Water Heater Removal Cost in Seattle, WA

Water Heater Removal in Seattle: where the city stops and a hauler starts

The free route in Seattle has hard edges, and they are the reason people end up paying: The large-item category covers anything bigger than 2 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft, and nothing may exceed 300 pounds, eight feet in height or four feet in diameter. $31 per large item — furniture, appliances and TVs bigger than 2 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft — with older refrigerators and freezers priced separately. One battery pickup a year is free; further ones carry a small charge.

Past those limits the city is not an option at all — not slower, not pricier, simply unavailable. That is the line a hauler exists for, and it is worth knowing exactly where it sits before you start carrying anything.

Collection in Seattle is run by Seattle Public Utilities. Below is what they will take, straight from their own rules — and where each route runs out.

Booked bulky pickup

Anything that does not belong in the garbage or the home recycling — the city calls it Special Item Pickup and collects it on demand. The large-item category covers anything bigger than 2 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft, and nothing may exceed 300 pounds, eight feet in height or four feet in diameter. $31 per large item — furniture, appliances and TVs bigger than 2 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft — with older refrigerators and freezers priced separately. One battery pickup a year is free; further ones carry a small charge. Schedule online or call Seattle Public Utilities on (206) 684-3000. The pickup happens on your next regular garbage day after it is booked, so nothing goes outside before you have the confirmation. Items stand on a flat, level surface with no stairs, easy to reach from the street, and out by 7 a.m. on the collection day — covered if it is raining. Refrigerator and freezer doors with latches have to come off or be tied shut. The large-item list runs to appliances, refrigerators, freezers, stoves, dishwashers, dryers, washing machines, air conditioners, trash compactors, TVs, monitors, computers, furniture, dressers, cabinets, tables, chairs, sofas, and mattresses and box springs. Smaller awkward things — household batteries, lightbulbs, styrofoam blocks, empty camping propane canisters, small electronics — go in their own capped categories, and used cooking or motor oil needs no appointment at all: sealed jugs with your address on them go out on the regular collection day.

Checked against the operator’s own page on 2026-09-19. Source