Who Picks Up Old Appliances in Los Angeles?

The retailer delivering your new one

This is the cheapest path and the most commonly missed. Most appliance retailers will haul away the old unit when they deliver the new one, either included or for a modest fee, and it is arranged at the point of sale — not afterward. If you did not tick the box at checkout, the driver will usually not do it as a favor.

The LA catch is access. Delivery crews are typically contracted for a defined scope, and a third-floor walk-up in a Koreatown courtyard building or a hillside house with thirty steps down from the street is frequently outside it. If the old refrigerator is not at ground level with a clear path, confirm in advance rather than discovering it when the truck arrives.

Utility recycling programs

Utilities in California have long run appliance recycling programs aimed at getting old, inefficient refrigerators and freezers out of service — the ones still humming in a garage in Reseda keeping six drinks cold. The structure is usually that the utility arranges collection of a working unit and sometimes pays a small incentive.

Eligibility, incentives and whether a program is currently running all change, and Los Angeles is served by more than one utility depending on which city you are in. Check your own utility's current appliance recycling page rather than trusting a figure from an article. Where these programs apply they are an excellent deal, and the usual requirement is that the unit still works and is plugged in.

Scrap metal collectors

Anyone who has lived in Los Angeles has seen a pickup truck working a block collecting metal. For a washer, a dryer or a range sitting in a driveway or an alley, an informal collector will often take it for free because the metal has value.

Two limits. They will generally not come inside or carry anything down stairs, so this only works for items already at ground level and already out. And refrigerators and freezers are a different matter — sealed refrigerant systems require certified recovery before the metal can be processed, and an informal collector is not the right route for them.

Your city's bulky-item pickup

The City of Los Angeles runs bulky-item collection, and so do Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and the rest of the independent cities in the county. Appliances are commonly accepted, sometimes with conditions — refrigerant-containing units often have separate handling requirements.

You request a date, and the appliance must be at the curb or the alley by a set hour on that date. That is straightforward on a flat Valley street and a real problem on a Venice walk street, a canyon road with no shoulder, or a hillside lot where the house sits well below the pavement. Check your own city's current bulky-item page for what they take and how.

A flat-price hauler, with numbers

When the appliance is upstairs, when there is no replacement being delivered, or when you need it gone on a specific day, this is the option that removes every constraint at once.

A standard refrigerator is $164. A side-by-side or French door is $183. A built-in or Sub-Zero is $238. A washer is $133 and a dryer is $128, or $189 for a stacked combo unit. An electric range is $134 and a gas range is $137. A dishwasher is $109. A chest freezer is $146 and an upright freezer is $149. A mini fridge is $115. A tank water heater is $131, a tankless is $90. A microwave is $30 countertop or $54 built-in.

A full kitchen swap — refrigerator, electric range and dishwasher — is $164 + $134 + $109 = $407. A laundry pair is $133 + $128 = $261. The visit minimum is $75, and disposal and refrigerant handling are included with no separate fee.

Why refrigerators are their own category

Refrigerators, freezers, wine coolers, mini fridges, ice makers and portable or window air conditioners contain refrigerant in a sealed system. That refrigerant has to be recovered by someone certified to do it before the unit is scrapped, and that is a legal requirement rather than a preference.

What it means for you is that a refrigerator cannot ride to the curb as ordinary bulky waste in every city, and should not go to an informal metal collector. It also means you should be suspicious of any hauler who does not mention it. JunkRabbit includes the handling in the published price — there is no refrigerant fee — and a wine cooler is $111 small or $156 floor-standing, an ice maker is $115, a portable AC unit is $85 and a window AC is $87 small or $109 large.

Prep that makes the pickup go right

Empty and defrost a refrigerator or freezer the night before — a freezer that is still frozen drips down the stairwell of a 1920s building and onto somebody's landing. Disconnect the water line to an ice maker and to a dishwasher, and shut the valve. Drain the hoses on a washer, because a washer that has not been drained holds several gallons that will find your hallway floor.

Gas appliances need the gas shut off and the line disconnected by someone qualified before removal. That is a plumber's job, not a hauler's, and it wants to be done before the appointment rather than during it.

Choosing quickly

Buying a replacement: let the retailer take it, and confirm they will come up your stairs. Old unit still runs and lives in the garage: check your utility's current program first. Already at the curb, no refrigerant, no hurry: a scrap collector or your city's bulky pickup. Upstairs, down a hillside, on a deadline, or refrigerant-containing: book the flat price and be done in one appointment.

Frequently asked questions