A fridge is the one appliance that can't just be dragged out and left somewhere — the refrigerant inside it has to be recovered by a certified handler before anything can accept it, and it weighs enough to be a real two-person carry. $221 flat, quoted from a photo, freon handled, carried up from the basement or out through the freight elevator. Freezers, mini-fridges, AC units and dehumidifiers too.
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Same-day is often open. Timing it to a delivery of the new fridge, or to a building's freight-elevator slot? We schedule around it.
Dolly, straps, stair glides, two people. The refrigerant goes to certified recovery and the metal to scrap. You don't lift or arrange anything.
Flat by unit type, and the number already contains the carry-out, the refrigerant recovery and the disposal. No separate freon fee, no stair fee, no on-site revision.
| Unit | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Dehumidifier | $104 |
| Window air conditioner | $107 |
| Portable air conditioner | $114 |
| Mini-fridge | $155 |
| Chest freezer | $196 |
| Upright freezer | $201 |
| Refrigerator (standard) | $221 |
| Refrigerator (large / built-in) | $246 |
$95 minimum on a single-item trip — the floor for sending a truck and a two-person crew, so anything priced below it bills at $95. Clearing the kitchen or the garage as a set? Send one photo and the washer, dryer, range or the old dishwasher price together in the same quote. A whole-space clear-out prices as truck volume instead: quarter truck $325, half $580, three-quarters $790, full $985.
Third-party context: cost guides from Homeyou and Yelp Costs put an average Seattle junk-removal job at roughly $253–$325. More pointedly, a Seattle Redditor reported being quoted around $400 by 1-800-GOT-JUNK for a single refrigerator. That's the whole argument for a flat, photo-quoted number: volume-based pricing turns one heavy appliance into a truckload's worth of estimate.
On tax: Washington does not apply its ~10.35% retail sales tax to junk-removal service. A 3.6% state refuse and solid-waste collection tax (RCW 82.18) rides on the disposal portion and appears in your total.
| Option | Cost | Speed | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPU special-items pickup | $30 per item | Your next garbage day | Curbside only, by appointment — you get a 200-plus-pound appliance out of the basement and onto the sidewalk yourself |
| Self-haul to King County | $40.25 min load + $30 refrigerant fee + $25 if unsecured | An afternoon | Truck rental, straps, a second person, and a dolly you probably don't own |
| Retailer haul-away with a new fridge | Often free, sometimes a fee | Delivery day | Only the unit being replaced, and delivery crews routinely decline basement or garage units |
| Traditional full-service franchise | ~$253–$325 average job; ~$400 reported for one fridge (third-party) | 1–3 days | Priced by truck volume, usually only confirmed on site |
| JunkRabbit | $221 flat | Same day when a slot is open | None — flat photo price, freon handled, carried up from any floor |
Every cheap option on that list assumes the fridge is already outside. On this one item, getting it outside is the hard part — and it's the part the price is really for.
Inside the city: yes, in theory. Seattle Public Utilities collects large items through its special-items service at $30 per item, by appointment, curbside only, scheduled onto your next regular garbage day. The published terms are at seattle.gov/specialitems.
Read "curbside only" carefully, because for this specific item it's decisive. A fridge in a Ballard basement is not a curbside item. A chest freezer in a detached garage is not a curbside item. SPU crews collect from the kerb — they don't come down a stairwell, through a crawlspace hatch, or into a garage. And a full-size refrigerator isn't something one determined person walks outside: it's a two-person carry with a dolly, straps and stair glides, and the way people get hurt is deciding otherwise on a Saturday. The $30 is a fine price for a service that starts where your problem ends.
Outside the city: the program doesn't exist. Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Renton and the rest of the Eastside fall under King County Solid Waste, where the route is a transfer station and a scale.
The freon rule. This is the part that makes a refrigerator different from every other bulky item in your house. Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners contain refrigerant that must be recovered by an EPA-certified handler before the unit can be disposed of. King County charges $30 per unit for refrigerant appliances precisely because of that handling requirement — on top of the $40.25 minimum load (up to 320 lb), $243.38 a ton for garbage, and a $25 unsecured-load fee if it isn't properly strapped. Non-refrigerant appliances are accepted from residential customers only and must be empty. Stations: Factoria (Bellevue), Houghton (Kirkland), Shoreline, Bow Lake (Tukwila), Renton, Enumclaw, Vashon.
None of that is your problem when we take it. The recovery is arranged, done and documented on our side, and it's already inside the $221.
Two stages, in this order. First, the refrigerant is recovered by certified handlers — that's a legal requirement, not a service upgrade, and it's the reason a fridge costs more to remove than a dresser twice its size. Second, what's left is mostly metal, and metal is worth recycling rather than burying: the steel cabinet and door shell, the copper in the compressor and the condenser coils, and the aluminium in the internals all have scrap outlets.
In this market that routing isn't sentimental, it's arithmetic. King County garbage tips at $243.38 a ton — among the highest disposal rates anywhere in the country — and Washington's 3.6% refuse tax is calculated on the disposal portion of the job. Metal diverted to a scrap outlet skips the per-ton fee and sits outside the 3.6% base entirely. Seattle also bans recyclables from the garbage under SMC 21.36, tagging loads that arrive more than roughly 10% contaminated. Sorting properly is how a flat $221 stays a flat $221 rather than becoming a surcharge conversation on your doorstep.
The Craftsman basement. This is the signature Seattle version of the job, and the reason this page exists separately from a generic appliance page. Ballard, Wallingford, Ravenna, Wedgwood and Green Lake are full of early-1900s Craftsman houses with real basements — and basement stairwells from that era are narrow, steep, and turn at the landing. A full-size fridge coming up those stairs needs two people, a proper appliance dolly, stair glides and a plan for the turn. It's a routine job for a crew that does it weekly and a genuinely bad idea for two friends and a hand truck. There is no stair fee for it.
