Minneapolis
Refrigerator Removal in
Minneapolis
The second fridge humming in the garage, the chest freezer that's been in the basement since the kids were small, the side-by-side you just replaced — the heaviest, most awkward machine in a Minneapolis house, carried up the basement stairs or out of the garage and hauled the same day. Because a fridge is a sealed refrigerant system, ours get certified, EPA-compliant freon recovery before the steel and copper are recycled — Hennepin County charges $30 a unit for that and won't take one without it, and on our jobs it's already handled. Send a photo, get the exact flat price — a full-size refrigerator is $164, a chest freezer $146 — and because MN sales tax is already in the number, that's the whole price. No day-of upcharge, no separate freon bill, no tax line at the end.
How refrigerator removal works in Minneapolis
It's the same three steps whether the unit is in a Fulton bungalow basement, a Nokomis garage, or an Edina kitchen — and the heavy, stair-bound, refrigerant part is entirely ours:
- Send a photo. Snap the fridge in the kitchen, the beer fridge in the garage, or the chest freezer down in the basement. Tell us where it lives — a full basement down steep stairs, a detached alley garage, a tight galley kitchen — so we can confirm the flat price and the carry.
- Get the exact flat price. A full-size refrigerator is $164, a chest freezer $146, a mini fridge $115. That number already covers the two-person carry up the basement stairs, the truck, the disposal, the certified freon recovery, and MN sales tax. Minnesota taxes junk removal as a service, so we build the ~9.025% in — nothing is added when we're done.
- We carry it out and haul it. A vetted, insured crew lifts it from where it sits — no dragging it to the curb, no waiting on a city appointment, no separate trip to pay for the freon — loads it, recovers and documents the refrigerant, and sends the metal to a scrapper. Same-day when a slot's open.
What we take
- Full-size refrigerators — top-freezer, bottom-freezer, side-by-side, and French-door; the old kitchen unit or the garage backup.
- Large & built-in refrigerators — counter-depth, cabinet-panel, and oversized units out of a remodel.
- Chest & upright freezers — the deep freezer full of last fall's venison finally coming out of the basement.
- Mini fridges — dorm-size and beverage units, the classic late-August Dinkytown move-out leftover.
- Wine coolers & beverage centers — small and large, built-in or freestanding; refrigerant recovered like any other sealed unit.
Fridges are part of our broader appliance removal service — if the laundry pair is going too, see washer & dryer removal.
How much does refrigerator removal cost in Minneapolis?
Flat rates, photo-quoted before anyone shows up. Every price already includes the carry-out, the drive, the disposal, the certified refrigerant recovery, and MN sales tax — the number you see is the number you pay.
| Refrigerator / freezer | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator (full-size) | $164 |
| Refrigerator (large / built-in) | $183 |
| Mini fridge | $115 |
| Chest freezer | $146 |
| Upright freezer | $149 |
| Wine cooler (small) | $111 |
| Wine cooler (large) | $156 |
$75 minimum (a single mini fridge or small wine cooler is already over it; a full-size fridge is well over it). Multiple units just add up on the photo quote. Freon recovery and metal recycling included, MN sales tax already in the flat price.
For reference, traditional full-service haul-off companies typically quote $150–$600+ for an appliance depending on the item and access, sometimes with the freon-recovery fee billed on top, and usually after an in-person or phone estimate. We quote it flat from a photo, up front, freon and tax included.
4 ways to get rid of an old refrigerator in Minneapolis
| Option | Cost | Speed | Who carries it | Freon handled? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Large Item Collection | 1 free/yr, then $30/item | Next scheduled pickup, 2/week cap | You — up the stairs, to the curb by 6am | No — you must have it recovered first |
| Haul it to a Hennepin County drop-off | $30 freon-recovery fee per fridge/freezer | Your Saturday (Tue–Sat 9–5) | You — load, drive, unload | Yes, but you pay + do the hauling |
| Retailer haul-away with a new fridge | Often $25–$50, delivery only | Only on delivery day | Delivery crew | Usually, on the swap only |
| Traditional full-service junk company | $150–$600+ | Scheduled, often 1–3 days | Their crew | Sometimes (may be extra) |
| JunkRabbit | Fridge $164 · freezer from $146, flat · tax in | Same-day when open | Our insured crew, up from the basement | Yes — recovered & included |
The punchline: every free or cheap path makes you pay to recover the freon and then carry 250 pounds up the basement stairs. We're the one that lifts it out of the basement or garage and handles the refrigerant, at a flat price with tax already in it.
Does the City of Minneapolis pick up refrigerators?
Only through the curbside program, and a fridge is exactly where it breaks down. Minneapolis Large Item Collection gives municipal garbage customers one free bulk pickup a year, then $30 per item, taking up to two large items a week if it's at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on your collection day (schedule at 612-673-2917). The dealbreaker for refrigerators and freezers is refrigerant: a sealed unit must have its freon professionally recovered before it can be collected or dropped off, which is a separate service you arrange and pay for first — the city crew won't take a fridge that hasn't been certified.
