You just need to leave the 2" gap around the fridge, for air circulation. It shouldn't impact your cabinets/moulding at all.

Thanks--so you think just the 2" on top of the refrigerator should be sufficient? (This is confusing because they have this very detailed diagram with specs listed that show both a 2" space between fridge and over-fridge cabinet, and a 2" space above the over-fridge cabinet.) Here's the diagram, by the way---maybe someone else can make better sense of it! We're doing setup #1, although the overhead space seems to be the same for all. Q = 2"

I have seen custom pieces of furniture built for media where the crown actually sticks out farther than the face of the cabinet and there is a gap for ventilation.

What is in the room behind? could you put a louvered vent there and release the warm air into an adjacent room?

Thanks---sadly the room on the other side is our bedroom, so we don't want to cut into that wall at all (we get way too much kitchen noise as it is, so any extra connections between the spaces would be a no-go).

I may just call the company and ask whether having two inches open above it would be sufficient...it just worries me that they've so carefully drawn it to show the back vent. And I REALLY don't want to re-open the choose-a-refrigerator question now that we've finally settled on one!

Well, one phone call to New Zealand later, I am still royally confused---the support person had no idea what I was talking about, as she had the European installation guide in front of her, which, it turns out, has a completely different diagram and says only that 2" are needed directly above the refrigerator. (Curiously, if you get the European user guide, which is separate from the installation guide, it has the same diagram the U.S. user guide has, noting the need for an extra 2" vent behind and above the over-fridge cabinet. Go figure.)

So I guess the answer is that I should stop worrying about it...?? Argh!

Are you in the US? And is the fridge from NZ? It could be that their codes are different. I certainly don't want to lead you astray, but MY fridge just needed the opening on the top. I don't know how you'd ever do what that diagram is asking for - how would that over fridge cabinet be secured to the wall? Unless you put little blocks along, whatever secures it will block the venting too.

Good luck!

Yep, we're in the U.S.---it's a Fisher & Paykel refrigerator, though, which is sold pretty widely in the North American market. (I was actually somewhat astounded to call their 800 number and find a Kiwi on the other end!) I later found the installation guide she was looking at on their European website, and it does indeed have different directions, although the model number is identical across all of the markets...so no clue.

I've seen some kitchens in the FKB that have this refrigerator enclosed in cabinetry, and I don't think anyone did anything special (or at least, didn't discuss it if they did!) so I'm inclined to just give it two inches above and be done. We're actually building a super-sized fridge opening anyway (we want the opening to accommodate a standard 36" x 72" model if needed in the future) so it will have a full 5 inches open above it inside the cabinet with just a small front panel covering the space...and we may need to pull the upper out an inch from the wall to align it with the side panels anyway (probably with blocks behind it), so hopefully that be more than sufficient. We'll see...

It looks a lot more like they do not want cabinetry resting ON the refrigerator, not just clearance for ventilation.

I would bet that as long as there is two inches somewhere above and behind it is correct, not two inches above the refrigerator, two inches above the cabinet, and two inches between cabinet and the wall.