Can I run a water line for a fridge off a washer dryer hook up?

Submitted by SpicyyySalsaaa t3_yyxl5x in DIY

Can I run a water line for a fridge off a washer and dryer hook up?

Just bought a house and it didn't come with a fridge but it came with a washer and dryer.

The fridge will go right beside washer and dryer and the sink is on the other side of the kitchen.

Every guide I've seen runs the water line off the sink, but since my sink is on the other side of the kitchen, I'd have to run the water line under the crawlspace to conceal it. I want to avoid that.

It'd be easier to run it off the washer dryer water hook up. Is that possible?

Photo for reference here: https://ibb.co/5Yp8ZPb

26

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

ThreeBlurryDecades t1_iwwviyp wrote

If the fridge is actually beside in your layout, I would do just that. I would extend your cold line a bit and you could squeeze an inline 1/2 inch quarter turn valve with the correct fitting for your supply line in the box.

Dont use one of those heinous saddle pierce things on your line in a wall, that will be a likely problem down the road.

Edit...yes this probably wont meet some code somewhere.

31

SpicyyySalsaaa OP t1_iwwy7s0 wrote

It is, it's a bit of a strange layout, but the kitchen is tiny and that's the only place for a fridge lol

Not too concerned about it meeting code. Fridges have a filter, I live in an area with great water quality, and I'll eventually have it ran from the sink, just want something up front I can use

9

thethunder92 t1_iwxotyo wrote

Also please use braided line and not that shitty cheap plastic stuff, it will fail eventually and then you’ll be up shit creek

7

brock_lee t1_iwwwnx5 wrote

Yes, it comes from the same supply. It's not like laundry waste is channeled into your fridge.

27

SpicyyySalsaaa OP t1_iwwy91i wrote

Lol I figured this was the case but just wanted to make sure. Cheers thanks for chiming in!

12

Pdxperronn t1_iwxkil8 wrote

Although if your refrigerator doesn’t have an agitator, I’d suggest only using powder detergent

17

JerseyWiseguy t1_iwwyn3v wrote

Water is water. Not a problem. Just use a real T-connector, not one of those cheesy pierce connectors.

26

RallyBeard t1_iwx4sem wrote

saddle valves. Like he said they are junk.

11

manowtf t1_iwxnyi3 wrote

Where I am the kitchen tap water comes directly from the mains, while all other water comes from the tank.

−1

Sreddit55 t1_iwxe9c9 wrote

Not necessarily… if you have a water softener, the washer is probably getting softened water which you prob don’t want in the fridge. At least I wouldn’t…

−4

JerseyWiseguy t1_iwxekhj wrote

Plenty of people have whole-house water softeners. I don't see your point.

8

Varides t1_iwxgivy wrote

Just because you have one for your entire house, doesn't mean every line is ran off it.

You typically have standard hard lines taken off prior to a softener as long as it wasn't a retro installation. Things like an ice maker/fridge, and hose bibbs should always be run hard.

−4

Blearchie t1_iwyefra wrote

You are incorrect on ice maker/fridge. I had an industrial under counter ice maker that was a maintenance nightmare due to hard water. Once we had the softener installed on the house, it wasn’t a problem.

3

TrekForce t1_iwy3w2m wrote

Why Ice-maker/fridge?

Some people even drink water from the TAP…. Are you suggesting drinking soft water is bad? And that people shouldn’t run it to their sinks either?

I’d be more worried about the piping for the washer not being “safe for drinking water” than anything else.

I have a whole-house softener. They did mess it up tho, my hose bibs are softened too… but that’s the only thing that wasn’t supposed to be. Everything inside the house was meant to be softened.

1

Varides t1_iwz8gmx wrote

There is no added benefit to adding soft water to your sinks or fridge. It just forces you to cycle your softener more often resulting in more back wash cycles.

You run soft water to laundry and showers as it helps create suds over hard water.

1

TrekForce t1_ix1ss37 wrote

The benefit would be hard water buildup/stains. Hard water will start clogging the tiny little tube for the fridge pretty easily. Same as sink, only less severe. Just much easier maintenance. Instead of buying nasty CLR or whatever to try to clean the sink periodically, I never need to worry about it. Just regular ol cleaning to get the food/etc cleaned out, don’t need to touch the faucet.

1

Spare_me_thy_bs t1_iwwynl7 wrote

Yes. It’s very simple and not against any code that I am aware of. You would have to buy a standard bibcock y-splitter (the one with individual shutoff ball valves)like you would attach if you were using, say two hoses on the outside spigot. Then buy a Female 3/4NPT x (Male)1/4NPT compression reducer fitting. Insert your 1/4 copper or pex line with a correct ferrel and done.

In fact it is probably the easiest, non-invasive way to source a water supply for your fridge/ice maker. There is no altering of the existing lines and can be safely removed with ease.

10

Jaychael t1_iwx1c37 wrote

Almost.

Hose threads are not NPT. You can get a 3/4 female hose by 3/4 or 1/2 male NPT adaptor and then a 3/4 or 1/2 female NPT x 1/4 compression adapter.

9

Spare_me_thy_bs t1_iwx3086 wrote

My bad. 3/4GHT to 1/4 NPT.

Minimprover Brass 2PCS Garden Hose Adapter,Faucet to Hose Adapter,3/4" Female GHT Garden Hose Thread to 1/4" OD Compression Brass Connector Pipe Fittings https://a.co/d/fvBaKGs

2

rdcpro t1_iwx0q0v wrote

My only comment is that if you have a water softener, they are sometimes plumbed so the washer has softened water (with high sodium content) whereas the kitchen sink might not. But you said you had great water, so this probably doesn't apply to you.

