Can I move a fridge freezer on its side?

The reason is oil. The compressor sits in a bath of lubricating oil at the bottom of the sealed system. Lay the appliance down and that oil runs out into the refrigerant pipework. Stand it up and the oil drains back, but slowly. Switch it on before it has drained and the compressor runs dry while pumping oil into the condenser, which is how a perfectly good appliance arrives at its new house broken.

Safety

What you'll need

• Two people
• A sack truck or appliance trolley
• Strong tape or removal straps
• Blankets or cardboard to protect the finish
• A cool bag for the contents (optional)

Step by step

1. Empty it and defrost it properly, days ahead.A freezer full of ice is heavy, and meltwater in transit gets into the insulation and the electrics. Run the contents down over a week, then defrost fully and dry the interior.
2. Unplug it and coil the cable so it cannot be trapped or run over.Tape the cable to the back of the appliance. A cable crushed under a sack truck wheel is an easy and expensive mistake.
3. Take out or secure everything loose.Glass shelves, drawers and door bins should come out and travel separately, wrapped. Anything left in will move and break. Tape the doors shut with a strap or wide tape that will not mark the finish.
4. Move it upright on a sack truck if at all possible.Approach from the side rather than the front or back, so the truck plate goes under the strongest part of the base. Two people, one steering and one steadying. Upright transport avoids the whole oil problem.
5. If it must lie down, identify the compressor discharge pipe first.Look at the compressor at the bottom rear. Two or three pipes come out of it; the discharge pipe usually rises steeply from the top of the compressor. Lay the appliance on the opposite side to that pipe, so oil is less likely to run into it.
6. Keep it on its side for as short a time as possible.Load it last and unload it first. Minutes are fine; a full day lying down is what causes trouble.
7. Protect the back.The condenser pipework and the compressor mounts are the vulnerable parts. Blankets or flattened cardboard between the appliance and the van floor, and never rest anything heavy on the back.
8. Stand it upright at the other end and wait.At least as long as it spent on its side, with a minimum of four hours. Overnight is the safe answer and costs you nothing but patience. This is the step people skip and it is the one that breaks appliances.
9. Wait even if it travelled upright.Four hours is the usual advice for an appliance that stayed upright, because it has still been jolted about. It is cheap insurance on something that has to run for the next decade.
10. Switch on empty, and let it reach temperature before loading it.Give it two to four hours to pull down to 5°C and -18°C, checked with a thermometer, before putting food in. Loading a warm cabinet with frozen food from a cool bag warms the food more than it cools the cabinet.

Tips

• Level it and check the doors self-close once it is in position. A move is the most common reason an appliance ends up out of level.
• If a removal firm is doing it, tell them it is a fridge freezer and ask them to keep it upright. Reputable firms will; it is worth saying out loud.
• Photograph the rating plate before the move. If anything goes wrong you will want the model and serial number and it is inside the cabinet.

Common mistakes

• Plugging it in the moment it arrives — Oil that ran into the pipework has not drained back to the compressor. Running it in that state can damage the compressor immediately, and the damage is a sealed system fault, which is the category that ends an appliance.
• Laying it face down or on the compressor discharge side — It forces oil directly into the discharge line and, on the door side, puts the whole weight on the doors and hinges. Both are avoidable by checking which way round the compressor pipework runs.

Questions people ask