Appliances are still depreciated over 5 years, even if they were installed before converting it to a rental property.
They are not an "improvement" to the house itself. They are still separate assets. The TurboTax interview should cover it, but you will be depreciating the Fair Market Value of the appliances when converted to rental usage, not the original purchase price.
If you print (or create a PDF) of ALL worksheets, you can find the 'Depreciation and Amortization Worksheet' (it is the sideways-looking worksheet/spreadsheet). That will have all of the information about the depreciation, including the depreciable basis. The depreciable basis for some items (such as your appliances) will be based on the Fair Market Value, not your actual Cost Basis. In those cases, that worksheet does NOT show the "Cost Basis", so you must keep track of that for when you sell the property.
No, the separate appliances are not added to the basis of the house itself because they are separate assets. When you sell the property, you may need to allocate the sales price between all of the assets.