10

LevelHeadedFreak t1_iwzi16f wrote

Agree, the hard water is better for drinking and the cold water for the kitchen sink is often times the only supply not ran through the softner other than outside lines.

2

DrHugh t1_iwwus6d wrote

I don't know if the plumbing code allows that at that point, you might call your local code office to find out.

I was able to tap into copper supply lines in the basement in order to setup our new refrigerator earlier this year.

If you were going to do it with your laundry set-up, you could find some sort of T-fitting that would go in the cold water connection, with a valve off that that reduces down to the kind of line you need to connect to the refrigerator.

5

DanYHKim t1_iwwv4x3 wrote

I would think that all faucets in the house are potable water, and so it shouldn't be a problem.

6

DrHugh t1_iwwxfc3 wrote

I agree, but plumbing and electrical codes can have specific things that are allowed or disallowed, and that can vary from place to place. One problem might be that to work on the washer, you would turn off water to your fridge, so you'd have to vent the lines after you turn the water back on.

For instance, a common kit in home stores is a thing with a valve that pierces a supply line, then has a coiled hose you connect to your refrigerator. I was watching an Ask This Old House video on this, where they said this was actually against code in all fifty states, because of the chance of a leak, but it didn't stop retailers from selling the kits.

3

DanYHKim t1_iwwzcq5 wrote

Aah! OK. That can make sense, of there's back-contamination from the washer into the supply pipe. It might not get far, but it might get into the ice maker if it's right next to it.

3

DrHugh t1_iwwzyhm wrote

There should be an air gap in the washing machine, but yeah, that sort of thing.

1

imnotsoho t1_iwxte3r wrote

Might not be up to code, but when was the building inspector came to your house to check your inside water connections? If it works and does not contaminate any other water in the house, what is the problem. You can bring it up to code when you have other work done that needs inspection, or when you go to sell - or not. Easy way to bring up to code is to just disconnect the splitter and hose from the fridge. Is there any code that says your fridge has to be connected to water?

1

MHinSATX t1_iwx21ub wrote

Sure you can. It's potable water.

4

jrabel1 t1_ix8rgrd wrote

Sure it's safe but the taste is terrible...

1

MHinSATX t1_ix8snjb wrote

I believe there is a filter in the fridge for the water. IDK for sure because I don't use that feature in my fridge.

1

CaptCol02 t1_iwwxer1 wrote

Fridge has a filter so you don't need to worry about particulate in the water if anyone is suggesting that it might be an issue with the grade of pipe used for b the washer vs drinking water pipes. I've never heard of there being a difference...but I'm sure 94 ppl will point it out if this is indeed a thing.

The other reason it's not an issue is because your washer doesn't really rely on water pressure to perform. It just needs to flow and fill the drum in the washer.

1

Yamaben t1_iwwzrio wrote

I teed my toilet into my washer hose. Works great

1

ballpointpin t1_iwxocmz wrote

You can probably run a splitter off this, then attach a reducer on one side...the tough part will be connecting the splitter coz you have so little clearance. The one I linked looks like the head on the female end rotates so it can be tightened (as opposed to this one with a fixed head, which requires rotating the whole thing). Make sure you use lead-free brass.

1

Remanage t1_iwxr7n8 wrote

I have something like this - my reverse osmosis filter system is fed by the laundry cold water supply, because I wanted the filters somewhere easy to reach, so they're in the basement by the laundry sink, rather than under the kitchen sink. I just run a little 1/4" line up to get to the r/O spigot and I'm good.

1

Alaskan_Redneck t1_iwyhzkz wrote

Yes it will be fine, just ensure you tap into the cold water line so you're not pushing hot water to the fridge.

1

Glittering-Fox9908 t1_iwz09ni wrote

I don’t know about the water supply but the electrical circuit feeding the washer is supposed to be dedicated to the washer. Meaning you are not supposed to plug in the refrigerator in the plug where the washer is plugged into.

1

HoggerDPL t1_iwzo3c2 wrote

With the right fittings you can

1

less_is_less t1_iwxcsrv wrote

Sure you can. We run a line from our washer drain hose to our ice maker. You have to wait for the laundry to finish to make ice, but it saves water.

−2

Artisan_sailor t1_iwyxy3y wrote

You make ice from the waste water of your washing machine? That sounds soapy.

1

MaleficentPi t1_iwww3ol wrote

Can you?

Yes.

Should you? Nope.

I’m no plumber but I’m pretty sure any plumbed line should be food grade, not washer, and have a back flow preventer.

Better & easier to just fill water from the sink.

−10

SpicyyySalsaaa OP t1_iwwxz7y wrote

It's all the same as tap water, right? All potable

I live in an area with pretty good water quality, usually drink from the tap, but having fridge with water line is a huge want for this new house

3

ethtirlomalral t1_iwx7ulh wrote

It's all the same water. You are fine to split the cold water washer supply to supply your fridge.

1

MaleficentPi t1_iwx3ck7 wrote

I mean I get that, but having a Plumber run a proper line will prevent any back flow issues where your water from a future washing machine means you are washing your fridge water system with Tide Plus.

0

DragonsBane80 t1_iwxde94 wrote

You wouldn't ever have back flow with a washer. Back flow occurs when you loose water pressure in the line, both of these lines would be pressurized by the main water, and would potentially back flow only if you shut off/lost pressure on main.

If anything you're more likely to get back flow from a fridge.

The fill valve is also well above any standing water (notice it flows from the top on washers). And even if that really was a concern you could just put a check valve in line with the washer hose.

1