PE pipe for a fridge: 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch cold run
Updated: October 2026
The fridge is out from the wall, the cold feed is 15 mm, and the inlet wants a small tube. PE pipe for a fridge is that last cold run, usually 1/4 inch and sometimes 3/8 inch, long enough to pull the appliance forward. It is not a 25 mm burial. The rows, with diameters and prices, are in the [PE pipe comparison](/hub/rods-and-pipes/pe-pipe). Prices are the amazon.co.uk captures. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The fridge is out from the wall, the cold feed is 15 mm, and the inlet wants a small tube. PE pipe for a fridge is that last cold run, usually 1/4 inch and sometimes 3/8 inch, long enough to pull the appliance forward.
The fridge is out from the wall, the cold feed is 15 mm, and the inlet wants a small tube. PE pipe for a fridge is that last cold run, usually 1/4 inch and sometimes 3/8 inch, long enough to pull the appliance forward. It is not a 25 mm burial. The rows, with diameters and prices, are in the PE pipe comparison. Prices are the amazon.co.uk captures. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Outside diameter | Length | Fittings | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  ilauke ilauke 15 m supply tube with fittings | 6 mm | 15 m | Cutter, 1/4 inch | 7.9 | about £13.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Qrity Qrity 1/4 inch PE tube, 2 m | 6.35 mm | 2 m | None | 6.5 | about £7.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  GREDIA GREDIA 3/8 inch tube and fittings, 5 m | 3/8 inch | 5 m | Ten push-fit | 6.9 | about £13.99 | View offer |
On this page
The size the fridge actually takes
Read the inlet, not the coil that looks like plumbing. A 1/4 inch outside diameter is about 6.35 mm. That is the Qrity 1/4 inch size line, and it is the 6 mm outside diameter on the ilauke tube. A 3/8 inch tube is the other Qrity listing and the GREDIA kit. They do not step into each other. John Guest’s Speedfit ASV3, sold for a filter or fridge, is 15 mm in and 1/4 inch out, with an isolator. Stevenson’s kits add a 3/4 inch adaptor when the take-off is a washing-machine valve. John Guest marks its own 1/4 inch LLDPE as WRAS on that page. That approval does not transfer to Qrity or ilauke.
What is in the kept boxes
The best value for a long cold run is the ilauke kit, £13.99 for 15 m, a 2 mm wall, 5 bar printed, a cutter and 1/4 inch fittings. UK reviewers reached an LG filter and an American-style fridge with that length. Length is not an approval. The specification says POM and a bullet says PE. NSF, WQA and WRAS are named with no number. Skip ilauke if you need a number you can look up, or if the inlet is 3/8 inch.
The Qrity 1/4 inch tube is £7.99 for 2 m, with no fittings. GREDIA is £13.99 for 5 m of 3/8 inch tube, ten fittings and a cutter, with no reducer to 1/4 inch. The Qrity 3/8 inch tube is £7.99 for 2 m, and its UK review is an air line. Which box to open across the whole set is best PE pipe.
The valve on the 15 mm pipe
Leave the 15 mm cold pipe with a tee you can isolate. John Guest’s ASV3 pattern is 15 mm through, 1/4 inch off, with a valve. squote’s UK note calls self-piercing saddles supplied with some US kits non-compliant with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, and describes a tee plus a check valve. That sentence is the publisher’s reading. The regulation itself requires water fittings to be suitable. One ilauke buyer found the house connector was not the thread on the tap. If that connector does not match, the 15 m of tube does not finish the job.
Leaks after you push the fridge back
Cut the tube square, fit the olive if the nut needs one, and clip every joint you can. The cut itself is how to join PE pipe. On GREDIA, a UK review snapped the cutter, and another replaced every fitting with John Guest after a coffee-machine install. Push to the stop, then tug the tube. If it comes out, it was never home. Cold water only. If the joint is already wet inside a wall, stop.
Common questions
Is 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch the fridge size?
Whichever outside diameter the appliance states. Many UK fridge kits are 1/4 inch, about 6.35 mm, leaving a 15 mm cold pipe through a tee. Some filters and ice makers are 3/8 inch. The Qrity and ilauke 6 mm tubes are the first size. GREDIA and the Qrity 3/8 inch tube are the second. Do not join them without a reducer, and GREDIA does not include one.
Is a washing-machine self-cutting tap the right valve?
It is the valve UK plumbers’ threads complain about, because it restricts flow, and it is the valve squote treats as the wrong side of the 1999 fittings regulations when it is a self-piercing saddle. A tee with an isolator is the method those sources prefer. If a kit’s mains connector is not the thread on your tap, as in one ilauke review, change the connector rather than forcing it.
Why did a kit arrive without an olive?
Because that part was missing from the nut, which is what a UK ilauke review reported before returning the set. A compression joint on the fridge inlet needs the olive. A push-fit needs the tube fully home and usually a clip. Check the bag against the fitting before you fit the plinth. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the route for a part that was not in the box.
Is the ilauke WRAS line a checked approval?
No. The bullet names NSF, WQA and WRAS and prints no approval number. The specification row says POM while the bullet says PE. John Guest’s WRAS mark on its own 1/4 inch LLDPE coil does not move across to this kit. Treat the words as a claim, and use the tube for cold water only if you accept that limit.
How long a tube do you need so the fridge can be pulled out?
A shop kit of about 4 m to 5 m is sold as enough to pull a fridge out from the wall. ilauke’s 15 m covers a longer route, from a filter under the sink along the units, which UK reviews actually used. Extra length is not a reason to leave a loop hard against the fridge. Qrity’s 2 m is only a local spare.
Can this tube carry hot water or a garden main?
No. These listings are cold appliance tubes. They are not PEX for heating, and they are not a 25 mm buried service. Gardena’s 6 bar coil is a sprinkler main with no WRAS number. If the job has become the supply to the house, stop and use blue service pipe with the number on it.
Related pages
Sources
Public sources from the research digest. amazon.co.uk prices are captured shelf prices, not a live crawl on 16 October 2026.
- Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 (retrieved October 2026)
- Water Regs UK: installing pipework (retrieved October 2026)
- Water Regs UK: installing below-ground pipework checklist (retrieved October 2026)
- BPF Pipes Group: specifications for PE pipe, fittings, water supply, drains and sewers (April 2024) (retrieved October 2026)
- WRAS: guide to the materials directory (retrieved October 2026)
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3 (retrieved October 2026)
- HSE: gas safety domestic FAQs (retrieved October 2026)
- Screwfix: MDPE pipe (trade blue coil, not an ASIN in this comparison) (retrieved October 2026)
- Kalsi Plastics: blue versus black MDPE pipe (retrieved October 2026)