If you’ve moved a fridge before, you’ll know it’s no easy task. And if you’re faced with it yourself right now, it’s a task that’s likely triggering a lot of questions in your head.

“Can I transport a fridge laying down?” is a surprisingly common search term – the subject of more than 200 Google searches in New Zealand each month (more on that later!)

Not only does the average fridge weigh upwards of 90kg (with some weighing as much as 150kg), but they’re also bulky, awkward to manoeuvre and surprisingly easy to damage if you don’t shift them correctly or use the right equipment. And if you’re not quite sure what you’re doing, the risk of injuring yourself (and your home) only increases.

That’s why we’ve put together this step-by-step guide covering all the ins and outs of how to move a fridge. We’ll be covering the type of equipment you’ll need to have at the ready, how to prepare your fridge and plan your moving route, the best ways to move your fridge safely and how to get your fridge into its new location.

Sometimes, moving a fridge yourself is simply too big of a job, so we’ll also cover off when to call in the professionals, too.

Luckily, if you find yourself in need of skilled help – you’ve come to the right place! Thanks to our extensive network New Zealand-wide professional moving services, getting help to move your fridge is just a few clicks away when you use the Ezy Peazy platform.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the best way to move a refrigerator. 
 

How to Move a Refrigerator Step-by-Step

Step 1: Gather Your Equipment

Before you start the process of moving your fridge, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got all your supplies and equipment prepared ahead of time. This will not only make the process easier, but quicker and safer, too.

Here are some essentials you’ll want to have at the ready:

• Appliance dolly or hand truck: Having a hand truck or dolly to move your fridge is essential. These are specialised wheeled platforms designed to help you move household appliances like washing machines, dryers and – yes – fridges, safely. Some will feature straps to secure your appliance and/or padded rails to protect it from damage. If you’re purchasing a dolly or hand truck, make sure you check its weight capacity before purchasing. The last thing you want is to get it home only to discover that it can’t take the weight of your fridge! Dollies and hand trucks can also be hired from places like Kennards Hire and Hirepool. Unless you’re only shifting your fridge out of its cutout, never try and move it without the use of a dolly or hand truck. They’re vital for ensuring you have adequate leverage and control over your appliance.
   
• Moving straps: If your dolly or hand truck doesn’t have straps already, you’ll want to ensure you have some on hand to help keep your fridge secure. This ensures it doesn’t slip and become a hazard. Straps are also handy if you’re loading your fridge onto a moving truck and need to keep it secure once it’s been loaded for transport, ensuring it doesn’t shift around and cause damage during transit.
   
• Moving blankets: Blankets are vital when it comes to giving your fridge an extra layer of protection, protecting it from dings and dents – plus protecting the walls and corners in your home. Moving blankets can also be used in transit to prevent slipping and add padding.
   
• Measuring tape: This may go without saying, but knowing the dimensions of your fridge and the doorways you need to move it through is particularly important! If your doorway is too narrow for your fridge, you’ll want to know before you get to the point of attempting to squeeze it through.
   
• A screwdriver: Sometimes your fridge will simply be too large and bulky to fit it through certain doorways in your home. If this is the case for you, you’ll want to have a screwdriver on hand so you can remove doors or door handles if need be.
   
• Packing supplies: If you’re moving home – and especially if you’re travelling a longer distance - make sure you’re equipped with packing supplies like bubble wrap and tape to ensure your fridge is well protected. Wrapping and packing your fridge will also ensure fridge doors don’t swing open during the transport process – causing a hazard and potentially throwing you off balance.
   
• Your moving team: As we’ve mentioned, refrigerators are heavy. You should always enlist help moving a fridge. Depending on its size and weight, you may only need an extra set of hands, but whatever you do – don’t try to shift it alone.
   
• A ramp: Moving your fridge down a set of stairs? For short flights of stairs, ramps are incredibly useful, helping you to move your fridge safely. Similarly, if you’re moving house, having access to a truck with a ramp is the best way to go. This will prevent you having to lift your fridge into the truck, making loading it for transport smooth and easy
   

Step 2: Empty and Prepare Your Refrigerator

Whether you’re moving your fridge across town, to a new city or to another room in your home, emptying it and preparing it first will make your life a whole lot easier.

Make sure you’ve removed all food, drinks and other items from your fridge and freezer (you really don’t want that container of sour cream toppling out and making a mess while you’re in the middle of moving!), have switched off and unplugged your appliance, defrosted the freezer if necessary (once your fridge is off, any ice will melt and could potentially leak out or cause mould to grow)) and have removed any shelving.
 

Step 3: Measure Doors and Prepare Pathways

Once you’ve assembled all your equipment and have prepared your fridge, it’s important to have a route planned out before you dive into shifting it. This will save you time, hassle and potential damage to your home.

