Moving a fridge is challenging without the right equipment and experience. The cold, hard facts are that it’s easy to damage the fridge, your floors or walls, or cause yourself an injury without good planning and preparation. If you’re moving house and doing the heavy lifting yourself, follow this guide to avoid damage or injury on moving day.
Fact 1: Fridges aren’t designed to be moved.
The refrigerator has been an essential appliance in our homes for over a century. While they have become more sophisticated over the years, the essential components perform the same role, using coolant to chill and freeze food. This makes the fridge the piano of appliances, being large and awkward to handle, with uneven distribution of weight.
Fact 2: Fridges are easy to damage when moved.
While modern fridges are more forgiving about getting moved, it’s still easy to damage them if you don’t handle them carefully. Fridges have delicate internal components with coolant and compressor lines, and many models cannot be transported lying down. Check the manufacturer’s recommendations for handling. For anyone using a trailer and not a moving truck, this presents the first and most important challenge. You’ll need a trailer with a cage.
Fact 3: Fridges need to be prepared for moving the night before moving day.
The night before you move, turn off the power and unplug your fridge. If your fridge has a freezer, as most do, this allows the evaporator time to defrost and for fluids to settle. Empty any water containers and ice from ice makers.
Fact 4: Warm fridges can develop unpleasant odours.
To prevent your fridge from developing any odours while moving, it’s important to give it a thorough clean. You can do this as soon as you have turned off the power. Remove all the food and drink items from the fridge—ideally you’ll have few, as you’ve eaten it down—and clean and disinfect every surface.
Fact 5: Many fridges have breakable shelves.
While most fridges have adjustable plastic shelves to allow you to arrange your food as you prefer, it’s common to have a glass shelf above the chiller and crisper if it isn’t a separate unit in the fridge. The shelves in some fridges are all glass. They can shatter in transit, so you need to remove them and wrap and transport them separately.
Fact 6: Moving a fridge can damage the floor.
If you have a modern fridge, it will probably have rear wheels to make it easier to move. You only need to tilt it backwards to wheel it out of the cavity. If your fridge doesn’t have wheels, dragging it out of its cabinet or cavity can and most likely will scratch the floor. Instead, get a friend to help. Tilt the fridge backward and slide cardboard under the front feet. Then tilt it forward and slide cardboard under the rear feet. Now you can slide it out without damaging the floor.
Fact 7: Wrapping fridges prevents damage.
Fridges get scratched and dented without protective wrapping. Any knocks can also damage internal components. It’s important to wrap your fridge with two layers, the first being bubble wrap and the second being moving blankets. Secure both with packing tape and avoid sticking it to the fridge itself, as this leaves marks.
Fact 8: Trolleys beat lifting every time.
It is faster, safer and easier to move a fridge with a trolley and a strap than by carrying it. Position the trolley behind the fridge and slide it underneath. Secure the fridge to the trolley with a strap. Carefully tilt the fridge backwards and wheel it to your moving truck or trailer. Once on board, secure it in place with straps so it can’t slide or move about. This is why you’ll need a trailer with a cage if you have to move it upright.
While modern fridges are more forgiving about being moved, it’s always wise to let your fridge ‘settle’ for about four hours after moving it before plugging it in again. And if following this process seems too hard, let the professionals handle