90's never read a manual for a fridge again, so... – Asmyldof Jun 15 '16 at 19:05