Who actually picks up old appliances in Salt Lake City

The short answer

There are five realistic routes for an old appliance in the Salt Lake valley, and only two of them are reliable on a date you choose.

• The retailer delivering the new one. Works, but only on the delivery day, only for the same appliance type, and often only if it is already disconnected.
• A scrap metal picker. Free, but they want clean metal, they will not come up your basement stairs, and they may not come at all.
• Your municipal bulk program. Varies by city across the valley. Check your own city's bulky waste page — the rules for appliances are usually different from the rules for furniture.
• A dedicated recycler or the transfer station. You have to get it there yourself, and that is the whole problem.
• Booking a removal. Fixed price, chosen date, carried out from any floor. A refrigerator is $164, a washer is $133, a dryer is $128.

Why the retailer route fails so often here

Haul-away on delivery is a genuinely good deal when it works. It falls over for predictable reasons, and in Salt Lake the reasons are usually structural. The old washer is in the basement, the delivery crew is not permitted to carry an appliance up a flight of stairs, so it stays where it is and you are told to leave it at the curb next time. The old fridge is the second one in the garage and you did not buy a replacement for it, so nothing is being delivered. Or the range is gas and nobody on the truck is willing to touch the line.

It is also a one-shot window. If the delivery slips, or you are not home, or the crew arrives and the appliance is still plumbed in, the haul-away is gone and you now own an appliance in your hallway.

Scrappers: free, but on their terms

Put a working-condition washer at the end of a driveway in Rose Park, Glendale or South Salt Lake and there is a decent chance it goes overnight. That is a real option and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The limits matter though:

• They want metal. A fridge full of refrigerant and foam is much less attractive than a bare steel washer drum.
• They will not come inside. Basement laundry stays in the basement.
• There is no date. It might be tonight, it might be two weeks, and meanwhile it is sitting on your park strip through an inversion week.
• Nothing guarantees proper handling of the refrigerant or the rest of the carcass, and that part is legally regulated.

What appliances cost to have removed

A basement laundry pair is $133 + $128 = $261. A kitchen swap with the fridge and dishwasher going is $164 + $109 = $273. A garage second fridge on its own is $164, comfortably over the $75 minimum, so it is a job in its own right.

The Salt Lake basement problem

Nearly every older home in this valley has a full basement, and in the post-war ramblers across Rose Park, Glendale, Murray, Kearns and Taylorsville the laundry is down there by default. So is the water heater and the furnace, and so is the extra freezer that holds the year's meat.

That is why so many appliance jobs here are really carry jobs. A chest freezer that has been sitting on a basement floor since 1998 has to come up a staircase that turns, through a door frame that has been painted eleven times. We do not charge extra for that. The fridge is $164 whether it is in a Daybreak kitchen on the main floor or at the bottom of a Sugar House basement stair.

Refrigerant is not your problem

Fridges, freezers, window AC units, portable AC units and the outdoor condenser off a heat pump all contain refrigerant, and that has to be recovered by someone certified to do it before the shell can be scrapped. It is regulated. It is also completely routine.

We handle it as part of the job. There is no refrigerant fee, no environmental surcharge, no line item of any kind on top of the published price. A refrigerator is $164, full stop. If a company quotes you an appliance price and then adds a disposal or freon charge afterwards, that is a different pricing model, not a different legal requirement.

Getting ready for the pickup

A few minutes of prep makes the visit quick:

• Empty and defrost a fridge or freezer a day ahead. A freezer that thaws in the back of a truck makes a mess of everyone's day.
• Shut off and disconnect water to the washer and dishwasher if you can. If you cannot, say so when you book.
• Gas ranges and gas water heaters should be disconnected by someone competent to do it before we arrive. Electric is simpler.
• Clear a path. In winter, that means shovelling from the basement door or the side entrance to where the truck can stand.
• Remove the fridge doors only if it will sit outside before pickup and there are children around. Otherwise leave them on.

Frequently asked questions