The short answer
Five realistic routes: the retailer delivering the replacement, your utility provider if it happens to run a recycling program, a scrap collector, your city's bulky-item collection if your address qualifies, or a hauler.
They are good at different things. The retailer is cheapest but only works on delivery day. Scrap collectors want metal and will not touch a broken dishwasher. Municipal collection works for single-family addresses on residential service and not for apartments. A hauler works on your schedule, from wherever the appliance is standing, including a laundry room at the back of a pier-and-beam house.
Our numbers: a standard refrigerator is $164, a side-by-side or French door is $183, a washer is $133, a dryer is $128, a stacked washer-dryer combo is $189, a dishwasher is $109 and an electric range is $134. Minimum visit $75.
1. The retailer delivering your new one
Nearly always the cheapest route and the one most people forget to arrange. Haul-away of the old unit is usually offered when you order, not when the truck is outside, and once the delivery crew is in your kitchen it is generally too late to add it.
The limits are real. Delivery crews will normally only take the direct replacement - the old fridge when a fridge arrives - and they will not take the second fridge in the garage at the same time. They also will not usually disconnect anything beyond a straightforward pull-out, and in the older central Austin houses the laundry connections are frequently not straightforward.
Worth doing if you can line it up. Not something to build a plan around.
2. Your electricity provider
Some Texas utilities run appliance recycling or efficiency rebate programs, and some do not. They come and go, the eligibility rules vary, and they typically apply to working units that are still plugged in and running - a second refrigerator in the garage is the classic target, because that is the one costing the grid money.
Do not assume, and do not take a neighbor's word for it. Check your own provider's current page for whether a program exists right now and what it covers. If one does, it is free money for exactly the appliance that is otherwise hardest to justify paying to remove.
If the unit is dead, this route is closed. These programs are about retiring working appliances.
3. Scrap metal collectors
Metal-heavy appliances have scrap value, and there are people in this metro who will collect them. Washers, dryers, ranges and water heaters are the usual targets.
Two things to understand. They want the appliance at the curb or in an open garage, not in a laundry closet at the back of a Travis Heights bungalow - the labor is the part they are avoiding. And they are unreliable by nature: they come when the route and the metal price suit them, not when your listing agent needs the garage clear on Thursday.
Good option if you have time and easy access. Bad option if you have a deadline, which in Austin most people do.
4. Municipal bulky collection
Works if you are at a single-family address on residential trash service in a city that runs a program. Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Kyle and Buda each handle this their own way - scheduled by district, on request, or in an annual window - and unincorporated Travis and Hays County addresses often have no program at all.
Appliances are frequently handled differently from other bulky items, sometimes needing to be booked separately. Set-out windows are narrow and putting something out early is what gets people cited. Look it up on your own city's current bulky-item page.
What it will not do: collect from an apartment complex. Those are on private commercial service, and an old fridge parked by the compactor in Riverside or West Campus is a charge-back, not a pickup.
5. Us, with the price published first
| 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 |
| Stove / Oven / Range (Gas) | $137 |
| Water Heater (Tank) | $131 |
| Water Heater (Tankless) | $90 |
| Microwave (Built-In) | $54 |
| Trash Compactor | $61 |
Carry-out from any floor is included, disposal is included, and there is no refrigerant or environmental fee. The published number is the number.
Worked examples
A Hyde Park kitchen and laundry refresh. A standard refrigerator at $164, an electric range at $134 and a dishwasher at $109. That is $164 + $134 + $109 = $407. Against the ladder, the half truck is $431, so the itemized total is lower and is what you pay.
A Round Rock laundry swap. A stacked washer-dryer combo at $189, on its own, one visit.
Clearing a Leander garage of the spare appliances. A chest freezer at $146, a mini fridge at $115 and an old washer at $133 comes to $146 + $115 + $133 = $394. The three-eighths truck at $338 is lower, so it books as three-eighths.
The Austin garage fridge problem
Almost every house in the newer subdivisions out toward Pflugerville, Hutto and Leander has a second refrigerator in the garage. It runs year-round in a space that hits extreme temperatures from May through September, which is hard on the compressor and expensive on the bill.
Two consequences. First, these units fail earlier here than the same model would in a conditioned space, so a lot of the fridges we collect are not old so much as cooked. Second, if yours is still running, check whether your utility has a live recycling or rebate program before you pay anyone - a working garage fridge is exactly the appliance those programs exist for.
If it is dead, it is $164 and it goes today.
Frequently asked questions
Who will take an old refrigerator in Austin?
The retailer delivering your new one, if you arrange haul-away at the point of order. Your utility, if it currently runs a recycling program and the unit still works. Your city's bulky collection, if you are at a single-family address on residential service. Or us, at $164 for a standard refrigerator and $183 for a side-by-side or French door.
Is there an extra charge for refrigerant or sealed-system appliances?
No. The published price covers it. A standard refrigerator is $164, a chest freezer is $146, a mini fridge is $115 and an outdoor AC condenser or heat pump is $115. There is no separate refrigerant fee, environmental fee or disposal surcharge added at the door.
Can I put an old washer by my apartment dumpster?
No. Apartment complexes are on private commercial service and bulky items sit outside that contract, so the property pays to clear it and bills it back. This comes up constantly around West Campus and Riverside during the end-of-July turnover. Book a pickup from the unit instead - a washer is $133 and carry-out is included.
Will you disconnect the appliance?
We handle straightforward disconnection - unplugging, uncoupling a dryer vent, pulling a standard fridge. Anything that needs a licensed trade, particularly gas lines and hard-plumbed connections in the older central Austin houses, should be capped by a plumber or electrician before the pickup. Tell us what you have when you book.
Do you charge more for a second-floor laundry or a walk-up?
No. Carry-out from any floor is included at the published price, with or without an elevator. A stacked combo at $189 from a third-floor unit near campus costs the same as one wheeled out of a ground-floor garage in Cedar Park. There is no stair fee and no distance charge inside the service area.