An old appliance is usually the hardest thing in the house to get rid of. A fridge weighs as much as two grown adults, it can’t be tipped carelessly, and it’s often in the worst spot possible: the basement, a narrow kitchen, or a garage with a step down. Washers and dryers are connected to water and vents. Stoves may be on a gas line. And when you finally get one outside, you find out the rules for where it can go.
Moving Co. does appliance removal in Toronto and across the GTA. We disconnect what we’re allowed to, carry the appliance out without damaging your floors or walls, and take it away in one visit. Fridges, freezers, stoves, ranges, dishwashers, washers, dryers, microwaves, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and water heaters all qualify, whether it’s one unit or a whole kitchen.
Call 905-752-7787 or request a free quote. Tell us what’s going, where it is in the house, and whether there are stairs, and we’ll give you a real price.
What we remove
- Fridges and freezers: full size fridges, French door and side by side models, bar fridges, chest freezers, upright freezers.
- Laundry: front load and top load washers, dryers, stacked units, laundry centres.
- Cooking: electric stoves and ranges, wall ovens, cooktops, range hoods, microwaves.
- Dishwashers: built in or portable.
- Cooling and air: window air conditioners, portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers.
- Other: water heaters that have been drained and disconnected, water softeners emptied of salt and water, and old commercial or restaurant equipment that’s been disconnected.
Working or broken doesn’t matter to us. A working appliance is a good candidate for donation, and we’ll talk about that below. A broken one goes to recycling.
Why appliances are harder than they look
People underestimate appliances because they look like simple boxes. They aren’t. The weight in a fridge isn’t spread evenly: the compressor sits low at the back, the doors swing when you tilt it, and the shelves and drawers slide if you forget to take them out. A front load washer has a heavy drum held by springs and dampers that don’t like being bounced down a staircase. A stove has a glass top or a heavy oven door that can crack or swing open on the way out.
That’s why appliance removal goes wrong in predictable ways. Someone tips the fridge too far and loses control of it on the turn. The dolly slips off a stair edge. A door handle catches the drywall in a narrow hallway. Or the appliance makes it outside and then sits on the driveway because nobody can lift it into the back of an SUV.
Our crews move appliances every week as part of house and condo moves, so they know how each one wants to be handled. The right number of people, the right dolly and a plan for the route make the job routine.
What Toronto’s curbside pickup will take, and when it’s the better deal
If you live in a house in Toronto and you can move the appliance yourself, the City may take it for free at the curb. According to the City’s oversized and metal items page, appliances such as fridges, stoves, freezers, washers and dryers can go beside your garbage bin on collection day, without a tag or an appointment, as long as they’re out by 7 a.m.
There are a few conditions:
- Doors come off first. The City’s by-law says doors have to be removed from any appliance before it’s set out, and its abandoned appliance page explains why: a child can climb inside a fridge or dryer and get trapped. Locks have to come off too.
- Every house pays for the service. In 2026, the City charges every house and condo unit an annual oversized and metal items fee of $23.23, whether it uses the pickup or not.
- Buildings work differently. Apartments and condos use the building’s designated area for oversized items, and buildings on front-end bin collection have to contact the City first. Buildings that opted out of City garbage service don’t get it at all.
- Appliances aren’t electronics. The City’s electronic waste program specifically doesn’t accept appliances, air conditioners or fans, so they don’t go out with your old TV.
So if your old fridge is already in the garage, you have a dolly and a strong friend, and you’re comfortable taking the doors off, use the City. It’s already paid for. Most people call us when the appliance is in the basement or a condo, when it’s too heavy to move safely, when it’s still connected, or when it has to be gone on a particular day.
Other cities in the GTA have stricter rules
Toronto is the easy one. Some nearby cities don’t collect appliances at the curb at all:
- Brampton and Mississauga: Peel Region says large metal appliances aren’t collected at the curb. They go to a Community Recycling Centre, where dedicated appliance loads are free. See our Brampton and Mississauga pages for the locations.
- Hamilton: the City doesn’t pick up appliances or scrap metal; residents take them to a Community Recycling Centre. Details are on our Hamilton junk removal page.
- Kitchener and Waterloo Region: appliances go out on the monthly bulky day and count toward a three item limit for houses, and the Region’s drop-off sites charge a separate refrigerant removal fee for some appliances. See our Kitchener page.
Wherever you are in Ontario, we can take it. We do appliance and junk removal in every city in the province.
Fridges, freezers and refrigerant
Cooling appliances are different from everything else on this page, and it’s worth understanding why.
Fridges, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers hold refrigerant. In Ontario, the province says only a certified technician can remove, handle and dispose of refrigerants such as CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs. The same rules say refrigeration equipment can’t be dismantled, recycled or sent to a landfill until a certified person has confirmed the refrigerant is gone and attached a notice to the unit.
