How to get rid of appliances in Philadelphia

The short answer

A washer and dryer pair is $133 + $128 = $261. A stacked unit is a single item at $189. A whole kitchen — fridge, gas range, dishwasher and the countertop microwave — is $164 + $137 + $109 + $30 = $440.

The minimum is $75 per visit, so a microwave on its own hits the floor. There is no stair charge, no basement charge and no refrigerant charge.

Refrigerant appliances: what actually has to happen

Refrigerators, freezers, window and portable air conditioners and heat pumps contain refrigerant. Federal environmental rules require that refrigerant be recovered by a certified technician before the unit is destroyed or scrapped — it cannot legally be vented to the atmosphere, and the appliance cannot simply be crushed with the charge still in it.

This is the single most common thing people do not know about appliance disposal, and it is why a fridge is not the same problem as a bookcase.

The practical version for you: it is handled, it is part of the published price, and there is no separate environmental fee, recovery fee or refrigerant surcharge on your invoice. A standard refrigerator is $164 and that is the whole number. A side-by-side or French door unit is $183. A chest freezer is $146 and an upright is $149. A small window AC is $87, a large one is $109, a portable floor unit is $85.

What it does mean is that you should be skeptical of the man with a pickup truck offering to take your fridge for twenty dollars cash. There is no version of that where the refrigerant is being recovered properly.

Why retailer haul-away only works on delivery day

Most appliance retailers will take your old unit away — but only as part of a delivery, only on the day, and only under conditions worth reading before you count on it.

• It is tied to the new purchase. If you are not buying a replacement, or the new one arrived last month, the offer does not exist any more. There is no standalone pickup service.
• They take from the delivery point. The crew swaps the old for the new where the new one goes. If the old fridge is in the basement and the new one is going in the kitchen, that is two different places and they will decline the first.
• Disconnection is usually not included. Gas, water and drain connections are commonly excluded from a delivery crew's scope. If it is still plumbed in when they arrive, it stays.
• Access rules apply. A delivery team on a schedule is not carrying a washer up a South Philly hatchway or down three flights in Cedar Park. Many will decline stairs beyond a flight.
• It is one-for-one. One old fridge for one new fridge. The second fridge in the basement, the old freezer and the dead window AC are not part of the deal.

So: if you are buying new and the old one is standing right where the new one goes, take the haul-away. It is free and it is the right answer. In every other situation it quietly falls apart, and the leftovers are exactly what people call us about.

The Philadelphia basement, again

In most of this city the laundry and the water heater are in the basement, and the basement in a South Philly, Point Breeze, Pennsport or Grays Ferry row home is reached by a steep straight-run staircase with low headroom, or in the older stock by an outside hatchway with stone steps and a concrete lip at the top.

That is where the actual work is. A washer at $133 is not $133 because of what it weighs on a flat floor; it is $133 because two people have to bring it up out of there without putting a heel through the plaster. A tank water heater at $131 is the same story, and the old ones still hold residual water however carefully you drained them.

A basement laundry and water heater replacement together is $133 + $131 = $264, and there is no access charge on top of it.

Gas ranges, dishwashers and who disconnects what

Gas cooking is the default across Philadelphia's older housing stock. A gas range is $137 and an electric one is $134 — but the disconnection is not a junk removal job.

• Gas. The line must be shut off and capped by a qualified person before the visit. Have it done in advance.
• Water and drain. A dishwasher at $109 needs to be uncoupled and, ideally, pulled out from under the worktop before the crew arrives.
• Electrical. Hard-wired units — some ranges, some water heaters — need an electrician.
• Everything else. Unplug it, coil the cord, and empty and defrost anything that was cold.

None of that changes the price. It changes whether the visit takes twenty minutes or an hour, and whether it happens at all.

The other routes, honestly assessed

• Utility recycling programs. There are periodic appliance recycling and rebate schemes in the region and they are worth a look. Eligibility, accepted items and availability all change year to year, so check the current program details. They generally want the unit at an accessible ground-floor location, which brings you back to the staircase.
• Scrap collectors. A fridge on a Kensington or Frankford pavement often disappears fast. Good for the metal; you have no record of where the refrigerant went, and no accountability if the unit is abandoned three blocks away.
• Curbside set-out. Check your collection day guidance on the city's bulk-pickup page — refrigerant appliances are commonly handled differently from ordinary bulk. An uncollected fridge blocks a narrow Philadelphia pavement for days and is a hazard if the door is still on.
• Flat-price removal. $164, from wherever it currently stands, handled properly, on a date you choose.

Three Philadelphia jobs, with the arithmetic

Basement laundry swap in Grays Ferry. Washer $133 + dryer $128 = $261, both carried up the basement stairs.

Kitchen refit in Fairmount. Refrigerator $164 + gas range $137 + dishwasher $109 + microwave $30 = $440.

End of a long tenancy in Mayfair. Standard fridge $164 + chest freezer from the basement $146 + large window AC $109 = $419.

If cabinets and worktops are going too, pricing by volume can be simpler — a half truck is $431, three quarters is $587, a full one is $732. Laminate worktop sections are $56 each and stone sections are $111.

Frequently asked questions