Appliance Removal in Temecula — Water Heaters, Dishwashers, Ranges, AC Units, Hauled Out and Recycled Right

A single water heater, dishwasher, range, wall oven, or microwave is a quarter load at $195, and that price includes the two-person crew, the carry from wherever it sits, the drive, and the certified recycler's fee. Units with refrigerant in them add $30 each: window and portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers, heat pump water heaters, and any fridge or freezer in the same load. A full kitchen's worth usually lands at a half load, $350. You get the number in writing on site before anything moves, and there's no per-item rate below the quarter load.

Yes to both. Tank water heaters, tankless units, and heat pump water heaters all go. A 50-gallon tank holds over 400 pounds of water, so it needs to be drained before the crew arrives — supply valve off, gas or breaker off, hose on the drain valve, open a hot tap upstairs, and give it 20 to 40 minutes. If the drain valve is clogged with sediment, tell us and we'll bring a pump. If it's a gas tank, the line has to be capped by a plumber before we move it.

Water and electrical, yes. Once the breaker and the supply valve are off, we'll unthread a dishwasher's supply line and drain hose and pull it from the cabinet, and we'll unplug an electric range or wall oven. Gas, no. We don't disconnect or cap gas lines on ranges, cooktops, wall ovens, or water heaters. That's plumber work and it's usually rolled into the new install. Tell us it's gas when you book and we'll time the pickup for after the cap.

Not in the bin. Both hold refrigerant, which makes them a regulated appliance under California's certified appliance recycler rules and under EPA Section 608, so they can't go in the CR&R barrel or a dumpster. Whether the city's bulky-item pickup will take one depends on the driver and the current CR&R item list, so call 800-755-8112 and ask before you set it out. The county's Lake Elsinore household hazardous waste site takes small units on its Saturday hours. Or we take it, with the $30 refrigerant charge, from inside the house.

City of Temecula residents get two free bulky-item pickups a year through CR&R, scheduled in advance by calling 800-755-8112, and appliances are on the general bulky list. The catches: the item has to be at the curb on your regular collection day, both pickups are often used up by the time the appliance dies, and refrigerant units may be refused. If it fits your situation, use it. If the unit is upstairs, the new one lands tomorrow, or there's more than one thing going, that's what we're for.

It goes to a DTSC-certified appliance recycler, not the landfill. Under California law those yards have to pull the regulated parts first (refrigerant, mercury switches and thermostats, compressor oil, PCB and DEHP capacitors) and document it, and only then does the shell get shredded for steel, copper, and aluminum. The recyclers we deliver to are listed by name on our where-your-junk-goes page, and if you ask, I'll tell you which one took yours.

Yes. Countertop and over-the-range microwaves, garbage disposals, range hoods, trash compactors, water softeners, dehumidifiers, and small kitchen appliances all ride in the load. An over-the-range microwave needs its bracket unbolted from the upper cabinet, which the crew handles. Microwaves have a high-voltage capacitor inside that California requires a certified recycler to remove, so they go into the same appliance stream as the big stuff rather than the blue bin.

Once it's been decommissioned, yes. We don't recover refrigerant from a condenser or a commercial cooler — that requires an EPA-certified technician with recovery equipment, and it's part of what your HVAC contractor does when they replace the system. After the charge is pulled and the line set is cut, the condenser is a steel and copper box and we'll take it with the $30 handling charge. A furnace has no refrigerant and hauls like any other appliance once it's disconnected from gas and power.

Sometimes. Habitat for Humanity ReStores and The Salvation Army will take clean, working ranges, dishwashers, and microwaves that aren't too old, and we'll route a unit there when it qualifies. What doesn't get accepted: anything with rust, a cracked glass top, a missing rack, or a model old enough that nobody can find parts. Most appliances we haul are being replaced because they died, so most go to the recycler. If yours works, say so when you book and we'll try the donation route first.

Every week. Property managers in Temecula and Murrieta call us for turnovers where the tenant left a dead microwave, a window unit, and a mini-fridge, or where the whole appliance set is being replaced before the next lease. Restaurant and retail moves around Old Town and the Promenade come with reach-ins, prep tables, and commercial dishwashers, which we quote from photos and model numbers. Multi-unit and commercial loads are priced on the same volume ladder, and we can invoice the management company directly.

If it's one appliance, in the spot where the new one goes, already disconnected, and the haul-away fee is reasonable, take the store's offer. Where it falls apart: the delivery driver takes the matching unit only, won't touch the second fridge in the garage or the old range still hooked to gas, won't carry from upstairs, and often won't take anything that isn't disconnected when they arrive. When the new-appliance delivery leaves the old one behind, which happens more than you'd think, that's usually the call we get the same afternoon.

There's some steel and copper value in a range or a water heater, but at current scrap prices it's a few dollars, and a yard isn't supposed to accept an intact major appliance from a private party outside the certified recycler program anyway. The value that does exist goes toward the recycler's gate fee, which is part of why the appliance charge is $30 and not more. If someone offers to take your working appliance for free, that's a legitimate deal. Nobody's going to pay you for a dead one.

Heat pump water heaters do. There's a small refrigeration circuit in the head unit, so it gets the same $30 handling charge as a window AC and goes to a recycler that recovers the gas. It also still has a tank, so drain it like any other. Induction and glass-top electric ranges are just electric ranges as far as disposal goes — unplug from the 240-volt outlet, no surcharge, but tell us it's a glass top so the crew pads it and doesn't crack it on the way out.

Yes, and it's the cleanest way to do it. Book us for the afternoon of the delivery, or the morning after, and the old unit is out before it becomes a garage fixture. If the store's installer is doing the disconnect, ask them to leave the old appliance where it's easy to reach rather than shoving it into the side yard. Tell us the delivery window when you call and we'll work around it.

We'll drain it, but it costs you time. The crew brings a hose and a small pump for the tanks where the drain valve is packed with sediment, which is most of the ones old enough to be replaced. Draining a 50-gallon tank on site adds 20 to 40 minutes, and if that pushes a full load past its included hour, the extra-time rate applies. Draining the night before is free and takes one garden hose.

Yes. Old cabinets, a laminate countertop, the tile from the backsplash, and the range hood all ride with the range and dishwasher, and that's usually what moves a kitchen job from a quarter load to a half. Send a photo of the pile so the quote covers everything and the trailer shows up with the room. The one thing we can't take is anything with asbestos, which comes up in pre-1980s vinyl flooring and mastic, so leave that to an abatement contractor.