The short answer

Refrigerator $164. Side-by-side or French door $183. Mini fridge $115. Chest freezer $146. Upright freezer $149. Washer $133. Dryer $128. Stacked washer/dryer combo $189. Dishwasher $109. Electric range $134. Gas range $137. Water heater $131. Countertop microwave $30. Minimum visit $75.

Four steps: disconnect it, empty it, price it, book it. Most of what goes wrong in a Tampa appliance removal goes wrong at step one or two, on the day, with a crew standing in a laundry room.

Refrigerant recovery on fridges, freezers and AC units is handled as part of the job. There is no refrigerant fee, no EPA fee and no environmental surcharge on the invoice. $164 means $164.

Step one: catch the retailer haul-away window

Before anything else — if you are buying a replacement, the cheapest disposal available is the retailer's haul-away, and it only exists on delivery day.

The rules are consistent: it covers the one appliance the new unit replaces, it has to be disconnected and accessible, and if you decline it at the door the offer does not come back. People in the newer Wesley Chapel, Riverview and Apollo Beach builds get caught by this constantly, because kitchens get upgraded one appliance at a time and the old unit gets parked in the garage 'for now'.

It also never covers the second item. Replace the fridge and they take the fridge; the dead chest freezer beside it in the garage is still $146, and the old water heater is still $131.

Step two: disconnect properly

  • Refrigerator: unplug it, and shut off and disconnect the water line if it has an ice maker. Those lines drip for a while after they are cut.
  • Washer: shut both supply valves, disconnect the hoses, and have a towel ready. There is always water left in them.
  • Electric dryer: unplug it and detach the vent duct.
  • Gas dryer or gas range: the gas line must be shut off and capped by someone qualified. Do not improvise this.
  • Dishwasher: power off at the breaker, water supply off, and the drain line disconnected — it is plumbed in, not plugged in.
  • Water heater: power or gas off, cold supply off, and drained through the hose bib at the base.

A disconnected appliance goes out the door in minutes. A connected one turns a fifteen-minute job into an hour and, on a second-floor Wesley Chapel laundry, risks water on a floor you care about.

Step three: drain the water heater, seriously

This gets its own section because Tampa has no basements, so water heaters live in garages, utility closets and occasionally attics — and every one of those locations makes a full tank a bad idea.

A full tank is very heavy and it does not come out level. It will leave a trail across your garage floor, down your hallway or, in the attic case, through your ceiling. Drain it the night before: shut the power or gas, close the cold supply, open a hot tap somewhere in the house to break the vacuum, and run a hose from the drain valve to somewhere outside that is not your neighbor's yard.

Give it a couple of hours. A tank water heater is $131 either way, but a drained one is a much better morning for everybody.

Step four: the garage fridge and freezer ritual

Almost every older house in Carrollwood, Temple Terrace, Seminole, Town 'n' Country and the Pinellas mid-century neighborhoods has a second refrigerator or a chest freezer in the garage. In this climate they work far harder than a kitchen unit — the garage is unconditioned and sits well above room temperature half the year — so they fail early.

They also fail catastrophically after a multi-day power outage in summer. Empty and bag the contents before the pickup, prop the door, and do not attempt to salvage the unit. The smell does not come out.

Chest freezer $146. Upright freezer $149. Standard fridge $164. Side-by-side or French door $183. Mini fridge $115.

If yours is still running, a freezer thermometer bought before June is the cheapest insurance in this article.

Air conditioning, the Tampa constant

Cooling equipment is its own category here and it turns over constantly.

Window units, still common in the older bungalows in Seminole Heights and Tampa Heights and in the Ybor casitas: $87 under 8,000 BTU, $109 for 8,000 and up. Portable units $85. Outdoor condensers and heat pumps $115. Dehumidifiers $77.

Two local notes. Salt air near the bay, the beaches and Davis Islands corrodes condenser fins well before the compressor gives out, so units get replaced looking superficially fine — that is normal here, not a scam. And window units are heavy, awkward and top-heavy at the sill; if yours is in a second-floor window, leave it in place and let the crew take it out rather than wrestling it alone.

Refrigerant in all of these is handled as part of the price. No surcharge.

Worked totals

Kitchen refresh, Temple Terrace. Fridge, electric range, dishwasher and countertop microwave: $164 + $134 + $109 + $30 = $437.

Laundry replaced, St. Pete. Washer and dryer as two machines: $133 + $128 = $261. As a single stacked combo unit instead: $189.

Whole-house mechanical swap, Brandon. Water heater, outdoor condenser and a garage chest freezer: $131 + $115 + $146 = $392.

Appliances are dense but they do not take much truck space, so on an appliance-only job the itemized route almost always beats the truck ladder. It flips once cabinets and countertops join the list — laminate countertop is $56 per section, stone $111 per section, construction debris $120.

What to tell us at booking

Four things, and they are the difference between a fifteen-minute visit and a difficult one.

  • Which appliance, precisely. Standard fridge or French door. Two stacked machines or one combo cabinet. Gas range or electric.
  • Where it is. Kitchen, garage, second-floor laundry, attic, utility closet. There is no stair charge — we just need the right crew.
  • Whether it is disconnected. Be honest; it changes the time, not the price.
  • Access. Alley-only detached garage in Tampa Heights, gate code in a Wesley Chapel subdivision, loading dock and service elevator in a Channel District tower.

Then it is the published number, carried out, with the refrigerant handled and nothing added at the end.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to disconnect the appliance myself?

It makes the visit much faster and it is strongly recommended. Gas lines specifically must be shut off and capped by someone qualified — do not improvise that one.

Is there a charge for handling refrigerant?

No. A standard fridge is $164, a side-by-side or French door $183, a window AC $87 or $109 by size, an outdoor condenser $115. Refrigerant recovery is part of the job with no separate line on the invoice.

Can the store take my old appliance instead?

Only on delivery day and only for the one appliance the new unit replaces. If you declined it at delivery, that window is closed — the old unit in your garage is now a separate job.

How do I get rid of a water heater in a Tampa garage?

Shut off the power or gas, close the cold supply, open a hot tap to break the vacuum, and drain it through a hose the night before. It is $131, and a drained tank saves your garage floor.

My garage freezer died in a power outage. Now what?

Empty and bag the contents, prop the door and price the unit — chest freezer $146, upright $149. The smell does not come out afterwards, which is why these almost always get replaced rather than cleaned.

Can you take just one microwave?

Yes, but a countertop microwave is $30 and the minimum visit is $75, so it bills at the minimum. Add the dead dehumidifier at $77 or a window AC at $87 and make the trip worthwhile.