How to Pack and Move a TV by Yourself

As a constant source of entertainment, your TV can help you survive the long and tedious hours of packing up your things when moving house. As Moving day approaches, your window to the world will also help you relax a little bit and reduce the notoriously high levels of stress that the process of moving house usually creates. Moreover, if you’re completing the pre-move tasks on your own, then your television set will also keep you company – and that will often be a good thing.

However, since most people rely on their TV to entertain them prior to the day of their move, the job of packing a TV for moving is often left for last, and because of that, it may easily become too rushed and prone to common mistakes when packing and moving a TV.

You shouldn’t worry though – with a bit of preparation, planning and common sense, you will be able to pack up and move your home entertainment system without any problems whatsoever. Most pieces of electronic equipment are quite expensive and your television set is probably too, especially if it happens to be a big flat panel display – either a plasma TV or an LCD TV.

Follow these fundamental packing and moving steps below to learn how to move a TV by yourself.

What to do before packing your TV for moving

Before you can actually pack and move a TV to your new home, there are a few preparation steps you should follow so that you don’t waste much valuable time and finish the packing and moving job as quickly as you possibly can. The preparation stage for packing a TV when moving home includes:

Step 1. Is my TV set worth the moving expense?

This is probably the biggest question to ask yourself before burdening yourself with packing and moving your TV safely. In reality, you shouldn’t find it too difficult to find the right answer here:

• If your TV is brand new, relatively new or kind of old but with no technical problems whatsoever, then yes, you should definitely take your visual companion with you. How much you paid for your set is another factor you should take into consideration.
• If the warranty period of your device has long expired, it’s too outdated and you’ve been having nothing but issues with it recently, then maybe it’s time to purchase a new one when your household move is over.

Step 2. Where’s the original TV box?

If you still keep the original box of your TV, then your packing job will be so much easier. The truth is that original packaging always provides the best protection for the product it’s been designed for.

In addition to having a cardboard box of the perfect size, you also get the custom Styrofoam inserts that were keeping your TV immobilized during transport when you first bought the piece of equipment.

Step 3. What packing materials do I need?

If you don’t have the box your TV came in, then that shouldn’t be a problem – you will just need to find another strong cardboard box with similar dimensions. Additionally, get your hands on

• one roll of Bubble wrap,
• one roll of quality packing tape, as well as
• several thick moving blankets (ordinary blankets will do just fine).

Read also: Packing materials when moving house: All you need to know

Step 4. How can a single photo save me time?

Use your smartphone or your dedicated digital camera to take a photo of the back of your TV set. Why? That photo will enable you to identify quickly which cables go where once you reach your new home and you’re about to set up your entertainment hub. Besides the signal cable from your Cable or Satellite service provider, you may have various external devices connected to the set such as home theater components, Blu-ray or DVD players, speakers, etc.

E-mail that photo to yourself as backup or print it out. Keep in mind that the photo of the way your TV cables are connected can save you plenty of post-move time and spare you some nerves too. Your best bet is to use a separate box to transport all those cables – read on for more details.

Step 5. Should I clean the TV prior to packing it?

Before we share with you the best way to pack a TV for moving, let’s say a few words whether you need to clean your television set prior to the move or not. It’s a good idea to dust it with the help of a soft and dry piece of cloth before your pack it up for transportation.

You don’t have to overdo the pre-move TV cleaning task but the general idea is to prevent any coarse dust particles from scratching the sensitive flat screen during the haul or from entering and possibly clogging the electronic components inside. Once you move into your new apartment or house, you should give your set a good cleaning in accordance with the cleaning instructions in the manual.

Must-read info: The top 40 packing tips when moving house 

How to pack a TV for moving

Flat screen TVs are constantly evolving and the general tendency is thinner designs and less weight. However, the major problem you will face when packing your TV for shipping is the huge screen that is very fragile and must be protected extremely well during transport.

Regardless of how small or big your TV set is, it’s vitally important to follow the proper packing steps so that you don’t find your expensive piece of equipment scratched, cracked or non-functional at the end of your relocation journey.

