Broken
Household Appliances: Repair or Replace?
By Frank G.
Ross
Whether
it's the stove, air conditioner, dishwasher - or as was recently the case in
our home, the refrigerator - when they're not working right or stop working
altogether our first thought is to replace them immediately.
Americans
spend more than $15 billion a year on new appliances. Very expensive,
restaurant-quality appliances are increasingly popular. But no matter how
great or small the original cost, eventually appliances will wear out.
Well, not the whole thing all at once, but one component or another will
stop working which, of course, causes the whole unit to stop working.
Many times
taking the time to diagnose the problem, or having someone knowledgeable
come out to do it, can save a homeowner quite a bit of money.
Last fall
my wife reported that our gas oven was no longer heating up when turned on.
Knowing that the unit was about 7 years old and might need to be replaced, I
took a look at it and after making one phone call to an appliance parts
supplier I determined that the igniter was bad. The cost for the part was
$78 which is significantly less than a new stove.
The other
morning I woke to a pronounced ticking sound in the kitchen. I quickly
narrowed it down to the refrigerator. Pulling it out from the wall I
removed the back cover. Then I could see that the noise was being made by a
fan blade repeatedly striking its housing. All it took to solve this
problem was a simple adjustment.
Not all
broken appliance problems are as simple to diagnose and, if the price of
repair turns out to be more than 50 percent of the cost of the appliance it
might be a good idea to consider replacing it.
You'll
definitely want to replace it, if that appliance has already served half its
life expectancy. Because with energy costs going up, buying a newer
appliance may end up saving you a lot more in the long run, since they use
less energy.
Following
is an excerpt from a chart I provide with every home inspection. Like most
statistical summaries, this chart showing the life expectancy of major
appliances is based on averages. Of course it makes a difference how many
people are in the home, the make and model of the appliance and if the home
is a primary or second home.
Dishwasher
5-12 years (average)
Dryer 10-25
Garbage
Disposal 5-12
Oven/Range 15-20
Washing
Machine 5-15
Forced Air
Furnace 10-25
Central
Air Conditioner 10-15
Heat
Pump 10-15
Window A/C
Unit 10-20
Hot Water
Heater 5-15
With an
estimated 600 million appliances at work in American households, there will
be plenty of exceptions. Also keep in mind that these numbers are affected
by how the appliances are used. Those that receive regular maintenance and
are not abused will certainly last longer.
Frank Ross
is a Certified Utah Home Inspector for Pillar to Post Professional Home
Inspection and a full member of the National Association of Certified Home
Inspectors and a member in good standing with the Utah Better Business
Bureau. Readers may contact Mr. Ross at (435) 867-6400 or
frank.ross@pillartopost.com
