The short answer
Five options exist in this metro. Ranked by how often they actually work:
- A booked pickup. Refrigerator (Standard) $164. Washer $133. Dryer $128. Any day, any floor, from inside the house.
- The retailer delivering the new one. Free or cheap, but only on delivery day and only if you arranged it when you ordered.
- A scrap metal collector. Free, unpredictable, and they will not come inside.
- Your electric utility. Programs for old second refrigerators come and go. Check whether one is currently open.
- Municipal bulky pickup. Check your city or county page for whether appliances are included and how the schedule runs.
The retailer route, and why it fails
It fails for one reason, over and over: people assume it can be arranged later. It cannot. Haul-away has to be on the order, and the delivery crew has a route and will not improvise on your porch.
The Sacramento-specific version of this is the stairs. A delivery team will bring a new washer to a ground-floor laundry closet in a Natomas tract home all day long. Getting the old stacked unit out of a second-floor closet in a Midtown flat, down a turning staircase and out through an alley gate is a different job, and it is routinely the thing that gets declined on the doorstep.
Also check what they will do with a gas range. Disconnecting one is not a delivery-crew task in most cases.
The scrapper route, honestly
Put a washer at the end of an alley in Oak Park, Del Paso Heights or off Franklin Boulevard and there is a decent chance it is gone by morning. It is a real part of how metal moves in this city.
It is also not a plan. It only works for ferrous metal, so a dishwasher goes and a plastic-heavy mini fridge often does not. It only works if the item is already outside, which means you have already done the hard half. And an appliance you left out that nobody took is now an illegal dumping problem with your address attached to it.
Use it as a bonus, never as the plan, and never for anything with refrigerant.
What each appliance costs to have collected
| Appliance | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator (Standard) | $164 |
| Refrigerator (Side-by-Side / French Door) | $183 |
| Mini Fridge | $115 |
| Freezer (Chest) | $146 |
| Freezer (Upright) | $149 |
| Washer | $133 |
| Dryer | $128 |
| Washer/Dryer Combo (Stacked) | $189 |
| Dishwasher | $109 |
| Stove / Oven / Range (Electric) | $134 |
| Stove / Oven / Range (Gas) | $137 |
| Water Heater (Tank) | $131 |
| Microwave (Countertop) | $30 |
| Window AC Unit (Large, 8k+ BTU) | $109 |
| AC Condenser / Heat Pump (Outdoor Unit) | $115 |
Carry-out, loading, hauling and proper handling are inside those numbers. There is no refrigerant surcharge and no stair fee.
The second fridge in the garage
This is a Sacramento institution. Almost every long-held house in Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Elk Grove and the Pocket has a second refrigerator or a chest freezer in the garage, bought in another decade, running at a wattage nobody would accept today.
They are also the appliances that fail worst here. A compressor working against a 118-degree garage in a week of triple-digit August afternoons is being asked to do something it was not designed for. When people call about a fridge in September, it usually died in August.
A garage fridge at $164 or a chest freezer at $146 is a straightforward pickup. Defrost it and empty it first, and do not defrost it the morning of, because what comes out of a failed freezer will change your view of the whole day.
Refrigerant and why it is not your problem
Refrigerators, freezers, window and portable AC units and heat pumps contain refrigerant, and there are federal rules about recovering it before the shell can be processed. That is exactly why a lot of free and casual routes will not touch them.
It is handled on our side, at recovery facilities set up for it, and it is not a line item. $164 for a standard refrigerator is $164.
Same principle for a tank water heater at $131. Drain it first if you can, because a full tank is an enormously heavy thing to bring up out of a Land Park crawlspace hatch.
A worked example
Kitchen and laundry being replaced in an Arden-Arcade Streng home:
Refrigerator (Standard) $164 + Dishwasher $109 + Stove / Oven / Range (Electric) $134 + Washer $133 + Dryer $128 = $668.
That is above the 7/8 truck rate of $661, so it books at $661. Drop the range because it is staying, and the list is $668 minus $134 = $534, which is above the 5/8 rate of $513, so it books at $513.
Booking it
Tell us the appliance, whether it is disconnected, and which floor it is on. Gas appliances need to be disconnected by whoever is qualified to do it before the crew arrives. Water lines off, tanks drained where possible.
Then the truck comes, it goes out through the alley or the front, and you have your laundry closet back.
Frequently asked questions
Do you charge extra for a fridge because of the refrigerant?
No. A standard refrigerator is $164 and a side-by-side is $183. Recovery and processing are included. There is no refrigerant surcharge anywhere on the price list.
Will you disconnect my gas range?
No. Gas disconnection should be done by someone qualified before the pickup. Once it is disconnected and capped, the range is $137.
My utility used to take old fridges. Can I still do that?
Utility recycling offers for old second refrigerators open and close over time. Check whether yours is currently running and what it requires before you plan the week around it.
Can you get a washer out of a second-floor closet?
Yes, and it is the same $133 as one sitting in a driveway. Stairs do not change the price.
Do I need to empty the fridge?
Yes, empty and defrosted. Do it a day or two ahead, not on the morning of the pickup.