Whether you’re moving your fridge from one room to another, shifting it upstairs or relocating it entirely, you’ll want to ensure you have a clear path of travel and that the refrigerator fits through all exits, including any internal doors you need to navigate it through.

Here are some top tips to help make the process smoother:

• Clear a pathway for your fridge. This means moving any furniture, rugs, light fittings, and so on, that could present a hazard or obstacle. Think about things that the fridge could potentially hit your fridge and things that the wheels of your hand truck or dolly could get caught on. And – as we all know - pets and small children are the ultimate trip hazard, so make sure furry friends and little ones sit this one out.
   
• Measure your fridge and doorways. We can’t stress this one enough! Make sure you’ve measured your fridge and the space it needs to travel through, such as doorways and corners. In some instances, you may need to remove doors or door handles so that your fridge fits.  If you’re shifting your fridge upstairs and have particularly steep stairs, the height of the fridge is also important. You’ll want to avoid bashing it into the ceiling or having to lean It back at such an angle that you lose balance. If your fridge is too big to fit through your doorways, even after removing doors and/or door handles in your home, consult your owner’s manual for advice on how to remove your refrigerator’s doors or handles.

Step 4: Move Your Fridge Safely

Now that you’ve assembled your equipment, prepped your refrigerator and have planned out your route, you’re ready to move your fridge.

The following tips will help ensure you’re doing things safely (for both you and your fridge!):

• Gently slide your fridge out of its cavity. With the help of at least one other person, tilt your fridge and gently rock it side-to-side to “walk” it out of its cavity or cut it out.
   
• Wrap and pack your fridge. Using the supplies you assembled earlier, like bubble wrap and tape, pack and wrap your fridge to keep it protected and to stop doors from swinging open.
   
• Load your fridge onto your dolly or hand truck. With the help of your moving team, tilt your fridge slightly – just enough to gently slide a hand truck or dolly underneath.
   
• Secure your refrigerator. Use straps to secure your fridge to the dolly or hand truck to ensure it doesn’t slip around or move while you transport it to where it needs to go – whether that’s another room or onto the back of a moving truck.
   
• Take your time. Move as slowly as needed to ensure you retain control over your fridge throughout the process. If using a ramp to load your fridge into a truck, walk backward up the ramp rather than attempting to push the fridge up (it could roll back on you).
   
• Prepare for transport. If you’re taking your fridge to a new location, ensuring it's properly secured for transport is vital. Using moving straps to tether your fridge within the truck will help prevent it from shifting around in transit, while blankets will provide extra padding and/or grip. If you don’t need it for other things, leaving your fridge strapped to its dolly or hand truck will make it much easier to unload at the other end.
   
• Keep your fridge upright. Keeping your fridge as upright as possible is critical. This is because laying down a fridge for transport can cause internal fluids such as oil or coolant to shift and settle in the wrong place. The sheer weight of the fridge can also put pressure on delicate parts when laid down. If you must lay your fridge down, try and keep it at an angle or on its side (ideally the opposite side to where the compressor lines are located). Make sure you consult your owner’s manual for detailed information, however. Advice will vary between various fridge models and makes and some manufacturers may warn against laying your fridge on its side.
   
• Allow your fridge to settle before plugging back in. Again – if you have your owner’s manual handy, we’d recommend consulting this in the first instance. However, as a general rule of thumb, it’s recommended that you leave your fridge switched off for 2-4 hours after moving it - or even longer if it’s been placed on its side (up to 24 hours). Coolant can flow into the compressor during transport and leaving your fridge for some time before switching it on allows this to settle back into place. 
   

Step 5: Know Your Limits: When to Hire a Fridge Removalist

While it’s certainly possible to move a fridge yourself, it’s important to know your limits and there are some situations when enlisting the help of fridge movers just makes more sense! 

Worrying about damaging your floors, navigating a particularly tight set of stairs, or whether you can move a fridge lying down? Save yourself stress and lighten your load by hiring local refrigerator movers. Thanks to Ezy Peazy’s innovative platform, getting affordable help to move your fridge is just a few clicks away.

 Below are some scenarios where we’d recommend calling in the professionals: 

• Your fridge is extra-large and/or incredibly heavy. If you have a large double-door fridge or commercial refrigeration unit, shifting it can be dangerous without the right skills and experience. Professional taskers you hire via Ezy Peazy have the right tools and equipment like heavy-duty appliance dollies and lifting straps – plus the necessary experience to make moving heavy items much safer.
   
