How to get rid of appliances in San Antonio

The short answer

Appliances are heavy, awkward, and several of them are regulated. That combination is why they sit in San Antonio garages for years.

Flat prices: refrigerator $164, side-by-side or French door $183, washer $133, dryer $128, stacked washer/dryer combo $189, dishwasher $109, electric range $134, gas range $137, tank water heater $131, countertop microwave $30.

Those prices include the carry-out, the truck, the disposal, and the proper handling of refrigerant-bearing units. None of that is a surcharge, because there are no surcharges.

Refrigerant is a handling job, not a fee

Refrigerators, freezers, window AC units, portable AC units and outdoor condensers all contain refrigerant, and federal rules require that it be recovered by a certified technician before the unit is destroyed rather than vented to the atmosphere. Same goes for the oil in a compressor.

Practically, that means a fridge cannot just go in a dumpster or on a scrap pile, and it is why plenty of scrap haulers will happily take your washer and refuse your refrigerator at the same doorstep.

On a flat-price pickup, that routing is handled as part of the job. The price on the page is the price. There is no environmental fee, no refrigerant fee, and nothing added at the door.

Why retailer haul-away only works on delivery day

Nearly every appliance retailer in the metro will take the old unit away when they deliver the new one, usually for a small fee added at the point of sale. That is genuinely the cheapest route, and you should take it.

The catch is that it is a delivery-day service, not a standalone one. Miss it and it is gone. The three ways people miss it in San Antonio:

• The old fridge is still running, so it gets moved to the garage as a beer fridge. Three summers later the garage has cooked it to death and there is no delivery crew coming.
• Delivery day arrives and the old unit is not disconnected, so the crew will not touch it.
• You bought the new one yourself and hauled it home in a borrowed truck.

Once the delivery window closes, you are on the other routes.

Prep, so the pickup takes ten minutes

None of this changes the price. It just makes the day short.

• Refrigerators and freezers: empty them, unplug at least a day ahead, prop the door, and put a towel down. A chest freezer in a San Antonio garage defrosts into a genuine puddle.
• Washers: shut the supply valves and drain the hoses. Water left in the drum runs out across the garage slab on the way to the truck.
• Dryers: unplug. If it is gas, the gas line should be shut off and capped by a qualified plumber before the day.
• Dishwashers: disconnect the supply, drain and electrical before pickup.
• Ranges: electric ranges unplug. Gas ranges need the line shut off and capped properly.
• Water heaters: power or gas off, tank drained. A full tank is immovable.

The full appliance price list

Minimum per visit is $75, so a lone microwave at $30 still prices at the minimum. Batch it.

The San Antonio appliance graveyard

Three local patterns produce most of these calls.

Garage laundry. A lot of the metro's ranch housing puts the washer and dryer in the garage rather than in a utility room. Replacing them leaves the old pair sitting three feet from the new pair, and there they stay.

Hard water. Water across this region is hard, and tank water heaters scale up and fail earlier than the label says. The dead one gets dragged to the side of the garage and the new one goes in beside it.

Freeze damage. The hard freezes that hit Texas leave behind burst lines, cracked tanks and dead outdoor condensers, all at once, right when everybody is calling a plumber. The replacement gets installed fast and the old unit gets left.

When to price by the load instead

If more than two appliances are going, check the volume ladder.

Kitchen suite: refrigerator $164 + electric range $134 + dishwasher $109 = $407, against a half truck at $431. Items win.

Add the microwave: $407 + $30 = $437, which is now past the $431 half truck, so volume wins.

Laundry pair: washer $133 + dryer $128 = $261, against a quarter truck at $241. Volume wins. If yours is a stacked unit, it is one item at $189 and item pricing wins outright.

Kitchen and laundry together: refrigerator $164 + washer $133 + dryer $128 = $425, just under the $431 half truck.

The ladder: 1/4 $241, 3/8 $338, 1/2 $431, 5/8 $513, 3/4 $587, 7/8 $661, full $732.

What about scrap value

Ferrous scrap is worth something, which is why independent haulers will sometimes take a washer, a dryer or a water heater for free if you drag it to the curb yourself.

Read that carefully. They are not coming into the house, they are not going into the garage, and they will not take refrigerant-bearing units. If you can get the washer to the curb alone, that route is real and it is free. If the unit is in a utility closet down a hallway, or it is a fridge, it is not.

It is also worth checking whatever efficiency or recycling programs your electric utility currently runs, since terms change from year to year. Look at the current offer rather than assuming last year's applies.

Frequently asked questions