--- title: "Set up for easy upkeep — Appliance Guides" description: "How an appliance is placed decides how easy it is to keep up: breathing room around coils, a reachable shutoff valve behind every water line, a short and…" url: "https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/installation-and-setup/" --- Clearances, shutoffs and leveling that make service easy # Set up for easy upkeep guides. How an appliance is placed decides how easy it is to keep up: breathing room around coils, a reachable shutoff valve behind every water line, a short and straight exhaust run, and feet leveled after every move. ## Set up for easy upkeep, guide by guide. How an appliance was set up decides how easy it is to keep for the next ten or fifteen years. A laundry pair jammed against the wall with no slack in its hoses, a built-in whose grille disappears behind new trim, a refrigerator line with no valve of its own: none of these is a broken part, yet each makes routine upkeep hard or impossible. [All 18 guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/) 5-minute read ### [Clearances that leave room for service, and why tight fits cost later](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/clearances-that-leave-room-for-service/) The inches around an appliance decide how well it breathes and whether it can be cleaned at all. The makers' figures for cold storage, laundry closets and the gap behind each machine. 5-minute read ### [Shutoff valves every appliance needs, and where each one hides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/shutoff-valves-every-appliance-needs/) Water, gas and power each need a way to be turned off at the machine. Where the makers want those valves, what kind to avoid, and how to test them before the day they matter. 5-minute read ### [Leveling and airflow after a move: resetting each appliance](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/leveling-and-airflow-after-a-move/) A move shifts feet, kinks lines and leaves brackets behind. The checks that put each appliance back to how it was meant to stand, breathe and drain. ## Clearances, shutoffs and leveling that make service easy. The guides in this section look at setup through the eyes of the person who will service the appliance later. They cover the clearances each maker asks for and the working space the manuals leave out, the water, gas and electrical shutoffs every appliance should have within reach, and the leveling, bracket and airflow checks to redo after a move or a remodel. The figures come from the installation instructions the makers publish, from GE, LG, Whirlpool, Sub-Zero, Speed Queen, Viking and Frigidaire among others, together with ENERGY STAR and CPSC guidance, and each guide links its sources. Fitting a brand-new appliance is installation work in its own right; these guides are about leaving room for everything that happens after it. They are most useful before a remodel is finished, on the day after a delivery, and in the first week in a new home. Each ends by saying which steps an owner can take and which ones, such as lifting a built-in, reconnecting gas or adding a valve, need an installer or a technician. [Not sure where to start?](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Clearances that leave room for service, and why tight fits cost later Appliance clearance requirements come from each installation manual: a few inches behind a freestanding refrigerator, about 3 inches around most freezers, at least 1 inch at the sides and 4 inches behind LG's front-load laundry machines, and louvered closet doors with 60 to 120 square inches of opening. ### The short answer Shutoff valves every appliance needs, and where each one hides Appliance shutoff valves let water, gas and power be stopped at one machine without shutting down the house. ### The short answer Leveling and airflow after a move: resetting each appliance Leveling appliances after a move means resetting each machine's feet until it sits level and does not rock, re-engaging a cooking appliance's anti-tip bracket, removing any laundry shipping bolts, restoring the gaps the makers ask for behind and around each unit, and checking water lines for kinks. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What services cost](https://appliancemaintenance.center/cost/) 1. 01 A walk around the house first 2. 02 Cleaned, checked and adjusted 3. 03 Wear parts before they fail 4. 04 A service record for the house ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://appliancemaintenance.center/problems/) Problem ### Cold Storage Running Nonstop: Coil Dust, Clearance and Door Seals 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Appliance Energy Use Creeping Up With Nothing Else Changed 6 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Laundry Taking Two Cycles to Dry: The Lint Path Is Usually Why 6 causes, cheapest first Fire, gas, water or wiring risk ### Supply Hose Leaking or Bulging Behind an Appliance: Shut the Water Off 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about set up for easy upkeep. ### What is the most common setup mistake that makes upkeep harder? Removing all the slack. Hoses, water tubing, cords and ducts cut to the exact length mean an appliance cannot be pulled forward for cleaning without disconnecting something. ### Should a delivered appliance be checked even if the crew installed it? Yes. Level, clearances, the anti-tip bracket on a cooking appliance and the position of each shutoff take a few minutes to check and are the details most often skipped in a hurry. ### Which setup checks can an owner do alone? Leveling a freestanding machine with its feet, confirming the gaps behind and around it, finding each valve and breaker, and looking for kinks in water lines. Gas connections and moving built-ins are not owner work. ### Does a move call for the same checks as a new appliance? Largely. Shipping bolts, brackets, level, water lines and filters all need attention again after a move, and a gas appliance needs a new connection at the new home. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/) What slow wear looks like before it becomes a breakdown ### [Signs an appliance is due](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Signs an appliance is overdue for service: time, sound, water and the calendar](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/signs-an-appliance-is-overdue-for-service/) - [Why appliances lose efficiency with age, and how much of it upkeep wins back](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/why-appliances-lose-efficiency-with-age/) - [What skipped upkeep turns into: five small jobs and the repairs behind them](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/what-skipped-upkeep-turns-into/) Ten-minute tasks with the appliance unplugged ### [Checks between visits](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Ten-minute checks between maintenance visits, one appliance group at a time](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/ten-minute-checks-between-visits/) - [Reminder lights and clean codes: when the display is asking for upkeep](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/reminder-lights-and-clean-codes/) - [Model and serial numbers: starting a service record for every appliance at home](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/model-and-serial-for-a-service-record/) What is due when, across the whole house ### [Routines and schedules](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [A yearly upkeep calendar for the whole home, job by job](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/a-yearly-upkeep-calendar-for-the-home/) - [Filters and when each one is due, from the ice line to the hood](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/filters-and-when-each-one-is-due/) - [Hard water scale and what it wears out, part by part](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/hard-water-scale-and-what-it-wears/) Lint fires, gas at the burners, hoses and wiring ### [Fire, gas and water safety](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [Lint, exhaust runs and fire risk behind the laundry closet](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/lint-exhaust-runs-and-fire-risk/) - [Supply hoses and slow leaks: the lines that feed four appliances](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/supply-hoses-and-slow-leaks/) - [Gas burners and carbon monoxide: flame, air and the alarm](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/gas-burners-and-carbon-monoxide/) A yearly plan, a visit when due, or a new appliance ### [Plans, visits and replacement](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [A service plan or one-off visits: matching upkeep to the appliances you own](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/a-service-plan-or-one-off-visits/) - [Keep maintaining or replace: when upkeep stops paying on an aging appliance](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/keep-maintaining-or-replace/) - [What a maintenance visit covers, part by part across the home](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/what-a-maintenance-visit-covers/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Set up for easy upkeep — Appliance Guides](https://appliancemaintenance.center/guides/installation-and-setup/)** **[Book a visit with ApplianceMaintenance.center](https://appliancemaintenance.center/schedule/)**