THE MOST IMPORTANT RULES WHILE MOVING A REFRIGERATOR
Many people may be thinking about moving a refrigerator on its back because this is simply the easiest way of loading it into the car. Even if you rented a van you can still decide to put the device on its side in order to place something on the top for example.
The condition of our refrigerator depends mainly on how we transport it to the new house. So it is so important to make it the right way to avoid damaging it for good.
For this reason, YOU CAN NOT TRANSPORT A REFRIGERATOR ON ITS BACK. Why may you ask? Because of the oil which will pour into the cooling system while placing it on its back. Therefore your appliance will get broken.
The best solution, in this case, would have been to hire a van that is tall enough to stand your refrigerator or simply hire a company to do it for you. This may be a little bit costly, depending on many factors but at least you can sleep safely avoiding pricy repair. We bet, in the end, it’s going to be much more reasonable than getting a new one, would you agree?
If you decided to do it on your own, however, don’t forget to ask someone for help. It’s almost impossible to move the whole thing on your own and another person giving you a hand will be necessary.
GETTING PREPARED
In order to succeed with moving a refrigerator you need to save up some time upfront to prepare the device.
First and foremost, turn the appliance off for at least 2 hours before moving. This is the time provided by most producents that are needed for all liquids like oil and coolant to settle.
Secondly, remove all food from the fridge and freezer. If you have a lot of frozen products, make sure you can keep them frozen until the fridge will be working again. The best solution would be to place everything in the tourist fridge. If you don’t have one, try to wrap everything in aluminum foil. This will prevent food from defrosting quickly. Also, remember that once defrosted food must not be frozen again!
When you finished emptying everything, get ready to remove all moving parts. Otherwise, they may break up or even destroy some of the not removable parts like walls or doors from rattling inside while driving. The smartest way to protect everything is to just wrap all parts like shelves or egg trays in bubble wrap or something similar.
Now it’s a good time to give it a wipe and get rid of all leftover ice after defrosting. Unless your model has No Frost technology built in.
Finally, you can close the door and think about how to prevent them from opening. We recommend placing some soft things on all 4 corners and then wrapping it all up with special duct tape. Try to avoid super sticky ones hence they may come out altogether with the paint while detaching.
Furthermore, you can also take care of the hoses from the ice machine or water dispenser by simply disconnecting them. That’s going to prevent water from splashing all over the van.
Additionally, you can use even more bubble wrap or some stretch wrapping the entire device.
Congratulations! You have just prepared your refrigerator to be safely taken away to the new place!
TRANSPORTATION
Now it’s going to be the most difficult part in the whole process – moving the whole thing and placing it onto the car or van.
However, it will be much easier if you will follow certain rules. First and foremost try to avoid lifting it by handles or any other sticking-out parts. Grab only the refrigerator’s housing. The best for your body would be to use special lifting and moving straps so then you are taking the whole load on your leg muscles instead of your spine and hands. It’s a much safer and more professional way.
Make sure you can grab it evenly so the device doesn’t tilt while carrying. Do it steadily and slowly, your health is most important!
If you will need to go down the stairs remember that the first person walking down will carry the majority of the weight on his hands so it would have been best to grab the device from the bottom. Unless you have straps then it should be way easier.
The second person however should pay attention to keeping a refrigerator vertically.
Once you managed to load it onto the vehicle and got it to the corner of the loading space you can then strap it up properly and literally it’s ready to go!
PLUGGING IT BACK IN
The first thing after bringing a refrigerator to a new place is to remember to don’t plug it in straight away. Many producers recommend waiting even up to 24 hours to let the oil settle. Otherwise, you may damage your device. Meanwhile, you can find a suitable location to place your device and level it.
What do we mean by suitable space? Make sure you avoid placing it next to the radiator for example. If you did it, the device will consume a lot of energy and may not work properly.
Also, try to avoid putting the back of it too close to the wall. Why? Because of the cooler which is usually located at the back of the device. It needs to be around 2 inches away from the wall so the warm air the device is producing will be able to get away.
After finding an excellent spot you can then take care of leveling the device. If you have never done it before find out how to level a refrigerator. Thanks to this process your device will be quiet and steady.
CONCLUSION
Moving a refrigerator is not the easiest and fastest process. Usually, it is also one of the heaviest devices in the kitchen you can find so preparing for safe moving is really crucial in this case.
Once again, if you have made up your mind and want to try to do it yourself, make sure you have someone to help you, especially taking the whole thing down the stairs. Remember that you have only one back and spine that can’t be replaced so maybe getting moving straps for around 20 bucks that will simplify the process and prevent injury will be a good idea.
Keep in mind that straps will also stabilize a refrigerator and carrying it vertically will be much easier.
