Who picks up old appliances in San Francisco?

Route one: the retailer delivering the new one

If you are replacing the appliance, the shop delivering the new one is the first place to ask. Haul-away of the old unit is a common option, sometimes included and sometimes a paid extra depending on the retailer and the promotion.

The catch in San Francisco is almost always access. Delivery crews work to a schedule and a set of rules, and the things that disqualify a haul-away here are extremely common in our housing stock:

• The old unit is not already disconnected. Water lines, gas bayonets and hardwired ranges are frequently outside what a delivery crew will touch.
• The old unit is not on the same floor as the delivery. If the new fridge goes into the kitchen on the main floor and the old one is down in the garage, that is often two jobs, not one.
• There is nowhere for the truck to stand. A one-way block in Bernal Heights with no legal spot inside the delivery window quietly turns a haul-away into a re-schedule.

Ask before the delivery date, not on it. If the answer is conditional, have a fallback booked.

Route two: the city's collection

San Francisco residents have access to a bulky-item collection through the city's contracted collector. It is the cheapest route when it fits, and the terms — what is eligible, how many items, how far ahead you need to book, and what must be at the curb rather than inside — are published on San Francisco's current bulky-item page. Check it there rather than taking anyone's word for it, including ours; the details are the city's to set and they change.

What is universally true of this route is the shape of it: it is curbside. The collection assumes the appliance is already out of the building and standing on the pavement at the scheduled time. In a flat above a garage, with a half-flight to the front door and another flight to the kitchen, getting the appliance to the curb is the difficult part. A washer weighs what a washer weighs whether the collection is free or not.

It is also scheduled rather than immediate. If you are closing a sale, handing back keys, or the new appliance arrives Thursday, a scheduled curbside slot may not be a plan you can actually build around.

Route three: scrappers and the informal market

Put a working appliance on a free-to-collector listing in San Francisco and someone will respond quickly — this city has an active informal market in metal and in serviceable white goods. It genuinely works for a clean, functioning unit that is already at ground level.

It works badly in three situations, all of them common here:

• The unit is upstairs. Most respondents will not carry a fridge down two flights, and the ones who say they will often arrive alone.
• The unit is dead. A non-working fridge is a liability to a collector, not an asset, and interest evaporates.
• You need a date. Informal collection is a stream of maybes. If you have a move-out inspection on Friday, a maybe is not a plan.

There is also a disposal question. If a collector takes a fridge and it later turns up abandoned on a pavement two blocks away, the problem has not left your neighborhood. Sealed-system appliances need proper handling; that is worth caring about.

Route four: a paid pickup

This is the route that assumes the appliance is where it actually is — in a garage, in a basement laundry, in a second-floor kitchen — rather than where it would be convenient for it to be.

What is in the price: two people, carry-out from any floor, disassembly if a door has to come off to clear a hallway, and full disposal including proper handling of sealed-system units. There is no stair charge, no walk-up fee and no refrigerant fee. The number you are shown before booking is the number on the invoice.

You do need to have the unit disconnected — water off, gas capped by whoever is qualified to cap it, power unplugged. We will move it and take it; we are not the ones to break a gas union.

San Francisco appliance prices

Published, flat, disposal included:

• Refrigerator (Standard): $164
• Refrigerator (Side-by-Side / French Door): $183
• Refrigerator — Built-in / Sub-Zero: $238
• Mini Fridge: $115
• Freezer (Chest): $146  |  Freezer (Upright): $149
• Washer: $133  |  Dryer: $128  |  Washer/Dryer Combo (Stacked): $189
• Dishwasher: $109
• Stove / Oven / Range (Electric): $134  |  (Gas): $137
• Water Heater (Tank): $131  |  (Tankless): $90
• Furnace: $131
• Microwave (Countertop): $30  |  (Built-In): $54
• Wine Cooler (Small / Countertop): $111  |  (Large / Floor): $156

The $95 minimum applies to the visit. A countertop microwave at $30 on its own prices as a $95 call, so send it out with something else.

Typical San Francisco combinations:

• Washer and dryer from a garage laundry: $133 + $128 = $261.
• Kitchen swap — standard fridge, electric range and dishwasher: $164 + $134 + $109 = $407.
• Old fridge from the flat plus the mini fridge in the in-law unit: $164 + $115 = $279.
• Tank water heater and a furnace during a garage conversion: $131 + $131 = $262.

The San Francisco access problems worth flagging at booking

Appliances are heavy and rigid, which means the building decides the plan more than the appliance does. Three things are worth telling us in advance:

• Where it sits relative to the street. Garage-level laundries are common here and are usually the easy case. A second-floor kitchen above a garage with a landing turn is the hard case, and it is fine — we just want to send the right crew.
• What the block does. One-way, steep, and no room to reverse is the standard San Francisco street. Tell us the cross street and where a truck can realistically stand.
• Street cleaning and permit zones. These do not change your price, but they change what time we can be outside your door without creating a problem for your neighbors.

Which route to pick

Buying a replacement and everything is on one floor and already disconnected — ask the retailer first. Appliance already at the curb and your timing is flexible — check the city's bulky-item page. Working unit, ground floor, no deadline — the informal market will clear it.

Appliance upstairs, or dead, or you have a date you cannot move — book a pickup. That is the case the published price was built for.

Frequently asked questions