How to get rid of appliances in San Diego

The short answer

Those prices include getting the unit out of the house and disposing of it correctly - including the refrigerant recovery that a fridge or freezer legally requires. There is no environmental fee, no appliance surcharge, no stair charge. Minimum per visit is $75.

Step 1: if you are buying a replacement, ask about haul-away at the till

This is the cheapest route and it has a hard expiry date: it only exists on delivery day.

Retailer haul-away is a service bolted onto a delivery. The truck arrives with the new washer, takes the old one, and leaves. That means:

• One unit for one unit. They take the appliance being replaced, not the second fridge in the garage.
• It has to be disconnected and accessible when they arrive. Delivery drivers work to a route and do not have an hour for your hall closet.
• It is not retroactive. If you say no on delivery day, or if you put the old dryer in the garage intending to deal with it later, that offer is gone. You cannot phone the retailer in October about an appliance they delivered around in June.
• Access limits apply. Many delivery contracts are ground-floor or curbside for the removal, which rules out a lot of San Diego - the third-floor PB walk-ups and the canyon-lot houses in Del Cerro and Bay Park where the kitchen is a flight below the street.

Take it if it fits. Most of the appliances we collect in this county are the ones that missed this window by six months.

Step 2: if it still runs, check the utility program

California utilities have long run recycling programs for old, inefficient appliances - the point being to get a working-but-wasteful fridge off the grid. Worth checking what is currently offered for your address, because it can be free and sometimes comes with an incentive.

The catches are consistent: the unit usually has to be working and plugged in, there are size and age rules, there is a limit per household, and scheduling can take weeks. If your fridge is dead, or you need the garage cleared before a contractor starts, this is not your route.

Step 3: get it disconnected properly

Before any pickup - ours or anyone's:

• Gas ranges and gas dryers. The gas has to be shut off and the line capped by a licensed tech or plumber. Not a hauler's job and not a YouTube job. Once it is capped, a gas range is $137.
• Water heaters. Gas or power off, water supply off, tank drained. A full tank is brutally heavy and it will leak on the way out. $131 once it is ready.
• Dishwashers. Hard-plumbed and hard-wired under the counter - have it pulled before the visit. $109.
• Washers. Close the supply valves and disconnect the hoses. Expect a cup of water on the floor anyway.
• Fridges with an ice maker. Shut the water line valve first.
• Everything else. Unplug it. That part you can do.

What happens to a refrigerator after it leaves

Worth understanding, because it is the reason a fridge is priced differently from an equally heavy dresser.

Refrigerators, freezers, window and portable AC units, outdoor condensers and dehumidifiers all contain refrigerant in a sealed system. Federal rules require that refrigerant to be recovered by someone certified before the unit can be crushed or landfilled - venting it is illegal. Oils and some components are handled separately, and the metal is then recycled.

We route those units to processors who do that. You do not arrange anything, you do not pay anything extra, and there is no line on the invoice for it. It is covered by the item price: $164 for a standard fridge, $183 for a side-by-side, $146 for a chest freezer, $115 for an AC condenser.

It is also why you should not leave a fridge in the alley for a scrapper. They want the metal. The refrigerant is not their concern - and the address the unit came from is still traceable.

Getting it out of a San Diego house

The removal is the part that stops people, and this city has a particular set of obstacles.

• 1920s bungalow kitchens. In Normal Heights, South Park, Kensington and Golden Hill the kitchen doorway is narrow and there is a hard turn into the hall. Doors come off their hinges - the doorway's and sometimes the fridge's.
• Stacked laundry in a closet. Common in beach and Mission Valley units. It comes out as one unit at $189, through a doorway sized for a broom, then down three flights of exterior stairs.
• Canyon-lot kitchens. In Bay Park, Del Cerro or up the Mount Helix slopes the kitchen is below the street, so the fridge goes up an outdoor staircase.
• Garage appliances. The one easy case - the second fridge and the chest freezer are already at truck level.
• Water heaters in hall closets or exterior cabinets. Corroded at the base, tight quarters, and heavier than it looks.

All of it included. No stair charge, no long-carry charge, no charge for taking a door off.

Priced examples

La Mesa laundry replaced. Washer $133 + dryer $128 = $261. If it is a stacked unit instead, $189.

El Cajon kitchen remodel. Refrigerator $164 + gas range $137 + dishwasher $109 + microwave $30 = $440.

Mira Mesa garage reclaim. Second refrigerator $164 + chest freezer $146 + water heater $131 = $441.

Escondido whole-house appliance swap. Side-by-side refrigerator $183 + stacked washer/dryer $189 + electric range $134 + dishwasher $109 = $615. Against the three-quarter truck at $587, book the truck tier.

Every total is the literal sum of the published prices.

The second fridge, which is a local institution

San Diego does not build basements. So the overflow fridge, the drinks fridge and the chest freezer all live in the garage, and because the climate is mild they run for decades - inefficiently, and usually well past the point anyone opens them.

Standard garage pair: refrigerator $164 + chest freezer $146 = $310.

If either still works, check the utility program first. If they are dead, or the garage is becoming an ADU and the contractor starts Monday, book the pickup and get the space back.

Frequently asked questions