Moving to Charlotte? An Appliance Checklist for New Homeowners
Moving to the Charlotte area means taking on a new set of appliances — either the ones that came with the house or the ones you bring with you. This checklist helps you avoid the most common surprises in the first few months.
Before you close: check the appliances that come with the house
- Find the age of each appliance. The model and serial label is inside the refrigerator, on the dishwasher door edge, behind the range drawer, and on the back or door frame of washers and dryers. Many manufacturers encode the manufacturing date in the serial number.
- Test everything during the final walkthrough: run the dishwasher, heat the oven, start the washer and dryer, check that the refrigerator is cold and the ice maker is working.
- Ask what is included — sellers sometimes take washers, dryers or a garage refrigerator with them.
- Look at the water heater’s age. Tank heaters often last 8–12 years.
First week in the new home
- Replace washer hoses with braided stainless-steel hoses if the old ones are rubber or of unknown age.
- Clean the dryer vent end to end. You do not know when it was last done — see our dryer vent guide.
- Clean refrigerator condenser coils and replace the water filter.
- Clean the dishwasher filter and run a hot cleaning cycle.
- Locate shut-offs: the main water valve, gas valves for each gas appliance and the electrical panel.
Charlotte-specific tips
- Summer heat and humidity make refrigerators in garages work very hard. If a second fridge lives in the garage, choose a model rated for garage use.
- Storms and power outages are a fact of life in the Carolinas. Know how long food stays safe — our guide to a refrigerator that stops overnight covers the USDA guidance.
- Old appliances you leave behind or replace can go through the city’s bulky item collection — see appliance removal in Charlotte.
Keep a short list of local contacts
New homeowners rarely think about it until something breaks, but it helps to have a plumber, an electrician, an HVAC company and a local appliance repair service such as SmartFix Appliance Repair saved in your phone before the first emergency. Register any appliances still under warranty with their manufacturers, and keep receipts and manuals in one folder.