• Step 1. Use the original box of your TV set if you still keep it somewhere in your home. In most cases, such TV boxes are the best as they come with custom-shaped Styrofoam and protective coverings.
• Step 2. How to pack a TV without the original box? If you can’t use the manufacturer’s container for obvious reasons, get an extra strong double-walled box that’s specifically designed for flat-panel TVs. Such special boxes are sold in accordance with the diagonal size of your TV screen, and you can get one from your nearby DIY shop, hardware shop or your local removal company.
• Step 3. Make sure the cardboard box that will replace the original TV box is not too big compared to the dimensions of your set – otherwise, your sensitive piece of equipment will be moving inside it and may get damaged.
• Step 4. The best way to pack a TV for shipping is to know that the container won’t break under the weight inside it, so don’t forget to tape the bottom of the box and its sides just to stay on the safe side. Use only high-quality packing tape.
• Step 5. Place a few sheets of Bubble wrap on the bottom of the cardboard box as a cushioning layer. Packing peanuts can also do just fine. Using a couple of old towels as insulation is also an option if you don’t have Bubble wrap close by.
• Step 6. How to pack a TV quickly? Cut out a piece of cardboard in a rectangular shape to match the entire screen, including the edges. Place that additional protection over the frontal part of your TV and wrap the entire TV body with a couple of soft moving blankets to keep the cardboard piece in place and provide the utmost coverage and protection for the whole television set.
• Step 7. Secure the blankets with packing tape or shrink wrap and be cautious not to let any tape touch the surface of your TV as that may partly ruin the appearance of your entertainment hub.
• Step 8. Once you’ve created a nice tight bundle of your electronic device, it’s time to slide it into the cardboard box you prepared in the beginning of your TV packing job. You need to pack your TV vertically and not without the necessary friendly assistance, especially if you own a big, heavy and awkwardly-shaped flat-panel TV.
• Step 9. Packing a flat screen TV for moving is not too complicated but you still need to remember a few things, such as to keep it upright at all times. You can’t pack a TV upside down and you can’t lay it down flat on its screen no matter how well the latter is protected – the created pressure on the delicate glass display could cause irreparable damage.

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  Step 10. The moment the wrapped-up TV is inside the original box or its substitute, place padding materials /Bubble wrap, crumpled packing paper, crumpled newspapers, towels, pieces of old yet clean clothes/ inside the container along the sides. The objective is to fill in the remaining space so that your television set doesn’t shift inside.

• Step 11. Pack all the cables and other small TV accessories /the remote control, for example/ in a separate box as they could potentially damage your TV if packed together with it. Label that standard packing box as TV ACCESSORIES and write down the destination room that should, naturally, coincide with the destination room of your TV.
• Step 12. Close the lids and seal the box with a generous helping of packing tape. Take out a permanent black marker and write TV, FRAGILE and THIS SIDE UP on the box on at least 2 sides to remind whoever’s going to handle that box that they need to be extra careful.

See also: How to pack electronics when moving house

How to move a TV by yourself

The above packing steps show clearly the best way to pack a flat screen TV without professional help, but here comes the question of how to move a flat screen TV by yourself. Unlike packing, the actual moving hides much more potential risks and dangers for your entertainment set if you do it on your own.

Here’s what you need to know when moving a big and heavy TV by yourself:

• If you’re planning to move a flat screen TV in a rented moving van, then position the TV box between long and flat items such as mattresses, for example. Avoid placing your packed and boxed TV set between sharp or heavy items that may damage your valuable possession.
• Do not place the TV box on top of other household items for fear of it accidentally falling and breaking. Do not place any items on top of the TV-filled container either.
• As long as you have enough space, you can also move a flat screen TV in your car but such a big box will restrict severely the room of other essential items that you intend to take with you in your own vehicle.

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  Your big screen TV (a plasma TV or a LED TV) set is a sensitive piece of equipment and extreme temperature fluctuations can be rather detrimental. Do all in your power to avoid extremely hot, cold or humid transportation conditions.

• Large screen TVs are both heavy and bulky, so it’s imperative that you have at least one other person to help you move your own TV to another home. If there isn’t anyone you know to give you hand when moving a TV across the country, or maybe to a nearby city, then get a free cost estimate to see how much qualified helpers will cost.
• When you reach the safety of your new home, let your TV acclimatize to the room temperature before you turn it on. Feel free to unpack the TV cables and accessories in the meantime. Do you remember where each cable goes?

What’s the best way to move a TV? To hire professionals to do it for you, of course. After all, you’ll probably have more household items to move to your new address than just one piece of electronic equipment, right?

Important info: How much does it cost to hire removals?

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