I ordered mine 2 weeks in advance of demo. We'll be going to get them the day after demo starts. I didn't want to jump the gun and waste the warranty. Knowing I'd want to open them to make sure there were no dings or scratches, I didn't want them sitting out in a shed for a long time with just the box thrown over them, or plastic.

Our contractor and kitchen designer needed to know which models we wanted for wiring of electric and sizes for cabinet maker. We ordered in November 08 and they were delivered May 09. Warranties started the day of delivery.

thanks for the follow up... At first I was thinking the timing was important...to try and time delivery when I'd start using the items....so the warranties would start when first put into use...which meant not ordering until last minute. But your suggestion "country Smile" of starting the warranty period on delivery date makes sense, so long as the store agrees to that arrangement. I know what appliances we'll be ordering....so the electrician and plumber can prepare the circuits and plumbing lines.

The issue of when the warranty starts is up to the manufacturer not the store. Some will let you start them at installation, some at delivery, and a few try to start it on date of purchase but you can push back on that.

As Country Smile said, contractors and KDs need to know which appliances you are getting in order to do their work in your kitchen. However, the appliances do not have to be on-site. The specifications are available online and will have all the info that contractors and KD's need. Also, if you get the appliances very early, do you have a place to store them that is safe, theft-proof, dry, out of the way?

Most manufacturers start the clock ticking on the warranties upon delivery, not upon installation, and I can't blame them. Why should they take the risk of the appliances being on site and stored, and all the things that can happen (getting wet, jostled, turned on their sides, knocked over, etc.) that would not be the manufacturers' fault. So, I would not want to order appliances too early and thereby forego too much of the warranty. Also, keep in mind that kitchen renos typically take longer than expected--so you may think you need the appliances by a certain date, only to have a renovation delay that means you won't have the appliances installed for several months more, and meanwhile they're sitting in, what, your garage, back yard, basement?

Having said all that, and on the other hand, you don't want to wait until the last minute. Some appliances go on backorder, and you might find yourself with a finished kitchen that is waiting for appliances yet to be delivered.

I had my appliances picked out 3-4 months in advance of my kitchen reno. But I purchased them, and had them delivered, only about 3 weeks before I estimated they'd need to be installed.

I bought them at #1 Appliance and I would NEVER use them again. On item had to be returned. I replaced it with one I bought off eBay. The same item for $190. less and arrived in 1 week. #1 took 6-7 weeks.

ONce you know what you want, you should go onto the companie's website and download the installation guides. Give them to your KD or GC (or both) so they have dimensional information up front (for cabinet sizes and electrical/plumbing placement). In the case of a refrigerator, be extra aware of how much space the doors need to swing in order to clear your countertops. You don't want to find out too late that the doors won't open far enough to open the drawers without banging into a corner of the countertop.

As akchicago said "However, the appliances do not have to be on-site. The specifications are available online and will have all the info that contractors and KD's need."

That's true if the specifications are correct. We almost had a disaster because the specs for our FD refrigerator were incorrect and listed the refrigerator depth 9 inches shorter than it actually was. Fortunately, the refrigerator was in the store's warehouse because it was out to be installed elsewhere and didn't fit so it was returned within a week - and then we bought it at a nice discount. It probably was returned not because the builder made a mistake but rather because the specs were wrong. We questioned the specs and an employee went out to the warehouse to physically measure the refrig. and sure enough the specs were wrong. They ended up calling the manufacturer (Amana) to tell them their specs were wrong (which, of course, were posted online on every website!!!)

As I said, it's lucky for us that we caught that mistake early on in the renovation because it would have caused major problems in our layout. When the store confirmed our suspicions that the specs were wrong, we got an emergency phone call from the contractor and kd and they came late that night to go over our options. Our contractor ended up recessing the kitchen wall into our living room to make up for the additional 9 inches, just days after they had made a header to support the load-bearing wall at the section. We flipflopped the placement of the refrigerator with a pantry and changed the pantry to an upper cabinet & base cabinet - which I actually like better now because we already had a pantry elsewhere in the kitchen. And the appliance store apologized (even though it wasn't their mistake) and offered to help in any way they could.

Just when you think everything is planned out well, something springs up to throw a wrench in the plan.

(and, in my earlier post, I didn't make it clear that the date of delivery and installation were the same)

HTH