If you are moving to a new house, apartment, or condo, there is always the conundrum of how to move your bulkier appliances, such as the washer, dryer, and gas stove. After all, these appliances are expensive, and having to replace them can be a nightmare.
When transporting a gas stove, the first choice will always be to stand it upright. However, most people do not have this option, so I will take you through the alternatives. I also provide you with helpful recommendations on how to prepare your gas stove for its trip and additional information on how best to transport it.
You can transport a gas stove on one of its sides if you have to, although this is not without its downsides. Laying it on its back or front will cause damage. If you can accommodate it, upright transportation is always best.
Ask the Manufacturer
When in doubt, check the manual!
Your manufacturer will almost certainly provide you with instructions on how best to transport your gas stove. Depending on how old your gas stove is, you must remember that disregarding what your manufacturer recommends could result in a voided warrantee.
If you do not have the manual, you can check online or call their customer service line to ask.
Gas is Not Stored in the Stove
It is important to know that gas is not directly stored in your stove. Rather, gas is pumped from utility pipes underground to the meter outside your house or apartment complex.
Pipes are then connected from this meter to appliances in your home which require gas to operate, such as a gas stove. Alliant Energy has a simple article depicting this process.
What this means is that there is no risk of an explosion resulting from incorrect transportation methods; you only risk damaging the actual unit.
Lay the Gas Stove on Its Side
General Electric (GE) has been manufacturing appliances for decades, so it is safe to say that they know what they are talking about. If you go to their support website, they outline the proper way to transport gas stoves. General Electric says:
“When moving a range or wall oven, it can be placed on either side during transporting without doing any harm to the appliance. ‘Sides’ refers to the left or the right, not the rear”.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the terminology, a range is another name for a gas stove.
While this is a good guideline, always remember that your manufacturer’s instructions should be the ones you follow.
The reason why you should lay a gas stove on its side (as opposed to another non-upright orientation) is that there are no protrusions from the sides of the stove, which could get damaged when the full weight of the stove is pressing down on them.
Potential Problems (and How to Minimize the Risks)
Although it is the recommended option, transporting your gas stove on its side is not without risk.
The biggest risk would be scratching the panels. This can be quickly solved by laying a blanket, towel, or rubber mat down under the stove.
The panels can also be dented or bent if you are not careful what you lay the stove down on. Make sure that you lay it flat and that the surface on which you are laying it is even. In pick-up trucks, the bed is often grooved or ridged. This should not be too much of a problem, but the blanket or towel will definitely help.
If the oven door is open, even just a little, then this puts an unbalanced weight on the door hinges, which could cause damage. Make sure that the door is secured in a closed position before you start your trip.
Never Lay It on Its Back
As most of the gas lines connect to valves on the back of the gas stove, laying the stove on its back can damage these valves during transit.
If they get damaged, you are looking at an expensive repair or part-replacement job. Or worse still, the unit could become completely useless, and you will have to buy a new one.
Another potential risk is unseen damage. A valve might be slightly misshapen and the seal compromised, or a pipe may be cracked or compressed. In such cases, hooking the stove up to the gas line and using it could become very dangerous. You may be at risk of gas leaks, fires, and explosions!
Avoid Laying It on Its Front
Similar to laying a gas stove on its back, laying it on its front is extremely problematic.
First of all, the front of a gas stove is not a flat surface, so even if you use cargo straps to attempt to lock the gas stove in place in your vehicle, the appliance can still rock and shift since it is not on a flat plane.
This movement can cause damage to both the appliance and the vehicle you are transporting it in.
Furthermore, putting all the weight of the gas stove onto the front can also severely damage the oven door or operating panel.
How to Prepare Your Gas Stove for Transport
First and foremost, you must disconnect your gas stove safely from its current location. The video below shows you how to safely disconnect your gas stove.
As stated in the video, it is super important that you turn off the gas in your house before doing any disassembling. Failure to do this can result in gas leaks or fires.
Once this is done, you still can’t just pop the gas stove on the back of a trailer, and off you go!
The oven racks, burner rings, and stove grids are all loose parts and should be removed and carefully wrapped for transport. Some gas stoves also have detachable knobs.
There are 3 main reasons for removing these parts first:
- They can get damaged.
- They can cause damage.
- They can get lost.
Tip: clean these pieces thoroughly before packing them up. They probably don’t get a deep clean all that often. So, while they are all off/out of the stove, give them a clean and start with a sparkling gas stove in your new home.
As I mentioned previously, you should also secure the oven door before transport.
One final recommendation I have for preparing your gas stove for transport would be to secure the pipes to the oven itself, preventing them from getting squashed during the trip.
Safely Transport Your Gas Stove
Use a dolly and one or two friends to move the gas stove from your home to the vehicle and into the vehicle itself. Gas stoves can be very heavy, and if you try to do it alone, you increase the chance of it falling and getting damaged. You also increase the chance of injuring yourself!
- Allow Harper Trucks Hand Truck and Dolly to provide aid on transporting your cargo; Features large, 8-inch pneumatic dolly cart wheels with 3-inch heavy-duty swivel casters to handle any load
- Lightweight hand dolly holds up to 300 pounds and transforms into a 4-wheel hand cart that holds up to 400 pounds of cargo, letting you carry larger and heavier boxes with ease
- Glass-filled nylon frame weighs less than steel while retaining strength and has an adjustable telescopic aluminum handle that can be changed into 1 of 3 positions to fit your transportation style
- Built-in stair glides allow effortlessly moves up and down stairs or curves, letting you go wherever you need whether it be carrying cargo from upstairs or downstairs
Last update on 2024-03-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Lay the stove on its side on a blanket or towel laid over the flattest surface available to you in your chosen moving vehicle. Secure the appliance in place using cargo straps (amazon link).
But it’s not just the gas stove that needs to be secured. Whatever else is in the vehicle with your stove needs to be secured so that it does not slide into the stove, causing damage.
You should carefully inspect the valves, etc., when you arrive at your destination, even if you did not transport the gas stove on its back. It is always worth being doubly sure everything is in working order for an appliance like a gas stove.