Bought my first fridge about five years ago and hauled it home in a rented van myself, so here's the short version of what I wish someone had told me. The myth about laying fridges flat: they're designed to stand upright, and that's always the safest option. Oil from the compressor can slip into the refrigerant lines if the unit is tilted too far or too long. If your only choice is laying it on its side, lay it on the side that faces away from the compressor's line, keep the trip as short as you can, and never lay it on the front or back since that's where the doors and coils take the damage. The part people always forget: once it's back upright, leave it standing unplugged for at least a few hours, ideally as long as it spent on its side. Plug it in too early and you can kill the compressor. Beyond that, take the doors off or tape them shut, wrap the corners with an old blanket, and use a dolly with straps rather than trying to deadlift it. Two people minimum, even for a small one.
Moving a fridge yourself - what actually matters
Oct 21, 2026
Last reply: 3 hours ago
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When I moved my old GE across town last spring, the truck bed was full of other stuff and standing it upright just wasn't going to happen, so I laid it on its back for a forty minute drive. I was nervous the whole way, but I let it sit upright in the garage overnight before plugging it in and it cooled down fine the next morning. No wierd noises, no problems since. That said, I wouldn't push my luck with a brand new fridge. Mine was already eight years old and if it had died I wouldn't have lost much sleep. For a fresh purchase I'd do everything possible to keep it upright, even if it means two trips or renting a taller van.
One thing that helped me more than anything was measuring the doorways before the truck ever showed up. My kitchen doorway had about half an inch of clearance after taking the door off its hinges, and knowing that ahead of time saved me from discovering it with a fridge halfway through the frame. Also pull the shelves and drawers out and pack them separately. The glass shelves shifting around during a drive is how they crack, and they're not cheap to replace.
I'd push back on the two trips thing. A short drive with the fridge on its side isn't the gamble people make it out to be, the real risk is plugging it in before the oil has drained back where it belongs. I've moved two fridges flat in a hatchback over the years and both ran fine after letting them stand overnight. What acutally killed one of my old fridges was the trip down the front steps, not the ride. If you only have one set of hands for the stairs, that's where I'd spend the money on help.
This is helpful but I got lost at the part about laying it on the right side. How do I even know which side that is on a fridge I haven't bought yet? Is there a sticker or something on the back that tells you where the oil stuff lives? Also does the waiting time before plugging it in still matter if the fridge stayed upright the whole drive, or is that only for when it got tipped over?
Update: ended up doing the overnight wait thing like the GE mover above and it fired up fine. But now I'm second guessing the timing advice. If a fridge was only tilted for ten minutes, do you really need to leave it as long as it spent on its side, or is an hour or two enough? Feels like there should be a difference between a short tilt and a whole drive flat.
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