Q: I just moved into a rental apartment. When cooking on the stovetop the heat radiates up onto the refrigerator which sits adjacent to the stove. Is there is a magnetic panel product that I can stick on the side of the 'frig to protect it from heat and save on the inconvenience of a fire.
Sent by Jami
Editor: Jami, this sounds like a fairly normal situation, to be honest — I think that most refrigerators are well-insulated enough to withstand residual heat from a stove. But it is definitely something to discuss with your landlord; perhaps there is some way to rearrange your kitchen a bit?
Readers, any advice?
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Only a minute part of the heat is electro-magnetic in the form of Infrared light. No magnetic field can disperse it. (Ever see a magnet make a room dark?) Most of the heat is from conduction (stove heats air, air heats stuff inside the air), and nothing can really prevent that short of moving your fridge away from your stove. Risk of fire is zero, otherwise, there'd be tons of cases like this, and the building code would have been updated a looong time ago.
This is the set-up in my mom's kitchen, and she's had it that way for probably 25 years without incident, so I wouldn't be worried! :) You just want to avoid sticking up papers on that side of the fridge since they could catch fire.
That the setup in my kitchen, and it hasn't been a problem. I've even run the cleaning function on the oven - which softened the laminate on the cupboard on the other side of the stove, but showed no damage to the fridge. It didn't even feel hot to the touch. The only downside is that you can't hang anything on the exposed side of the fridge - anything non-flammable I've stuck up there just ends up all greasy and sticky.
Japanese grocers sell aluminum foil protectors to put around stove tops -- I buy one every few years to help keep my fridge clean (it's right next to the burners, and the metal is textured so it's hard to clean well.) And yes, I secure it with magnets.
My fridge and stove are right next to each other and it's not a problem at all. I don't understand why you would think this is a fire risk???
Go get a metal splashguard (from Home Depot, Lowes or online). Get 2 or more magnetic disks without plastic covers (remove them) place the magnets on the fridge, click the metal splashguard to the magnets.
it should make it possible to keep the fridge cleaner from stray splatters and not heat it up since there will be air flow between the splashguard and fridge the width of the magnets. Refrigerator walls are insulated with Styrofoam or in expensive models, thermogel materials which are flame retardant. They should protect the inside of the fridge from outside temperatures though continuous heat from a stovetop over several hours might add a few dollars to the electric bill if the fridge is old or not well insulated.
Hi everyone!
I have a same setup in my kitchen and I had some concerns about the heat damaging my fridge. I don't worry about the fire but the side of the fridge. I cook quite often and it gets very hot and already has dents from the heat. I will try Stan's idea/advice. He's the only person who came up with a solution. Thank you! :)