Four steps, in order
- Factory reset it if it is a smart TV. It is holding your streaming logins and your Wi-Fi password.
- Get it off the wall, if it is mounted, before anyone arrives.
- Choose a route — the statewide electronics drop-off if you can carry it, or a collection if you cannot.
- Keep it inside until the day. A television on a Seattle porch overnight is a damp television.
Prices: under 42 inches $62, 42 to 65 inches $68, over 65 inches $73. Minimum visit $95, carry-out from any floor included.
Reset it before it leaves
Modern televisions are full computers with your accounts signed into them. A smart TV that leaves the house without a reset is carrying your streaming services, possibly a card on file, and the Wi-Fi credentials for your home network.
The reset is in the settings menu, usually under support, system or general. Do it while it is still plugged in and while you can still see the screen — obvious, but people unplug and unmount first and then find they cannot.
If the screen is already broken and you cannot navigate the menu, say so when you book. It changes nothing about the price, but a set that could not be wiped should be handled accordingly.
Getting it off the wall
Wall-mounted sets are the most common way this job goes wrong, and Seattle housing adds two specific wrinkles.
In a flat — the small Capitol Hill, Belltown, U District and South Lake Union units — the TV is often mounted on the one wall the sofa faces, in a room with no space to lay a 65-inch panel down safely. Clear the floor first and have a blanket ready.
In an old house, the mount is screwed into whatever was behind the plaster of a 1915 wall, which may be studs in an unhelpful place, may be lath, and may be a patch somebody made in 1978. Coming off, it usually takes some plaster with it. Expect that rather than being surprised by it.
A large panel is a two-person lift even though it is not heavy — it is the size and the flex that get you. Nobody should be doing a 70-inch removal alone on a stepladder.
The old CRT in the basement
A specific Seattle category. The deep, heavy tube television that was replaced fifteen years ago and carried down to the basement because it still worked, where it has sat ever since.
Three things about it:
- It is much heavier than it looks. A large CRT is a genuine two-person carry, and the carry is up a narrow Craftsman basement stair with a turn at the bottom.
- It is probably damp. A decade against a basement wall in this climate leaves the cabinet moldy and the board corroded.
- Nobody wants it. There is no donation route for these and there has not been for years. It is a recycling item.
Price is by size like any other set — under 42 inches is $62. The reason to have it collected rather than carried is entirely the stair.
Route one: take it yourself
Washington runs a statewide household electronics recycling program with drop-off locations around the region. Look up the current participating sites near you, check their hours, and confirm they take televisions — coverage and terms change.
This is a good route if the TV is small enough to carry, you have a car it will fit in, and it is on the ground floor. It is not a route for a 70-inch panel, a CRT, or anything at the bottom of a basement stair.
Wrap it, or at least put a blanket over it, and keep it dry on the way. A flat panel travels on its edge, never flat, and never leaning against something that will shift.
Route two: have it collected
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| TV (Under 42") | $62 |
| TV (42" to 65") | $68 |
| TV (65"+) | $73 |
| Entertainment Center / TV Stand | $96 |
| Stereo / Sound System | $52 |
| Speaker System (Large) | $57 |
| Box of Electronics | $77 |
Since a single television sits below the $95 minimum, this is worth combining. The whole living-room setup — a 42-to-65-inch TV, the stand it sat on and the sound system — is $68 + $96 + $52 = $216.
Or the common upgrade clearout, the old set plus the box of cables and kit behind it: $68 + $77 = $145.
There is no stair charge and no walk-up fee, so a 65-inch panel from a third-floor Capitol Hill flat with no lift is the same $73 as one by a front door.
Why not the curb, and why not a bin
Two straightforward reasons.
It is not permitted. Electronics have their own handling channel throughout this state and are routinely excluded from municipal bulky-item collection. Check your own city's current page, but do not assume.
It will be ruined within a day. A television left on a parking strip in Seattle is rained on before anyone could collect it, at which point even the recycling route is compromised and it becomes a heavier disposal item sitting on your verge, which is its own problem.
The same goes for staging it in a carport or on a covered porch while you decide. Decide indoors.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get rid of an old TV in Seattle?
Factory reset it, take it off the wall, then either carry it to one of the statewide electronics recycling drop-off sites or have it collected — $62 under 42 inches, $68 for 42 to 65 inches, $73 over 65 inches.
Can I put a TV out with the trash?
No. Electronics are handled separately throughout Washington and are routinely excluded from bulky-item collection. A set left on the parking strip is also soaked within a day in this climate.
Do I need to reset a smart TV first?
Yes. It holds your streaming logins, possibly a payment card, and your Wi-Fi password. Reset it from the settings menu while it is still plugged in and you can still see the screen.
What about an old CRT in the basement?
Priced by size like any set, so under 42 inches is $62. They are far heavier than they look and there is no donation route for them, so the only real question is who carries it up the basement stair.
Is it cheaper to take the old TV stand at the same time?
It is more efficient, since a single TV sits under the $95 minimum. A 42-to-65-inch set, its stand and a sound system together are $68 + $96 + $52 = $216 on one visit.