Well, all of these measurements are given on my drawings and in the spec sheets I provide.
With all due respect, I did not see dimensions for units with the lids (and hinges) removed.
You won't get anything larger than an 8.8 cf model through a 27" doorway. At that point, you're looking at 41" in length.
Well... after much research I purchased a Whirlpool EH151FXTQ this week from Home Depot. I took delivery of it today.
I purchased this model because I thought it to be same as or very similar to the Maytag MQC1552TEW, which I covet for the small sized compressor hump it possesses.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/chest-freezer-specs-layouts-377518/index3.html#post4731064
I was not able to view this model prior to purchasing it. From what I understand, the Maytag model of this freezer is no longer produced. I deduced that that the Whirlpool model was either very similar to or identical to the Maytag model based on a comparison of dimensions and the fact that Whirlpool purchased Maytag.
Your online post of the specs of this model as well as the information from Home Depot lead me to believe it was 29 3/8" wide. I thought the hinges on these sort of refrigerators to be a bit less than 2" wide, making it about 27.5" wide with the lid removed. Too wide to fit through the door of our pantry.
Upon receipt, I measured the width of the freezer itself to be 27 inches ! It appears to me that the unit is 29 3/8" wide including the hinges and the fact the door handle protrudes a small distance from the front of the unit. When the lid is removed, the unit itself is almost exactly 27" wide.
I was able to easily place this unit in our pantry by simply removing the lid. There was about 1/8" of clearance on either side as it went through the doorway.
So apparently at least one freezer in the 15 cubic foot class will fit through a door a tiny bit larger than 27".
I took a picture of it going through the doorway. I'll post it someday when I have time.
Note that most kitchen countertop heights are usually 36-37" from top of working surface to flooring. The 8.8 cf model with no wheels or frame will come in at 34½" tall. However, with cabinets above it, you'll likely need it on wheels (so you can pull it forward) to fully open the lid without striking the cabinets, and that's going to get you into the 42"+ tall range once you add in a basic 2x4 base with castors. I really think you'd be better off with wire shelving or something above it, but it's your choice. It'd be hard to get cornys in/out without being able to fully open the lid and let it rest in that position.
I am a very capable fabricator. The pantry setup is entirely custom, including the wall cabinets that will be sitting above my kegerator. I'll gladly post how I end up arranging the room to make it work. Given the pantry has a 9 foot ceiling and the wall cabinets are 36" high, there is plenty of height to play with to make it work.
As for the doorway. If you're the homeowner, you'd be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to expand a doorway to 30". Most experienced DIYers could tear out the old door casing, remove the door, re-frame and enlargen the header, install a new door and casing, and have it functional in a day's work. Add another day or two to patch and paint drywall. Just an idea.
I just spent the last 9 weeks working full time with an employee renovating our house. We are presently in the painting stage, hoping to move into the house before the end of the month.
It is not nearly as easy to replace a door as you make it out to be.
First of all, if the house is somewhat aged or has unique styling, it can be very difficult to find a door that matches the rest of the doors in the house. This is doubly so if it is a stained door as not only do you have to match the look of the door, you also need to match the wood and the stain, both for the door and the casing. This can be very complicated.
Then you get to the wall/door framing itself. There are many issues here.
- When you widen the dooway, you'll need to patch the flooring in the door way to match the wider width of the new door.
-There are issues with having to move the stud and the jack stud on each side of the door. These studs generally run to the ceiling. To get at them, you are generally going to need to remove a bit of ceiling drywall and then you have a ceiling patch (and paint) as well as patching the walls on both sides of the door in and out of the room.
If the light switch is placed close to the doorway, it will need to be moved as well.
All this assumes that there is room for a larger door in the first place. Generally most doors are going to be larger than 27 inches to start with. Generally there is a reason that such a small door was used in the first place. This was the case with our pantry door.
We were not prepared to replace the entire door to get the freezer into our pantry. What we were prepared to do was remove the door, casings and door frame temporarily, move the freezer in and then replace them once it was in.
This plan was based on the advice of my employee who has been doing renovations for about 20 years. It is much, much simpler than framing in a new wider door and you'll probably gain 1.5" on each side of the door, temporarily transforming a 27" doorway into a 30 inch doorway.
Luckily we didn't have to resort to doing that.