Air conditioner disposal in Riverside: window units, portables and old condensers

The short answer

Air conditioners hold refrigerant, so the City of Riverside excludes them from its bulky-item pickup, and Riverside County landfills charge a $7 special-handling surcharge on each one. You can self-haul, hand it to the HVAC company replacing it, or book a flat pickup: a small window unit is $87, a large window unit $109, a portable $85 and an outdoor condenser or heat pump $115.

Why AC units die on schedule here

Inland valley summers run roughly June through September, and they are hard on cooling equipment. Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris and the rest of the valley floor sit far enough from the coast that afternoon heat builds day after day. The old window unit in the back bedroom, the portable that has been running nonstop in a garage converted to a gym, the condenser that was original to a 1980s Moreno Valley tract: these tend to fail when they are working hardest.

That is also when HVAC companies are busiest and when the old unit is most likely to end up in the side yard waiting for someone to deal with it. Because IE homes are slab-built with no basements, the dead unit has nowhere to hide except the garage, the side yard or the RV pad. By October there is often a small collection: the window unit from the first heat wave, the portable that replaced it, and the condenser the installer left on its side by the fence.

Where old units turn up, by neighborhood

• Arlington and Downtown Riverside: 1950s to 1970s ranches and older bungalows were often cooled room by room, so window units come out in pairs or threes when a family finally installs central air.
• UCR, Canyon Crest and La Sierra apartments: portables and small window units bought for one summer and left behind at move-out, frequently on a second-floor walk-up.
• Moreno Valley, Corona and Fontana tracts: homes built in the 1980s and early 1990s are reaching their second or third condenser, and the old one ends up on the side-yard pad.
• Hemet, San Jacinto and Sun City: mobile-home parks and retirement homes, where an owner may not be able to lift a unit out of a window at all.

In every case the job is the same: unplug, drain, keep upright, and get it to someone who will recover the refrigerant.

The rules: City, county and refrigerant

• City of Riverside: the bulky-item program's excluded list names air conditioners, freezers and refrigerators. They will not be collected at the curb.
• Riverside County landfills: a $7 surcharge per appliance requiring special handling, which explicitly includes A/C units, up to four a day. Plus the load fee, a flat $15.70 for a car, SUV or pickup up to eight feet, and a $25 surcharge on uncovered loads.
• Refrigerant: has to be recovered before disposal. Never cut lines or vent a unit to make it lighter or "safer" to transport.

Ontario's program for single-family homes accepts appliances; if you live there, check whether your unit qualifies on one of your four yearly appointments. Moreno Valley's program excludes anything one person cannot safely lift, which rules out most condensers.

Window and portable units

These are the easy ones physically. A small window unit is one person's lift, a large one is closer to two. Unplug it, remove it from the window on a dry day, drain any water from the pan, and keep it upright.

If you have a pickup and a free Saturday, a run to Badlands, Lamb Canyon or El Sobrante costs the load fee plus $7. If you do not, a flat pickup is $87 or $109. A portable unit with its hose and window kit is $85.

Remember the order minimum is $100, so a single small unit on its own is billed at $100. Two window units from upstairs bedrooms are $87 + $109 = $196. A UCR-area move-out with a portable AC, a mini fridge and a microwave is $85 + $115 + $30 = $230.

Outdoor condensers and heat pumps

A condenser sitting on a pad beside the house is a different job. It is connected to refrigerant lines and to a dedicated electrical circuit. Before anyone hauls it:

1. Have a qualified HVAC technician recover the refrigerant and disconnect the unit.
2. Have the electrical disconnect made safe.
3. Then it is just a heavy metal box.

If your HVAC installer is replacing it, ask whether removing the old unit is part of the job. If they leave it behind, or you have an old condenser that has sat in the side yard since the last replacement, a flat pickup is $115. A condenser plus the old furnace pulled out of a garage or attic is $115 + $131 = $246.

Self-haul versus pickup: the real numbers

Self-hauling one window unit in your own pickup costs the $15.70 flat load fee plus the $7 appliance surcharge, so $15.70 + $7 = $22.70 at a county gate, before fuel. That is cheap if you live near a landfill, such as La Sierra residents a short drive from El Sobrante or Moreno Valley households near Badlands on Ironwood Avenue. It is less cheap from Rancho Cucamonga or Upland, where the drive and a lost Saturday morning add up. You also need a tarp to avoid the $25 uncovered-load surcharge, straps to keep the unit upright, and a second person for anything larger than a small window unit. A flat pickup costs more at the gate but includes the carry from wherever the unit sits, the drive and the disposal. Add up both before deciding.

Flat prices for cooling and heating equipment

Crews carry units from any floor or from the side yard, with no stairs fee, and disposal is included. We recycle whatever we can.

Timing it around the heat

If you can choose, book AC removals in the morning between June and September. Side yards and garages in the inland valleys are punishing by mid-afternoon, and a condenser on a concrete pad that has been in the sun all day is hot to handle. Pickup windows start at 8am, seven days a week, and same-day service is available when you book by 4 PM. Upload a photo on the instant quote page to get the fixed price first.

Frequently asked questions