Who picks up old appliances in Seattle?

The five who will take it

1. The shop delivering the replacement. Many retailers offer haul-away of the old unit when they deliver the new one. Ask when you order, not on delivery day.
2. Scrap metal collectors. Appliances are worth something as scrap, and some collectors will take them free from an accessible spot.
3. Your city's collection program, if it accepts appliances at all — many exclude anything containing refrigerant.
4. Your utility. Some utilities run appliance recycling or replacement programs; check what yours currently offers, because eligibility and terms change.
5. A flat-price removal service. Fridge $164, washer $133, dryer $128, chest freezer $146, dishwasher $109. Carried out from wherever it stands.

Which one is right depends almost entirely on where the appliance is — and in Seattle, that is rarely next to a curb.

Retailer haul-away: ask about the basement

This is the cheapest route when it works, and the question to ask is not whether they take the old one away. It is where they will take it from.

Delivery teams usually work to a defined scope: the old unit is disconnected and taken from the same position the new one goes into, on the ground floor, if the route is clear. That is fine in a Northgate rambler with a kitchen off the driveway.

It is not fine in a great deal of Seattle housing. A washer and dryer in the basement of a Wallingford Craftsman, down a narrow stair with a turn at the bottom. A fridge on the second floor of a Capitol Hill flat with no lift. A house on Queen Anne where the front door is fifteen exterior steps above the street.

Ask about your actual access when you order the replacement. Discovering the limits on delivery morning leaves you with two appliances in the kitchen and a delivery crew leaving.

Scrap collectors: free, with conditions

Appliances are worth money as metal, so somebody may well take yours for nothing.

The conditions are consistent. It has to be somewhere they can reach — a driveway, a garage, an alley. They are not carrying a fridge up out of a basement, and they are certainly not doing an exterior stair run.

Two Seattle-specific cautions. First, do not leave an appliance on the parking strip waiting for a collector who may not come; from October to June it will rust, and if it sits it becomes a code-enforcement matter with your address attached. Second, a fridge or freezer left outside with its door still attached is a genuine hazard to children — remove the door or, better, do not leave it out at all.

Municipal collection and utility programs

Check your own city's current bulky-item page. Appliances are frequently excluded, particularly anything containing refrigerant, because that has to be recovered by someone qualified before the metal can be scrapped.

Separately, some utilities operate appliance recycling or efficiency programs. Whether one applies to you depends on your utility, the appliance, and the terms in force at the time — so look up what yours currently runs rather than relying on what a neighbor did three years ago.

Both routes are worth ten minutes of checking. Both also work on their own timetable, which is the reason people end up calling someone instead.

Flat-price pickup, and what it covers

A laundry pair is $133 + $128 = $261. A kitchen where the fridge and the electric range both go is $164 + $134 = $298.

Refrigerant recovery is included — there is no refrigerant fee and no appliance surcharge — and so is the carry from any floor. Minimum visit $95.

The Seattle garage fridge

Worth its own paragraph because it is close to universal here.

The second fridge in the garage — or the chest freezer beside it — has usually been running inefficiently for years in an unheated, damp, detached building. When it finally fails, or when the garage is being cleared or converted, it goes.

Two practical notes. It is almost always rusted to the floor at the feet and heavier than the one in the kitchen, because it is older. And there is nearly always a second one: the failed fridge and the chest freezer together are $164 + $146 = $310, which is one visit rather than two.

If the garage is being cleared anyway, put them on the same booking as the volume: a half truck plus the fridge is $431 + $164 = $595.

How to choose in thirty seconds

• Buying a replacement, appliance is on the ground floor: ask the retailer for haul-away. Cheapest.
• Appliance is in a garage or driveway and you are not in a hurry: a scrap collector may take it free.
• Appliance is in a basement, upstairs, or up an exterior stair run: book a pickup. $164 for a fridge, and nobody hurts their back.
• Several appliances, or appliances plus a clearout: book one visit and put it all on one truck.

Frequently asked questions