• You have a particularly tricky space to navigate your fridge through – such as narrow or curved flights of stairs, narrow hallways, and tight doorways. Moving a fridge is difficult enough, but when you throw obstacles like steep, narrow staircases and tight doorways into the mix, it can become nigh on impossible – not to mention time-consuming, frustrating, and dangerous. When you hire a skilled fridge mover, you’re saving yourself time and stress – plus possible damage to your fridge, home, and body. Our network includes professional in-home moving services, provided by removalists who have navigated all sorts of tricky spaces. Yours will be a breeze!
   
• You’re feeling anxious about damaging your walls and floors. When not approached correctly, moving a fridge can cause untold damage to hardwood floors, linoleum, wallpaper, and paintwork. And if you drop your fridge, you even risk shattering floor tiles. It’s nerve-wracking – we get it! This anxiety only increases if you’ve just renovated your home, you’re moving into a new place, you’re renting or you live in a beautiful heritage home. Professional local refrigerator movers will not only make use of floor protectors and ample padding, but they’re trained in the necessary techniques to move your fridge carefully and prevent damage. Save yourself an insurance claim and leave it to the experts!
   
• You have a bad back or other injury, or you’re worried about causing one. Lifting a fridge incorrectly can risk damage to your joints and spine and cause muscle pulls or tears. And if you trip or the fridge tips over while you’re moving it, you could be at risk of an even more serious accident. Similarly, if you have an existing injury or a bad back, you might be worried about aggravating it. Expert fridge movers you hire through Ezy Peazy are well-versed in the ins and outs of proper lifting techniques. Take your body off the line and let trained professionals do the hard work.
   
• You want to prevent damage to your fridge. You may have heard that moving a fridge lying down can damage it by compromising the compressor and affecting its ability to cool properly. You’re in safe hands with professional movers who know the best techniques for keeping fridges upright during transport to avoid harming internal components. 
   
• You don’t have your own means of transport. If you’re moving your refrigerator across the country or even just to another part of the city, having access to a moving truck can make the job a whole lot easier. Hiring a truck can be pricey, though – and a logistical hassle! When you enlist the help of a fridge removalist via Ezy Peazy, you’re hiring a professional who will not only be able to help you get your fridge out of your home safely, but will also be able to transport it to where it needs to go, taking care of everything from start to finish. Rest easy in the knowledge that they’ll also know how to secure your fridge adequately for transport, ensuring it arrives in its new location in one piece.
   
• You’re short on time or help. If you’re particularly busy, prepping and moving your fridge is likely something you just don’t have time for. Similarly, if you don’t have friends and family who can help you might be wondering how on earth you’re going to move your fridge in the first place. If this is you, Ezy Peazy can provide you with the extra set of hands you need, saving you precious time and effort.

How to Transport a Fridge: Key Takeaways

Faced with the prospect of moving a fridge? In New Zealand, it’s in our nature to roll up our sleeves and dive straight into any task we’re faced with – that’s part of what makes us Kiwis unique! 

While it’s certainly possible to take the DIY route when moving a fridge, there are some crucial steps you won’t want to miss: gathering the right equipment, preparing your fridge, and planning your path – just to name a few. These steps are even more important if you have a particularly heavy or bulky fridge, narrow doorways, and steep staircases to navigate or you’re feeling worried about denting the walls in your rental. Taking shortcuts not only risks damage to your home and body – but you might be left with a fridge that no longer works properly and an insurance claim to lodge. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of moving your fridge, Ezy Peazy is here to help. Thanks to our innovative platform, finding professional fridge removalists is easier than ever. Save yourself mountains of time, stress, and hassle, and book one today! 

Why use Ezy Peazy to Move your Fridge

Thanks to Ezy Peazy, convenient, affordable fridge moving services are just a few clicks away.

Simply post a job on our online platform free of charge, list the details of the task that needs completing (whether that’s moving a fridge across the country or to another suburb in your hometown) and include your location, preferred budget and ideal timeframe.

Then, sit back and relax while you wait to receive offers from trusted taskers near you. Choose the offer that suits you and breathe easy while your refrigerator is carefully and expertly handled without you needing to lift a finger.   Your payment will be secured and only released once you’re 100% happy with the work that has been done.

Quit agonising over how you’re going to tackle moving your fridge and book in a professional fridge mover via Ezy Peazy today!

What’s more, if you’re shifting house and need help relocating other tricky-to-handle items, from pianos to pool tables, whiteware to couches, Ezy Peazy is your go-to for professional moving services.

About Ezy Peazy

Ezy Peazy is an innovative online platform that connects Kiwis with expert taskers up and down the country to help get tasks done. Founded in 2019, we’ve built a huge network of skilled, highly regarded professionals across New Zealand. 

From gardening services, waste removal, and painting through to moving services, Ezy Peazy makes it convenient, simple, and safe to find reliable help for virtually anything you can think of. 

With transparent reviews, competitive pricing, and a user-friendly experience, Ezy Peazy is transforming the way tasks are completed.