How to get rid of appliances in Phoenix, step by step

The short answer

Four steps, in this order: disconnect it safely, decide whether it is going out of the house or just off the driveway, check your own city's rules if you plan to use municipal collection, and book the slot. Skipping step one is how people end up with a wet laundry room; skipping step three is how people end up with a warning notice from an HOA.

If you want the whole thing handled: a washer is $133, a dryer is $128, a standard refrigerator is $164, an electric range is $134 and a dishwasher is $109, carried out and disposal included.

Step 1: disconnect it properly

Not glamorous, but it is the step that causes problems when it is rushed.

• Refrigerators and freezers. Unplug, and if there is an ice maker or water dispenser, shut the supply valve and disconnect the line before moving. Empty it. In a Phoenix summer, a fridge that sits unplugged and full for two days in a garage is a genuinely unpleasant thing to open.
• Washers. Shut both supply valves, disconnect the hoses into a bucket, and unclip the drain hose. There is always more water in a washer than you expect.
• Dryers. Unplug, or for a gas dryer shut the gas valve and have the line disconnected properly.
• Gas ranges. Shut the valve and disconnect the flex line. If you are not confident, that one is worth a professional.
• Water heaters. Power or gas off, water supply off, and drain it before anyone tries to move it. A full tank is not a two-person lift.

Step 2: decide where it actually has to travel

This is the question that determines everything else. If the appliance is already outside — on the driveway, in the RV-gate side yard, in the garage — you have more options, including municipal collection and scrap collectors. If it is still in the kitchen, the laundry room or an upstairs laundry closet, you need someone to carry it, and that narrows the field to a hauler or a very generous friend with a dolly.

In the Valley the second case is more common than people expect, because so many newer homes in Gilbert, Chandler, Peoria and Queen Creek put the laundry upstairs. A stacked washer/dryer combo at $189 coming down a staircase is not a solo job, and there is no stair charge on it.

Step 3: if you are using city collection, read your own city's page

There is no single Valley rule. Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Tempe, Surprise, Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye and Queen Creek each run their own bulk program with their own schedule, and appliances are handled differently from ordinary furniture in a lot of them because of sealed refrigeration units. Some addresses at the metro's edge are unincorporated and are not on a city program at all.

Check your city's current bulky-item page for the cycle and the appliance rules. Then check your HOA's CC&Rs, which in most master-planned Valley communities are stricter about what sits visible from the street than the city is.

Also worth a search: some utilities run recycling incentives for older working refrigerators. Whether yours does right now is worth two minutes on their site.

Step 4: book, and add the rest while you are at it

The visit minimum is $75, so a single small item books at $75 regardless. That makes it worth walking the garage before you book. The second refrigerator, the dead chest freezer, the window AC units from three summers ago and the microwave nobody replaced can all go on the same visit.

A full kitchen swap — standard refrigerator at $164, electric range at $134 and dishwasher at $109 — is $164 + $134 + $109 = $407. That is under the half-truck rate of $431, so it prices as items.

Phoenix appliances die on a Phoenix schedule

Two patterns are specific to here. First, the garage appliance. Running a refrigerator, freezer or wine cooler in an uninsulated garage through a Valley summer shortens its life, and August is when they give up — which is also the least convenient month to be dealing with it.

Second, cooling equipment. Window units, portable ACs and outdoor condensers cycle out of Valley homes constantly. A small window unit under 8,000 BTU is $87, a large one is $109, a portable AC is $85, and an outdoor AC condenser or heat pump is $115. When an HVAC contractor replaces a system, the old outdoor unit is frequently left on the pad in the side yard, and that is a listed item we take.

What not to do

Do not leave a refrigerator with its door attached sitting accessible for days — it is a genuine hazard with children around and it is the one appliance rule almost every program takes seriously. Do not push an appliance out to the curb in a community whose CC&Rs prohibit it and hope for the best; that is a notice, sometimes a fine, and the appliance is still there. Do not leave an appliance on an unincorporated lot or a vacant parcel — illegal dumping is enforced across Maricopa County and it is expensive.

And do not try to walk a full water heater or a loaded chest freezer down a staircase by yourself in August. That is the injury.

How our part works

Send the list or a photo. We quote from the published catalog before you book, and that number covers the crew, the pull-out, the carry, the load and the disposal. No refrigerant fee, no appliance surcharge, no stair charge, no charge for a long carry from an upstairs laundry or a casita at the back of a walled lot.

Same prices across the metro, from Buckeye to Apache Junction. Tell us if the community is guard-gated and we arrange access in advance.

Frequently asked questions