Everything we sell is an American-specification appliance. Three questions decide whether one will work in your home: will it fit the opening, will your electricity supply run it, and can it be carried in. Everything below is detail on those three, and on keeping the appliance clean once it is in.
Measuring for a cutout
Measure the opening, not the appliance
Many of the 52 appliances in the catalogue are built-in and drop into a gap in your cabinetry. The number that matters is the size of that gap, measured as it is now, with the old appliance out if you can manage it. Measure before you order rather than after.
The four measurements to take
- Width of the opening at the top, the middle and the floor. Take the smallest of the three.
- Height from the floor to the underside of the worktop, at both sides.
- Depth from the back wall to the front face of the cabinets. Check what is already living in that space — pipework, a waste trap, an isolator, a socket — because it eats depth.
- Clearance in front, with the door open. A large door needs room to swing and a drawer or shelf needs room to come out past it.
Then check the route the door will take. A worktop overhang, a skirting board, a return wall or a handle on the cabinet opposite will all stop a door short even when the appliance itself sits in the hole perfectly.
If you are between two openings, work to the smaller one. These are heavy goods, and an appliance that will not go into the gap is the single return we cannot design our way out of. A few millimetres of spare space around a unit is normal and can be trimmed out with a filler panel; a few millimetres short cannot be fixed at all.
Reading an American spec sheet
Inches
Every dimension in these listings is in inches, because that is how the manufacturers publish them. One inch is 25.4 mm exactly. Some conversions, to save you the arithmetic:
| Inches | Millimetres | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|
| 24" | 609.6 mm | 61.0 cm |
| 27" | 685.8 mm | 68.6 cm |
| 30" | 762.0 mm | 76.2 cm |
| 33" | 838.2 mm | 83.8 cm |
| 36" | 914.4 mm | 91.4 cm |
Read the stated depth carefully. A depth figure may or may not include the door, the handle and the hinge, and those add up. Where a listing distinguishes between them, use the larger figure when you plan your clearance.
Cubic feet
Capacity is given in cubic feet rather than litres. One cubic foot is about 28.3 litres:
| Cubic feet | Approximate litres |
|---|---|
| 5 cu ft | 141.6 l |
| 10 cu ft | 283.2 l |
| 15 cu ft | 424.8 l |
| 20 cu ft | 566.3 l |
| 25 cu ft | 707.9 l |
For a refrigerator, the headline capacity is usually the total of the fridge and freezer compartments together. For an oven it is the usable cavity. Neither figure tells you the external size, so size the cutout from the dimensions, not from the capacity.
Energy Star instead of an A–G label
These appliances carry a US Energy Star rating where they are rated at all, not the EU or UK A–G energy label. The two are different schemes and do not convert into one another, so an Energy Star mark cannot be read across to a letter grade. Running-cost figures on an American spec sheet are calculated on US electricity prices and will not match a UK bill.
Electricity supply: 120V and 208–240V
This is the part to settle before you order. These appliances are built for a US supply. They run on either 120V or 208–240V. UK mains is 230V and is not the same arrangement, so a US-specification appliance is not something you simply plug in. Check the rating plate figures quoted in the listing, and have a qualified electrician confirm what your home can provide before you buy.
120V appliances
A 120V appliance needs a step-down transformer sized above the load the appliance draws, or a dedicated 120V supply. The transformer has to be rated for continuous use, and for anything with a motor or a heating element that rating needs headroom over the running figure. This is a job to price up before the appliance arrives, not after.
208–240V appliances
The voltage band looks close to UK mains, which is exactly why it catches people out. A US 208–240V appliance expects a US circuit and a US outlet, and the connection at the wall is not the one a UK kitchen has. Treat it as a hard-wired installation to be designed and fitted by a qualified electrician, on a circuit suitable for the load.
We sell the appliance, not the installation. We are not an authorised or official dealer for any of the brands we stock, and we cannot specify, supply or sign off an electrical installation. If an electrician tells you a particular unit cannot be supplied safely where you want it, that is the answer, and it is much cheaper to hear it before delivery than after.
Delivery and getting it into the house
Delivery is tracked and UK only. Every order is delivered free, whatever it comes to. Orders over £150 are sent with signature on delivery, so somebody needs to be there.