That’s why a fridge can’t be treated like a sofa, and why you should mention every cooling appliance when you book. We plan for them and make sure they go through the proper process. Please don’t cut refrigerant lines or try to drain a unit yourself. It’s against the rules and it’s dangerous.
One more thing: the old provincial program that picked up working fridges and freezers for free ended years ago. Save on Energy’s fridge and freezer pickup program wound down at the end of 2014. Today, if you buy an efficient new appliance through the province’s Home Renovation Savings program, the rebate rules expect you to recycle or properly dispose of the old one yourself. That’s often where we come in.
Disconnecting before removal
An appliance that’s still hooked up needs to be disconnected before it can go anywhere. Here’s how we handle it:
- Washers. Our crews turn off and unhook the water supply and drain hose.
- Dryers. We unplug electric dryers and disconnect the vent. Gas dryers are different, see below.
- Fridges with ice makers or water dispensers. We shut off and disconnect the water line.
- Electric stoves and dishwashers. Plug-in units are unplugged and pulled out. We don’t do electrical work, so a hardwired dishwasher or cooktop needs a licensed electrician to disconnect it from its circuit first.
- Gas stoves and gas dryers. In Ontario, work on fuel-fired appliances belongs to TSSA registered contractors with certified gas technicians. Have the gas line shut off and capped by a registered contractor before we arrive, and we’ll take it from there.
Getting ready for the pickup
You don’t need to do much, but a few small things make the visit faster:
- Empty it. Take everything out of the fridge, freezer, washer, dryer and oven drawer.
- Defrost the freezer. If you can, unplug the fridge or freezer a day ahead and leave the doors open so it can defrost. Lay a towel underneath for the meltwater.
- Keep what you want. Take out any glass shelves, drawers or racks you want to keep for a new unit.
- Clear the path. Move anything that’s sitting between the appliance and the door, like shoe racks, laundry baskets or boxes in the basement.
- Arrange any gas or electrical work. If a gas line or a hardwired circuit needs to be disconnected, book that before our visit.
- Tell us about parking. Let us know if the truck needs a loading area, a visitor spot or a booked dock.
How we get it out without wrecking the house
Most of the damage people do moving appliances happens in the last ten feet: a gouged hardwood floor, a dented door frame, a chipped stair nosing, a fridge that tipped on the turn. We bring appliance dollies and straps, and we plan the route before anything moves.
- We protect floors and door frames along the path out.
- We take doors off the appliance, and sometimes off the house, when that’s the only way it fits. We put the house doors back before we leave.
- We keep fridges upright or close to it on an appliance dolly, which is what manufacturers recommend.
- On stairs, we control the descent with enough people on the job, rather than letting one person ride it down.
For condos and apartments, the building usually wants the service elevator booked and may ask for a certificate of insurance. You book the elevator with your building, and we help with what to ask for. Our crews are insured, and we send the certificate ahead of the date.
What appliance removal costs
Appliance removal is priced the same way as the rest of our junk removal: mainly by how much space it takes in the truck, plus access and disposal. A single bar fridge in a driveway is a small job. A fridge, a stove and a washer and dryer pair from a basement, up a narrow stair, is a bigger one. Three things affect the number:
- Access. Stairs, tight turns, long carries and elevator bookings all take time.
- Disposal. Appliances are heavy for their size, and disposal is charged by weight. Cooling appliances also need refrigerant handling.
- Disconnection. Unhooking a washer or a fridge water line takes a little time. If anything needs an electrician or a gas technician first, that’s arranged separately.
You get a clear price before we start, and the price we agree is the price you pay. Photos of the appliance and the route out are the fastest way to an accurate number. Send them with your quote request.
Donating a working appliance
If the appliance still works, it may have another life. A newer fridge or a washer in good shape is useful to somebody, and we’d rather it went to reuse than to scrap. Where it’s realistic, we route working appliances to charities and reuse programs, and broken ones go to metal recycling after any refrigerant has been dealt with.
If you’d rather sell or give it away yourself, go for it. We can still help with the hard part: getting it out of the basement and into the buyer’s vehicle, or delivering it across town for them as a single item move.
What happens after it leaves your home
Most of the weight in a fridge, stove, washer or dryer is metal, and metal is worth recycling, which is why old appliances shouldn’t end up buried in a landfill. Once a cooling appliance has had its refrigerant recovered by a certified technician and been tagged, the metal can be recycled like any other scrap. Washers, dryers, stoves and dishwashers go straight to metal recycling.
Working units are different. A five year old fridge that’s being replaced because of a kitchen renovation is still a perfectly good fridge, and where it’s realistic we send units like that toward reuse instead. If you know somebody who could use it, tell us when you book. Delivering it to their place is a single item move, and we can quote that at the same time, so the appliance goes straight from your kitchen to theirs.