Your other option is hauling it yourself to a Hennepin County drop-off — the Brooklyn Park Recycling & Transfer Station (8100 Jefferson Hwy) or South Hennepin (1400 W 96th St, Bloomington), open roughly Tuesday–Saturday 9–5 — where a fridge or freezer carries a $30 freon-recovery fee. Either way you're getting a 250-pound machine up the basement stairs and into a truck, and paying for the recovery yourself. We do all of it — the recovery, the carry, the drive, the recycling — for one flat quote with MN tax already in it.
What happens to your refrigerator after pickup
A refrigerator is one of the most recyclable things we haul once the refrigerant is out of it. A recent, working unit is offered for reuse where we can. Otherwise the freon is recovered and documented to EPA standards, and the appliance goes to a scrap processor where the steel, copper, and aluminum are recycled instead of buried. Hennepin County's tipping fee is moderate — around $55 a ton at the Brooklyn Park transfer station, with much of the metro's residual waste burned for energy at the downtown HERC plant rather than landfilled — so pulling the freon properly and diverting the metal doesn't inflate your flat price the way it would in Seattle or the Bay. You get the basement corner or the garage bay back; the old machine gets melted down, not left in the ground.
Basements, garages & the Minneapolis fridge carry
Unlike a Sun Belt city where the spare fridge sits in a slab-level garage a few feet from the driveway, a Minneapolis fridge is usually a basement or a stair job. The garage beer fridge is out an alley bay across an icy apron; the chest freezer lives in the full basement of a Fulton or Nokomis bungalow, reached by narrow, steep stairs with a turn at the bottom; the kitchen unit in an Uptown walk-up has to come down three flights. The weight plus the stairs is the whole difficulty, and it's the part we own — we bring the appliance dolly, the straps, and the second set of hands. In the master-planned HOAs of Plymouth, Maple Grove and Eden Prairie we load straight from the garage rather than staging the old unit at a restricted curb; in a downtown, North Loop, or Galleria tower we file the building's Certificate of Insurance and take it out the freight elevator and dock. And we haul all winter — a snow-packed alley in January is the same flat price, no winter surcharge.
When you need refrigerator removal
- Kitchen upgrade — the new French-door fridge is coming and the old one has to disappear the same week.
- Killing the second fridge — the garage beer fridge running up the electric bill, finally unplugged and gone.
- Clearing the deep freezer — a chest or upright freezer out of the basement after decades of use.
- Selling or renovating — emptying a house before a TISH evaluation and listing, or a full kitchen gut.
- Estate & downsizing — an old fridge and a basement freezer cleared with the rest of a family home.
- Move-out & turnover — a mini fridge left behind after a Dinkytown lease-end, or a dead fridge in a duplex between tenants.
Why Minneapolis chooses JunkRabbit for fridges
- Flat photo-quoted price — the exact number before we roll, not an on-site guess.
- We do the heavy carry — up from the basement or out of the garage; you never touch it or drag it to the curb.
- Freon done right — certified, EPA-compliant recovery on every fridge, freezer, and wine cooler, included in the price.
- MN tax included — the ~9.025% is baked in; the quote is the all-in total, with no separate recovery fee.
- Insured crews, all winter — COI on file for towers, careful on floors and stairs, no winter surcharge.
What Minneapolis customers say
"Beer fridge had been running in the garage for fifteen years and I finally wanted it gone. They rolled it out across the icy apron, took the old chest freezer from the basement too, handled the freon, one flat price from a photo with the tax already in it."
"New French-door fridge coming, old side-by-side had to go the same day. Two guys, dolly, out of the kitchen and gone in ten minutes. No wall scuffs, exact quote, no surprise freon charge."
"Cleared the chest freezer out of the bungalow basement before we listed — carried up those tight stairs, no stair fee. They recovered the freon and gave me the paperwork. Booked and done in a couple days."
Frequently asked questions
How much does refrigerator removal cost in Minneapolis?
Flat and photo-quoted: full-size fridge $164, large/built-in $183, mini fridge $115, chest freezer $146, upright freezer $149, wine cooler $111–$156. $75 minimum, disposal and certified freon recovery included, and MN sales tax (~9.025%) already in the number.
Do you recover the freon before recycling it?
Yes — certified, EPA-compliant refrigerant recovery on every fridge, freezer, and wine cooler before the metal is scrapped. Hennepin charges $30 per unit for recovery at its drop-offs; on our jobs it's handled and already in the flat price.
Do I have to empty or unplug it first?
Empty the food and unplug it if you can — a dry, defrosted unit is cleaner to carry. It doesn't need to be pulled from the wall or disconnected from an ice-maker water line; the crew handles that and carries it out.
Does the City of Minneapolis pick up refrigerators?
Only curbside Large Item Collection (one free/yr, then $30/item, two items/week, at the curb by 6 a.m., 612-673-2917), and only after you've paid separately to have the freon recovered. So you'd pay for recovery and still carry it up the stairs yourself. We do all of it, same-day.
Can you take the kitchen fridge and the basement freezer at once?
Yes — the kitchen fridge, the garage beer fridge, and the old chest freezer all in one flat-priced trip. Extra units just add up on the photo quote.
How is this different from a traditional junk company?
Traditional companies typically quote $150–$600+ after an on-site or phone estimate, sometimes with freon billed on top. We give you the exact flat price from a photo, carry it up from the basement, recover the freon, and bake MN sales tax in — the quote is the total.
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