Chill Out – The Woodlands Township has rules about junking your appliances

THE WOODLANDS, TX – As appliances get more complex and digital, there has been a slow but steady downward trend of their average life expectancies. Surprisingly, microwave ovens have the shortest projected life span nowadays, with a predicted death date after only eight years. Dishwashers are an extra year beyond that. Interestingly, central air conditioning units and refrigerator/freezers have about the same life expectancy – around 15 years.

While usually it’s more feasible to repair an appliance in distress, sometimes it’s time to ‘write it off’ like a totaled car and send it to that great junkyard in the sky – or wherever it is that our local trash collectors take heavy Township trash – if recycling isn’t an option. Bulky trash collection is available for large household items that don’t fit in your regular trash cart, such as furniture, mattresses and appliances. This service is provided as a courtesy to residents at no additional cost and must be scheduled in advance.

However, unlike most other appliances, refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioning units require extra steps to be considered safe for trashing, junking, or recycling. Particularly within the boundaries of The Woodlands Township, extra care must be taken when disposing of cold-based appliances.

What these three units have in common is their reliance on freon or other refrigerants and coolants. Freon is classified as a halogenated hydrocarbon and is a brand name for various refrigerants. It’s further classified by a numerical and letter system that indicates its toxicity and flammability. R-12 was a common example of a chlorofluorocarbon that was largely phased out due to its ozone-depleting properties. R-22 is also being phased out due to its environmental impact. Besides their toxicity, these chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons can also be flammable to some degree.

As a result, any refrigerators, freezers, and AC units must be certified ‘Freon Free’ with an official tag placed on them after processing and inspection by a local appliance repair or AC repair company. Only with this tag can you schedule the item or items for removal under Township covenant guidelines.

For those of you thinking of simply throwing your fridges into a nearby outside-the-borders-of-the-Township neighbor's yard or taking it to the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Recycling Center, it should be noted that the precinct does not handle the removal of freon from appliances. For proper disposal, you must hire a licensed technician to extract the freon before recycling the appliance at the Precinct 3 Recycling Center.

Additionally, if you’re planning on saving some bucks by depleting the refrigerant yourself, a licensed HVAC technician must remove all freon from your refrigerator, air conditioner, or other appliances. Local and federal regulations require a certified professional to handle refrigerants. After the freon has been removed, the technician will provide a certificate confirming the extraction. This certificate must be placed in a sealed plastic bag and taped to the front of the appliance. Once the freon has been removed and the certificate is attached, you can take the appliance to the Precinct 3 Recycling Center for recycling or contact the Township to come have it picked up.

When choosing an expert to handle your freon-based items, may we suggest using one of Woodlands Online’s celebrated ‘Best of The Woodlands’ companies that have been voted top of their class by the community? This year’s top companies for Best Air Conditioning & Heating Contractor are Bradbury Brothers Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical; Hal Watson Air Conditioning Company, Inc.; and The Woodlands Plumbing & Air. Our top-voted Best Appliances Service companies are Wilson’s Appliance; Mr. Appliance; and Appliance Outlet Texas Magnolia.

No matter the condition of your cooling appliance or system, you may wish to first check out local nonprofit and charitable organizations to see if they’ll take yours.