How to get rid of appliances in Minneapolis

The short answer

Every figure includes the carry-out from any floor and the disposal. Minimum $75 per visit.

Refrigerant: handled, not surcharged

Anything with a sealed cooling system — refrigerators, freezers, window and portable air conditioners, heat pumps, dehumidifiers — contains refrigerant, and federal rules require it to be recovered by a certified technician before the unit is scrapped. You cannot legally put one in a trash cart, and a scrapper cannot legally take one out of your alley as-is.

That is handled on our end as part of processing the unit. It is the reason a refrigerator is priced differently from a dryer, and it is not a separate line item you get billed for afterwards. $164 for a standard fridge is the all-in number.

Worth knowing because it is the most common hidden fee in this category elsewhere. Some operators quote the haul and add an environmental or refrigerant charge on the invoice. There is no such charge here.

Retailer haul-away works, but only on delivery day

If a new appliance is being delivered, the cheapest possible route is the delivery crew taking the old one. Arrange it at checkout, not on the doorstep.

The conditions are strict:

• Delivery day only. They are not coming back for it next week.
• One for one. They take the unit they replaced. Not the second fridge in the basement, not the dead chest freezer beside it.
• Disconnected and drained in advance. A fridge still cold, or a washer with water in the hoses, gets refused.
• Ground level, usually. Many delivery crews will not carry from a basement.

That last one is where it falls apart in Minneapolis, because in this housing stock the laundry pair is almost always in the basement and the overflow fridge usually is too.

Prep, in the order that actually works

Thirty minutes of this makes the pickup fast and keeps your floors dry.

• Refrigerators and freezers. Empty them, unplug, and leave the door propped for a day to defrost. Put towels down — a chest freezer that has been running since 2004 holds a surprising amount of ice.
• Washers. Run a drain cycle, shut both supply valves, disconnect the hoses into a bucket. There is always more water in there than expected.
• Electric dryers and ranges. Unplug at the 240-volt outlet. Detach the vent duct on the dryer.
• Gas ranges and gas dryers. Shut the gas valve and have the line capped. If you are not confident doing that, have a plumber do it — we remove the appliance, not the gas line.
• Dishwashers. Shut off the supply, disconnect the drain line and the power, and unclip it from the countertop.
• Water heaters. Kill the power or gas, shut the cold supply, and drain the tank through the hose bib. A full 50-gallon tank is not moving anywhere.

The Minneapolis basement problem

Nearly every pre-war house in this city has a full basement, and nearly every one of them has the laundry down there. That is where the job actually gets difficult, and it is the reason most people stop trying to solve this for free.

The stairs are narrow, the run is steep, and in a 1920s bungalow through Nokomis, Standish, Bancroft or Field there is frequently a ninety-degree turn at the bottom against a block wall. The door at the top often opens inward onto a small landing with nowhere to stand.

Then there is the specific Minneapolis inventory. The second refrigerator in the basement or the unheated alley garage, twenty years old and cycling through brutal temperature swings until it finally quits in January. The chest freezer under the stairs, full and frozen shut. The water heater wedged in beside a boiler in a house that still runs cast-iron radiators.

None of that changes the price. A washer is $133 and a dryer is $128 from a basement laundry room, same as from a garage.

Worked totals with the addition shown

• Basement laundry pair, Longfellow. Washer $133 + dryer $128 = $261.
• Stacked pair in an Uptown walk-up. Washer/dryer combo stacked $189.
• Kitchen remodel in a Kingfield bungalow. Standard refrigerator $164 + electric range $134 + dishwasher $109 + countertop microwave $30 = $437.
• Basement clear, Nokomis. Chest freezer $146 + water heater $131 + mini fridge $115 = $392.
• End of summer, Northeast. Two large window AC units at $109 each = $218.
• Dead garage fridge plus the old range. Standard refrigerator $164 + gas range $137 = $301.

Plain addition of published rates. If there is a lot else going out at the same time, a half truck at $431 may price lower and you will be told.

What happens to it afterwards

Appliances are mostly steel, and steel has a market. Units go for material recovery: refrigerant recovered first where present, then the compressor, motor, steel shell and copper separated out.

Working units in decent condition get routed for reuse where there is a taker. A functioning fridge from a kitchen remodel does not need to be scrapped, and it will not be if somebody wants it.

Your price does not depend on which happens. $164 for a standard refrigerator is $164 whether it runs perfectly and was replaced for looks, or died in a Camden garage in the middle of February.

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