How to get rid of old appliances in Raleigh

The short answer

Old appliances are heavy, they contain materials that have to be handled separately, and across the Triangle they are the category most likely to fall outside whatever bulky collection your town runs. Check your own municipality's current page before you plan around it — Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Garner, Wake Forest and Holly Springs all set their own terms.

If you want a date rather than a maybe, the flat prices are: refrigerator $164, washer $133, dryer $128, dishwasher $109, electric range $134, gas range $137, water heater with a tank $131. Disposal is included and there is no refrigerant fee. The per-visit minimum is $75.

The full appliance list

The Raleigh garage fridge

Wake County's newer subdivisions in Cary, Apex, Holly Springs and Morrisville were built with two- and three-car garages, and a very large number of those garages contain a second refrigerator that was the kitchen fridge two houses ago. It runs all summer in an uncooled space, far warmer than the kitchen it was designed for, which is why so many of them fail in August.

When it goes, it is $164 for a standard unit or $183 for a side-by-side or French-door model. If the kitchen one is being replaced at the same time, both go on one visit: $164 + $183 = $347. Empty it and prop the door before we arrive, because a fridge that has been off in a humid garage for two weeks is a different problem by the time anyone opens it.

Water heaters and the crawlspace

Raleigh houses sit on crawlspaces rather than basements, and in the older stock inside the Beltline the water heater is frequently down there, in a hall closet, or in an attached garage — never anywhere convenient. A tank heater is $131 and that includes getting it out of the crawlspace, which is real work: it is a confined space, it is usually wet under there after a Piedmont storm week, and a drained tank is still awkward and heavy.

Drain it before the day if you can. A tankless unit is $90 and comes off the wall far more easily. Either way, disconnection is part of the job and there is no extra charge for the location.

Laundry upstairs

The other Wake County layout quirk: second-floor laundry rooms in newer two-story houses. A washer at $133 and a dryer at $128 coming down a switchback staircase is a two-person job with a stair dolly, and the price is the same as if they were in a ground-floor mudroom. No stair charge, no walk-up fee.

Stacked units are one line at $189. If the pair is being replaced, the old set and the packaging from the new one usually go together — Moving Box is $31 each, or a contractor bag at $41 if the delivery crew left it loose.

Heat pumps, condensers and what runs the Piedmont

Almost everything in this metro is heated and cooled by a heat pump, because the winters are mild enough for it to make sense and the summers demand serious cooling. That means the thing sitting on a pad at the side of your house is an outdoor unit, and it is $115 to take away. A furnace, where there is one, is $131.

Pollen is the local villain here. From late March the pine pollen coats the Triangle in yellow and packs into condenser fins, which is a big part of why units in Wake County age the way they do. When one gets replaced, the old one and the old air handler frequently come out together — $115 + $131 = $246.

Prepare it, briefly

Four things make the day go faster and none of them cost anything. Empty and defrost anything cold, at least a day ahead. Shut off the water to a washer or a heater and disconnect the lines if you know how. Clear the route — appliances leave through the same hallway your furniture uses, and the ranch homes inside the Beltline have narrow ones. And tell us if it is a gas range, because the shutoff matters.

What you do not need to do is get it to the curb. The price covers carrying it from the crawlspace, the second-floor laundry, or the back of the garage behind everything else in the garage.

Doing more than one

Appliance replacements cluster. A kitchen remodel in an older Five Points ranch typically produces a refrigerator, a range and a dishwasher on the same day: $164 + $134 + $109 = $407. A laundry refit produces a washer and a dryer: $133 + $128 = $261. One visit, one flat total, quoted before anyone is dispatched. The minimum only applies if you are below it, which with appliances you rarely are.

Frequently asked questions