3 Steps to Help You Connect a New Refrigerator

Now that you’ve got that shiny new fridge out of the box, do you know what to do to hook it up? If your new refrigerator has a water dispenser and/or an ice maker, you can follow some simple steps and connect it pretty easily.

Kitchen plumbing can be tricky, but this particular job is well suited for novice DIY folk. It’s all about knowing what the steps are and following them.

1 – Why you Might Call the Professionals

Although you most definitely can accomplish this job yourself, there are definitely positives to hiring your local Lombard, IL plumber.

You’ll save time, for one. There is always the concern of water leaks if the connection isn’t done right as well. By using the professionals, you will indeed have peace of mind.

However, if you feel confident in your ability, then we believe in you too. Here are the steps that you need to take (hint; you start by cutting off the water supply).

2 – Connecting the Water Dispenser

To begin, identify your cold water supply, which is most likely located under your kitchen sink. If you can’t get at it for some reason, you may have to wander down to your basement to find a cold water hookup.

Back to your sink. The cold water pipe is usually the one on the right (when you are facing the pipes). Take a valve and attach it to the pipe. Next, drill tiny holes (slightly larger than the tubing) to fish through the base of the cabinetry.Attach the tubing to the valve using compression nuts and slide the ferrule on the tubing. Turn the water on to make sure that the connection is snug.

Feed the tubing through to the fridge area, leaving large loops of tubing. If you leave it too tight, the tubing will disconnect every time you pull the fridge out to clean. Before you hook the other end of the tubing up to your fridge with the other compression nut, run the water for a few minutes and let it drain out into a bucket. You don’t want that to be the first water you drink.

3 – Connecting the Ice Maker

In some cases, your ice maker hose is the same as the water dispenser hose, so once you’ve attached one you are good to go.

If not, follow the same steps to connect to your cold water supply. However, to get rid of the unclean water, simply switch the ice maker to “on” and discard the first few rounds of ice cubes.

One word of caution. When your brand new fridge is delivered, don’t plug it in for at least 24 hours. The Freon needs to settle first. If you do it too soon, you may do damage to your fridge.