Weights in this catalogue run from roughly 77 lb (about 34.9 kg) for a compact refrigerator up to about 395 lb (about 179.2 kg) for a large French-door model. Before the delivery date, walk the route the appliance has to take and check:
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Front door and internal doorways | Measure the narrowest point of the whole route, not just the front door. Door stops and handles reduce the clear opening. |
| Corners, stairs and half-landings | A tall unit needs diagonal room to turn. This is where large refrigerators most often stop. |
| Floor surface | Up to about 179 kg on castors marks soft flooring. Lay hardboard or thick card over the route. |
| People and equipment | Anything at the upper end of that weight range is not a two-person lift in the ordinary sense. Arrange proper help and a trolley in advance. |
| Packaging space | Keep the carton and the fixings until the appliance is installed and tested. If it has to go back, it travels better in its own packaging. |
A refrigerator that has travelled on its side should stand upright and settle before it is switched on. If the listing or the manufacturer's documentation states a settling time, follow that figure rather than a rule of thumb.
Care
Door seals
The seal is the part that fails first and the part nobody looks at. Wipe it every few weeks with warm water and a drop of unscented washing-up liquid, then dry it. Sugar, grease and crumbs harden in the folds and hold the door open a fraction. To test a refrigerator seal, close the door on a sheet of paper: if the paper slides out with no resistance, the seal is not gripping at that point. Never use solvent or bleach on a seal — it hardens the rubber and the seal then splits.
Filters
- Dishwashers. The filter in the base traps food waste. Lift it out, rinse it under a running tap, brush the mesh gently and refit it. A blocked filter shows up as poor cleaning and standing water before it shows up as anything else.
- Refrigerators. Water and air filters are consumables and are changed, not cleaned. They are brand-specific parts — take the part number from the manufacturer's documentation or the filter housing itself.
- Ovens, ranges and grills. Grease filters over a burner or a griddle need degreasing regularly. Let them dry fully before refitting.
- Condenser coils. On a refrigerator, dust on the coils makes the compressor work harder. Unplug or isolate first, then vacuum the coils with a brush attachment.
Cleaning stainless steel
Stainless steel has a grain. Wipe along it, not in circles. Warm water, a drop of unscented washing-up liquid and a soft microfibre cloth do almost all of the work; dry with a second cloth afterwards, because it is drying that removes the streaks, not the washing.
| Avoid | Why |
|---|---|
| Bleach and chlorine cleaners | Chloride attacks the passive layer that keeps stainless steel stainless. It leaves pitting that does not polish out. |
| Steel wool and abrasive pads | They scratch across the grain and leave iron particles behind, which then rust on the surface. |
| Oven cleaner on external panels | It is caustic and designed for a cavity interior. On a fascia, a handle or a control panel it strips the finish and the printed markings. |
| Scouring powder on glass and control panels | Touch panels and printed glass mark permanently. Use a damp cloth only. |
| Spraying cleaner directly at the appliance | Liquid runs into vents, seams and control housings. Spray the cloth instead. |
The home utilities
Three items in the catalogue are not kitchen appliances: two vanity units and a toilet. These are plumbed goods, so the measurements that matter are the waste and supply positions as well as the footprint. Fittings on US-specification sanitaryware are not always the same as UK fittings, so have a plumber check the connections against your existing pipework before you order. Clean them with a mild bathroom cleaner and a soft cloth, and keep abrasives away from any coated or lacquered surface.
If something goes wrong
We do not offer a warranty or guarantee of our own, and nothing on this page is one. What you have instead are your statutory rights, which are not ours to shorten.
- Faulty or misdescribed goods are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose.
- The statutory right to cancel is 14 days under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and applies whether or not there is anything wrong with the appliance.
- Our 30-day returns window sits on top of that statutory right. It does not replace it and does not reduce it.
If an appliance arrives damaged, is not as described, or fails, email manzomarc@outlook.com with your order number and photographs of the fault and of the packaging. Photograph damage before you unpack any further. Full terms are in the returns policy.
One thing worth saying plainly: an appliance that will not run on your supply, or will not fit an opening you measured wrongly, is not a fault in the appliance. That is what the cancellation window and the returns window are for. Read the voltage and the dimensions before you buy, and neither of us has a problem.