Disposing of a fridge?

spool32

I have an old fridge (you cut me deep, man) that I just stuck in the garage when I got my amazing new shiny fridge of awesome. It probably did have some food in it, because whatever, it was a piece of crap and I wasn't going to sell it so why bother with cleaning?

Anyhow, it should be gone from my life. The garbage company says they won't take it unless I can prove I had the freon drained! I have no idea what's involved with that or how much it might cost... so how do I go about draining freon legally? Has anyone else dealt with this before, and assuming I have to call a professional freon-sucker, will he have to open the inside of the fridge?

Bowen

Check with your utilities provider and see if they offer removal.

Generally, places where you get a new one, it is included in the delivery fees. Call an HVAC company to get them to drain the freon legally.

MushroomStick

Do you have guys that drive around, picking up scrap metal on garbage days? They'll usually snatch up an old fridge pretty quick. Take the doors off.

matt has a problem

In Illinois, ComEd will come out and pick it up, AND pay you $25 for it. They do this for just about any functioning appliance. So, like bowen said, check your utilities provider.

Midshipman

Unless the fridge has very unusual design, there should be no need to open the food storage compartments to access the refrigerant valves.

McViking

You could also consider posting it on freecycle.org or your local craigslist 'free stuff' board. I'm always kind of amazed at the stuff that people want to come out and collect...

Seattle Thread

Yeah, Craigslist and their free area is a boon. Toss an ad up there for a week or two.

If that proves fruitless, check your local waste transfer station/dump. The ones around here have a little area for refrigerators, and all you have to do is remove the door and drop it off. Costs about $10-15, I believe.

illig

Midshipman wrote: »

Unless the fridge has very unusual design, there should be no need to open the food storage compartments to access the refrigerant valves.

The removal of the door is required in many communities due to outdated laws. Old timey fridges had externally locking door handles which posed a danger to anyone stupid enough to climb in and get locked in an airtight container.

mts

illig wrote: »

Midshipman wrote: »

Unless the fridge has very unusual design, there should be no need to open the food storage compartments to access the refrigerant valves.

The removal of the door is required in many communities due to outdated laws. Old timey fridges had externally locking door handles which posed a danger to anyone stupid enough to climb in and get locked in an airtight container.

But what if there is a nuclear blast



Anyway, check with your municipality, some will have a day for large appliance type stuff pick up.

Though by me, I could probably just throw it on my curb and expect it to be gone by morning. there are people who drive around looking for junk like that to refurb and sell

Fireflash

Yeah I would just trust the junkhunters.

Hevach

Third on leaving it out for the scrappers, unless something like that $25 trade in from ComEd is available to you. They'll grab a fridge or air conditioner in a heartbeat, around here if you have an outdoor freezer you need to keep it chained down (and chained down well, because if it's loose they'll take the chain, too). You'll barely get crap taking it to a scrap yard yourself, but if you've seen the kind of haul dedicated scrappers get in a week of trash picking, you'll see why they'll fight over refrigerators.

They'll either know how to properly remove the refrigerant themselves, or they'll just let it out into the air because they know the guys at the scrap yard well enough for everyone to look the other way.