--- title: "Appliance Guides — Installation, Costs and What to Check" description: "18 guides in 6 sections, split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns." url: "https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/" --- Read first, book second # Appliance guides, read first. An appliance installation guide is only useful if it answers the question you actually have, so these are split by what you are trying to find out — is this worth paying for, what is that noise, what can I check myself — rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. ## Work out what you are dealing with. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by what part of the appliance it concerns. [All 18 guides](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/) Why a brand-new appliance misbehaves in its first days ### [When a new install goes wrong](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why a new appliance acts up on its first run, and which quirks settle on their own](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/why-a-new-appliance-acts-up-on-its-first-run/) - [Install shortcuts behind early service calls: the steps a rushed hookup skips](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/install-shortcuts-behind-early-service-calls/) - [When a new built-in will not fit its opening: height, width, depth and the fixes](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/when-a-new-built-in-will-not-fit/) Measure first, then read the first week ### [First checks and setup codes](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Measure before you order: the opening, the swing and the hookups](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/measure-before-you-order/) - [The first week after installation: what to check, and on which day](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-first-week-after-installation/) - [Setup codes and demo mode on a new appliance: when the display is the whole story](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/setup-codes-and-demo-mode-on-a-new-appliance/) Who installs it, which fuel, which front ### [Decisions before the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [Store delivery install or an independent installer: matching the route to the job](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/store-delivery-install-or-an-independent-installer/) - [Gas or electric when the kitchen changes: what each fuel asks of the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/gas-or-electric-when-the-kitchen-changes/) - [Panel-ready or finished front: what each choice asks of the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/panel-ready-or-finished-front-for-an-install/) The first month of a new appliance ### [After the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Break-in habits for a new appliance: the first bake, the first ice, the first load](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/break-in-habits-for-a-new-appliance/) - [Keeping the install records and manuals: the paperwork a new appliance leaves behind](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/keeping-the-install-records-and-manuals/) - [A one-month check on a new install, once the floor and the fittings have settled](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/a-one-month-check-on-a-new-install/) Connectors, leak tests, brackets and circuits ### [Gas, power and water at the install](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/safety-and-food/) - [Gas connectors, conversion kits and the leak test: what happens at a gas hookup](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/gas-connectors-conversion-kits-and-the-leak-test/) - [Anti-tip brackets and why they are required, from the cooking line to built-in columns](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/anti-tip-brackets-and-why-they-are-required/) - [The circuit and outlet a new appliance needs, group by group](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-circuit-and-outlet-a-new-appliance-needs/) The opening, the path in and the rough-ins ### [Get the space ready](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [Cutout dimensions and the spec sheet: reading the numbers before cabinets are built](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/cutout-dimensions-and-the-spec-sheet/) - [The delivery path: doors, stairs and floors between the truck and the opening](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/the-delivery-path-doors-stairs-and-floors/) - [Water, drain and exhaust rough-ins: what must be in the wall before the appliance](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/water-drain-and-exhaust-rough-ins/) Reading did not fix it? ### The work itself Every guide here ends in the same place: what a technician actually does about it, in the order it gets done. 10 kinds of work Cheapest cause first What a visit costs See what we do Trying to budget for the install as well as the appliance? The cost has a page of its own, since it turns on the opening, the fuel and the hookups already in place — [appliance installation cost](https://applianceinstallation.center/cost/). ## Not sure where to start? People buying a new appliance tend to ask the same four things before it arrives. The guides below answer them: how to measure the opening and the way in before ordering, what a gas hookup and a propane conversion involve, what the first week of a new appliance should look like, and whether to take the store's installation or book it separately. [Or start from the symptom](https://applianceinstallation.center/problems/) ### Will it fit the opening and the doorway Measure before you order: the opening, the swing and the hookups The old unit is the wrong thing to measure. What to record instead, which clearances to subtract, and the three photos that save a second trip. ### Gas, propane and the leak test Gas connectors, conversion kits and the leak test: what happens at a gas hookup From the shutoff valve to the appliance regulator: which connector the makers allow, how natural gas and propane differ, why altitude matters and how a hookup is proven tight. ### What is normal in the first few days The first week after installation: what to check, and on which day Thermometers on day two, water joints on day three, flame color and feet by day five. A short schedule that catches a connection that was nearly right while help is still easy to reach. ### The store's crew or someone independent Store delivery install or an independent installer: matching the route to the job A straight swap on sound hookups suits delivery with installation. A fuel change, a built-in or an online purchase usually does not. The questions to put in writing either way. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in a guide did not settle it, a technician picks up from there. The visit, stop by stop. [What installations cost](https://applianceinstallation.center/cost/) 1. 01 The opening and the hookups, checked first 2. 02 Connected the way the instructions say 3. 03 Set in, leveled and secured 4. 04 A first run with you there ## When there is no time to read. These five signs follow a connection that is not safe to run on, so the new appliance stays off until the hookup is put right: gas in the air after the gas connector went on, water on the floor after a supply or drain connection, a burning smell or a tripped breaker on the very first run, and a laundry exhaust that is crushed, pulled loose or blowing lint into the room. Each page puts the causes in the order worth checking, and says when to stop and book. [All 17 problems](https://applianceinstallation.center/problems/) Hazard after a hookup ### Gas Smell After a Hookup: Leave the House, Then Call 6 causes, cheapest first Hazard after a hookup ### Water Leak After an Install: Close the Supply Valve First 6 causes, cheapest first Hazard after a hookup ### Burning Smell on the First Run: When It Is Normal and When to Stop 6 causes, cheapest first Hazard after a hookup ### Breaker Trips on the First Run: Leave It Off and Find Out Why 6 causes, cheapest first Hazard after a hookup ### Laundry Exhaust Crushed, Loose or Blowing Into the Room 6 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about the guides. ### Can a guide replace a professional installation? For the planning, often. Measuring the opening and the path in, reading a spec sheet, checking which outlet and valve are behind the space and clearing the way before delivery are things any owner can do. The guides say plainly where a gas connection, a new circuit or a drain tie-in belongs to an installer or a licensed trade. ### Are the installation guides written for one brand? Mostly not. Whoever made the appliance, a gas connector, a high drain loop and a rigid exhaust run go in by the same rules, and the guides are organized around those tasks. Where a maker asks for something different the guide notes it, and your own installation instructions always come first. ### Should I read a guide or a problem page? If something is already wrong after the install, a problem page is faster, since it starts from the sign. The guides are for the stage before: whether a model will fit, what must be ready, who should install it and what the first weeks should look like. ### Where do the facts in the installation guides come from? Every fact that can be checked names where it came from: installation instructions and owner's manuals from the makers, federal agencies such as the CPSC on range tip-overs, dryer venting and carbon monoxide, ENERGY STAR and DOE on efficiency, and fire-safety bodies on laundry and kitchen fires. What comes from our own installs is marked as such. --- **[Read on the site: Appliance Guides — Installation, Costs and What to Check](https://applianceinstallation.center/guides/)** **[Book a visit with ApplianceInstallation.center](https://applianceinstallation.center/schedule/)**