How to tell if a free appliance still works before you take it

A free appliance is only a good deal if it actually works. Hauling home a fridge, washer, or microwave — then finding out on your counter that it's dead — costs you time, effort, and sometimes a truck rental you can't get back. Most of that risk can be screened out before you ever load it up, with a few direct questions and a quick look. (This guide is about function — whether the thing turns on and runs. For the separate question of electrical, gas-line, and refrigerant safety once you've got a working appliance, see flipping free appliances safely.)

Ask why they're getting rid of it

This is the single most useful question, and most people will answer it honestly if you just ask. "We're upgrading" or "we're moving and don't want to bring it" is a very different signal than "it stopped working" or "it's been sitting in the garage for a couple of years." None of these answers should be a hard no by themselves — a garage-stored appliance can still work fine, and "it stopped working" sometimes means one easy fix — but the answer tells you how much extra scrutiny to apply before you commit to the pickup.

Ask to see it powered on

If it's at all possible, ask to see or hear the appliance running before you load it into a vehicle. This is the difference between "it looks fine" and "it works," and it takes two minutes:

A fridge or freezer should have an audible compressor hum when it's plugged in and running — not silence.
A washer or dryer should visibly start a cycle when you press go — drum turning, water filling, or heat starting.
A microwave should light up, and you should hear or see it actually running when you set a short timer.

If the person can't show you this — no outlet nearby, unit already unplugged and packed up — that's not automatically a dealbreaker, but it does raise your risk, and you should weigh that against how much the item is worth to you.

Category-specific checks

Fridges and freezers. Feel around the back or bottom vents for warmth and listen for the compressor cycling on. Check the door seals (the rubber gasket) for cracks, stiffness, or visible mold — a bad seal doesn't mean the compressor is dead, but it does mean added cost or effort before the unit is actually usable.

Washers and dryers. Ask directly whether it completed a full cycle recently — not just "it worked before we moved it to the garage." Check the inside of the drum for obvious damage (dents, rust flaking, a torn drum seal) and, if you can get close during a test run, note any burning smell, which is worth walking away from regardless of how the rest of the unit looks.

Small appliances. Toasters, blenders, coffee makers, and similar items are harder to fully test on the spot, so the questions matter more here: ask when it was last used, and how long it's been sitting unused since then. A longer idle stretch — sitting in storage for a long time — generally raises the odds of some kind of fault, even if nothing looks visibly wrong.

What a quick check can't catch

Be honest with yourself about the limits here. Some faults are intermittent — they show up occasionally, not every time — and some only appear under real load or after the appliance has run for a while, not in a thirty-second test. A pre-pickup check reduces your risk of hauling home something dead on arrival; it does not eliminate it. Go in expecting "probably fine, worth the effort" rather than "guaranteed to work."

Bring your own power, and ask first

If you want to actually test-plug something at the curb, bring your own power source — a portable battery pack, or at minimum know that you're relying on the giver's outlet. If you do need to use their outlet, ask permission first rather than assuming it's fine; it's their electricity and their home, and a quick ask costs nothing.

The bottom line

A few direct questions and a short powered-on test catch most of the obvious dead-on-arrival appliances before you ever load one into a vehicle. It's not a guarantee — some issues only show up later or under load — but asking why it's available, watching it run, and checking the category-specific basics meaningfully cuts your risk for a couple of minutes of effort. Once you've confirmed it actually works, safety (electrical, gas, refrigerant) is the next and separate check — see flipping free appliances safely for that.

Freebox surfaces free appliance finds near your ZIP as they're posted, so you can ask these questions before you're standing at the curb deciding on the spot. See what's free near you →