Replacing appliances? Do it in one visit
A lot of our appliance removals happen because something new is on the way. Some retailers will haul away your old unit when they deliver the new one, and Save on Energy suggests asking about that. If your retailer doesn’t, or the delivery crew won’t take the old one out of a basement, we can remove the old appliances before the delivery so the space is clear and measured.
Renovating a kitchen or laundry room? We can clear out the old appliances, the old cabinets and the packaging in one trip once the work is done, so the contractor’s leftovers don’t sit in your driveway. For heavy construction debris like tile, drywall and concrete, a bin is usually cheaper, and we’ll tell you if that’s the case.
Moving out? Leave the old appliances behind properly
When you sell a house, the appliances that come with it are usually listed in the agreement. The ones that aren’t included, like a second fridge in the basement, the chest freezer in the garage, or the old washer that never got thrown out, need to be gone by closing. Landlords face the same thing between tenants.
If you’re moving with us, we can take the old appliances away on moving day while we load the things you’re keeping. If you’re moving your working appliances to the new home, see our appliance movers page, where we explain how we disconnect, protect and reconnect them.
Restaurants, offices and property managers
Businesses replace appliances too. We remove staff kitchen fridges and dishwashers from offices, disconnected restaurant equipment, laundry machines from rental buildings, and appliances left behind in units at the end of a tenancy. Commercial jobs usually come with timing and building rules, so tell us about the deadline, the loading dock and any certificate of insurance requirements when you book. We can work evenings or weekends where the building needs it.
Property managers with regular turnovers can set up ongoing work through our enterprise logistics service.
Areas we cover
We remove appliances across Toronto, including downtown, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke and East York, and across the GTA in Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Oakville, Burlington, Pickering, Ajax and Whitby. We also cover Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and every other city in Ontario, so if you’re further out, ask.
How it works
- Tell us what’s going. Call 905-752-7787 or use the quote form. Include the type of appliance, where it is, and any stairs.
- Get a price and a time. You get a clear estimate before we book.
- We disconnect and carry it out. Water lines and vents are unhooked, floors are protected, and the crew does all the lifting.
- It’s gone the same visit. Working units go toward reuse where we can, the rest to recycling, with refrigerant handled properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does appliance removal cost in Toronto?
It’s priced like our other junk removal, based mainly on how much truck space it takes, plus access, disposal and any disconnection. A single appliance from a driveway costs less than several from a basement. You get a clear price before we start, and the agreed price is what you pay.
Will the City of Toronto pick up my old fridge?
For houses, yes. Fridges and other appliances can go beside your garbage bin on collection day as metal items, with no tag or appointment. The doors have to be removed first. If it’s in a basement or a condo, or you can’t move it safely, we can take it for you.
Do you disconnect the appliance?
Our crews unhook washers, dryers and fridge water lines. Gas stoves and gas dryers need a TSSA registered contractor to turn off and cap the gas line before we move them, and hardwired appliances need a licensed electrician to disconnect the circuit.
Can you remove a fridge that still has refrigerant in it?
Yes, but tell us when you book. In Ontario only a certified technician can remove refrigerant, and a fridge can’t be recycled or landfilled until that’s been confirmed, so cooling appliances are planned and handled differently. Please don’t try to drain or cut the lines yourself.
Is there a free fridge pickup program in Ontario?
Not anymore for most people. Save on Energy’s fridge and freezer pickup program ended at the end of 2014. Today the options are your city’s collection, a retailer’s haul-away when you buy a new one, or a removal company like us.
Do I need to take the doors off before you come?
No. Toronto requires doors to be removed only when you put an appliance out at the curb yourself, for child safety. If we’re taking it away, we handle the doors, and we’ll take a door off the house itself if that’s the only way the appliance fits through.
Can you remove a water heater?
Yes, once it’s been drained and disconnected. If it’s a gas water heater, the gas has to be shut off and capped by a TSSA registered contractor first. Tell us the size and where it is when you book.
Do you donate working appliances?
Where it’s realistic, yes. Working appliances in good shape can go to charities and reuse programs. Broken ones go to metal recycling.
Can you take appliances out of a condo?
Yes. You book the service elevator with your building, and we help with what to ask for. We send a certificate of insurance ahead of time if the building needs one, and we protect the elevator and hallway on the way out.
Do you remove appliances outside Toronto?
Yes. We cover the whole GTA, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and every other city in Ontario. Rules for curbside pickup vary a lot between cities, which is why many people outside Toronto call us.
Tell us what needs to go and we’ll give you a clear price and a time: insured crew, careful disconnection, gone in one visit. Request your free quote or call 905-752-7787.