How to move a refrigerator

At least as long as it spent tilted, and a common rule is four hours if it travelled upright and twenty-four if it was laid down. If in doubt, longer costs nothing and the alternative is a compressor that fails weeks later. Manufacturers publish their own figure in the manual, so check it if you still have it, since it varies by model.

Empty it, defrost it and dry it. A freezer compartment defrosting in a truck produces water that goes somewhere, and a fridge sealed damp for a week grows what you would expect. Leave the doors open overnight to dry the interior, then tape them shut for the move with painter's tape rather than packing tape, which lifts the finish.

On an appliance dolly with a strap, walked rather than lifted, with the back against the dolly plate. Two people minimum, one steering and one taking the weight on stairs. Remove the doors only if the fridge will not fit through a doorway, since door removal on modern units involves disconnecting water and electrical lines in the hinge.

Shut off the supply at the valve and disconnect the line before the fridge moves, not while it is being moved. Drain the line and the reservoir, because water left in either freezes or leaks. At the new address the line usually needs a new connection fitting rather than the old one, and it is worth having one before the day.

Three things, in order. Switching it on too soon, which is the most common and the most expensive. Laying it on its side to fit a vehicle, which turns a four-hour wait into a twenty-four-hour one and sometimes into a repair. And moving it full, which adds weight, spills, and a defrosting freezer onto whatever is underneath it in the truck.