The garage second fridge. Across the Eastside — Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah, Newcastle — the beer-and-overflow fridge in the garage is close to universal, and it's usually the oldest, heaviest, least efficient appliance on the property. Detached garages, sloped driveways and a unit that hasn't moved in fifteen years are the normal conditions. Also normal: it stopped working months ago and has been quietly defrosting since.
The tower. Downtown, Belltown, South Lake Union and downtown Bellevue buildings require a certificate of insurance naming building management (commonly $1M general liability) and a freight elevator reserved days in advance, usually with a loading-dock window. A refrigerator can't go down a residential stairwell in a high-rise, so the elevator booking isn't paperwork — it is the job. We file the COI, book the slot, and the quote doesn't change.
The hill. On Queen Anne, where the avenue runs an ~18–19% grade for five blocks and there are more than a hundred public stairways, the truck sometimes can't park at the door. The appliance walks part of the way. There's still no hill surcharge.
"Dead fridge in the basement of a 1912 house, stairwell with a turn in it. Two guys, a dolly, twenty minutes. I'd been putting it off for a year."
"Old chest freezer out of the garage. Flat price from a photo, and they handled the refrigerant side of it so I didn't have to work out what the county wanted."
"New fridge was being delivered at noon and the delivery team wouldn't take the old one. Booked in the morning, gone before they arrived."
How much does refrigerator removal cost in Seattle?
$221 flat for a standard fridge; large or built-in $246, mini-fridge $155, chest freezer $196, upright freezer $201, window AC $107, portable AC $114, dehumidifier $104. $95 minimum on a single-item trip, carry-out and refrigerant recovery included.
Does Seattle pick up refrigerators?
SPU's special-items pickup does — $30 per item, by appointment, curbside only, on your next garbage day (seattle.gov/specialitems). A basement or garage fridge isn't a curbside item, and the program doesn't exist outside the city line.
Do you handle the freon?
Yes — refrigerant is recovered by EPA-certified handlers before disposal. That's why King County charges $30 per refrigerant appliance. It's already inside our flat price; you arrange nothing.
What does the dump charge?
King County: $30 per refrigerant unit on top of the $40.25 minimum load (≤320 lb), $243.38/ton, and +$25 if unsecured. Non-refrigerant appliances are residential-only and must be empty.
Can you get it up from a basement?
Yes, no stair fee. Craftsman basement stairwells in Ballard, Wallingford, Ravenna, Wedgwood and Green Lake are the normal version of this job — dolly, straps, stair glides, two people.
Is it cheaper than a franchise?
Usually, and always more predictable. Third-party guides put an average Seattle job at $253–$325, and one Seattle Redditor reported a ~$400 quote from 1-800-GOT-JUNK for a single fridge. Ours is $221 flat, fixed from your photo.
Do I need to empty and defrost it?
Empty it — food, loose shelves, the freezer drawer. Full defrosting is ideal but not required; we just don't want meltwater running down a stairwell. Tell us if it's been sitting unplugged in a damp basement.
Where does it end up?
Refrigerant to certified recovery; then steel, copper and aluminium to scrap. Metal diversion avoids both King County's $243.38-a-ton rate and the 3.6% refuse-tax base.
Yes, and that is the everyday version of this job in Seattle. Craftsman basement stairwells in Ballard, Wallingford, Ravenna, Wedgwood and Green Lake are narrow with a turn at the landing, and a full-size fridge weighs enough that it is a two-person carry with a dolly and stair glides. There is no stair fee and no hill surcharge — the flat price you were quoted from your photo is the price.
Usually, and always more predictable. Franchises price by how much of the truck you fill and typically only commit once a crew is standing in your kitchen. A Seattle Redditor reported being quoted around $400 for a single refrigerator by 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and third-party cost guides from Homeyou and Yelp Costs put an average Seattle junk-removal job at roughly $253 to $325. Ours is $221 flat, fixed from your photo before anyone is dispatched.
King County Solid Waste charges $30 per unit for refrigerant appliances — refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners — on top of the $40.25 minimum load fee for up to 320 lb and $243.38 a ton for garbage, plus $25 if the load is not secured. Non-refrigerant appliances are accepted from residential customers only and must be empty. Stations are Factoria, Houghton, Shoreline, Bow Lake, Renton, Enumclaw and Vashon. Add a truck rental, straps and a second person and the do-it-yourself route stops being cheap.
The refrigerant is recovered by certified handlers, and then the unit is stripped for metal — the steel cabinet and shell, the copper in the compressor and coils, and the aluminium. Metal goes to a scrap outlet rather than the tipping floor, which matters here because King County garbage tips at $243.38 a ton and Washington's 3.6% refuse tax is calculated on the disposal portion. Diverted metal avoids both the per-ton fee and the tax base.
Yes. Buildings Downtown, in Belltown, in South Lake Union and in downtown Bellevue typically require a certificate of insurance naming building management, commonly $1M general liability, and a freight elevator reserved days in advance with a dock window. We file the COI and book the elevator, and the quote does not change. A refrigerator cannot go down a residential stairwell in a high-rise, so the elevator booking is the whole job.
Empty it, yes — food, shelves that rattle loose and anything in the freezer drawer. Defrosting fully is ideal but not required; what matters is that it is not going to pour meltwater down a stairwell on the way out. If the unit has been unplugged and sitting in a damp Seattle basement for a while, tell us, because those are the ones that need a wrap before they move.