What Are the Life Expectancies of Major Home Appliances?

Did your refrigerator, your dishwasher, your washing machine, or one of your other major home appliances just break down? If so, you might be wondering whether you should repair it or replace it right now.

Repairing it will often save you a lot of money compared to replacing an appliance altogether. But at the same time, it doesn’t make much sense to perform a repair on an appliance that has likely reached the end of its lifespan.

Knowing the life expectancies of the major home appliances will help you make a final decision. Here is how long you can expect some of the appliances in your home to last.

Refrigerator

All of the major home appliances are important to some degree. But you could argue that the refrigerator in your home is the most important appliance of all.

Your refrigerator can be used to keep water, milk, and other food products cold. It can also be used to keep certain medications at the right temperature. And it can even be used to store defrosted meats before you cook them later.

But your fridge will have a tough time doing any of these things once it turns 12 or 13 years old. That’s when the compressors on most refrigerators start to go out and leave homeowners in a pinch.

If your fridge is over a decade old, you may want to replace it if it’s not staying cold like it used to. But if it’s still on the newer side, a company like All Tech Appliance can help you bring your fridge back to life and keep everything inside of it cold from now on.

Gas Range

Gas ranges are some of the most durable appliances in most American homes. Homeowners can expect to get about 15 years of life out of them before they die.

Electric ranges are pretty durable, too. While they don’t always last for 15 years, you can often get about 12 or 13 years out of them before they start giving you fits.

You can live without a gas or electric range for a little while if you have to. It’s possible to put together some meals without cooking them on a range.

But you won’t want to be without a range forever. It’ll make it hard for you to keep your family happy and healthy.

Washing Machine

Do you like the idea of dragging your laundry down to the laundromat every Saturday morning with a roll of quarters in your pocket?

There are plenty of people out there who have gotten into the habit of doing this. About 15 percent of Americans don’t have washing machines at home.

But it’s best to avoid taking trips to the laundromat if you can do it. And it starts with taking good care of your washing machine and replacing it before it reaches the end of its life expectancy.

The average washing machine will last right around a decade these days. Once it hits that point, there is a decent chance that it’ll need to be repaired all the time if you decide not to replace it.

Dryer

As long as you have a washing machine to wash your clothes, you don’t have to have a dryer to get your clothes clean. You can wash them in your washing machine and then dry them on a clothesline to get the same results you would get from a dryer.

Using a gas or electric dryer is a lot more convenient than using a clothesline, though. It can dry your clothes in just a fraction of the time and allow you to get them put away in your drawers and closets.

Most dryers will last longer than washing machines will. You can get about 13 years out of them before they’ll need replacing.

But many people choose to replace their washers and dryers at the same time so that they don’t have to worry about doing it again for at least a decade.

Dishwasher

Do you feel like spending an hour after dinner every night cleaning dishes by hand? Of course not!

Back in the day, this is what most people had to do to get their dishes clean. But most dishwashers only cost between $500 and $1,000 these days, which is why almost everyone has one. They’ve changed people’s post-dinner routines forever.

But you might find yourself right back at the sink washing dishes in the not-too-distant future if you don’t keep an eye on your dishwasher. A dishwasher is built to last for about 9 or maybe 10 years before giving out.

It’s often better to replace a dishwasher as opposed to repairing it, too, since they don’t cost as much as other appliances.

Microwave

Microwave sales have declined since the year 2000. That has led some people to declare the microwave dead.

But it’s still rare to walk into an American home and not see a microwave. About 90 percent of households have them set up somewhere in their kitchen, and they’re used to do everything from heat up leftovers to pop popcorn.

If you’re still standing pat with your microwave, you’re probably going to get around 9 years out of it prior to replacement. It all depends on how often you use it and what steps you take to clean and maintain it.

Keep Your Major Home Appliances Up and Running

Do you clean your refrigerator out on a regular basis and keep the humidity levels in your home low so that your fridge’s compressor isn’t always on?

Do you avoid putting too many clothes into your washing machine and dryer and clean both of them out every few months?

Do you steer clear of putting anything metal into your microwave and wipe down the inside of it from time to time?

By doing these things, you can extend the life of your major home appliances. You can also make any necessary repairs to your appliances to keep them going for longer stretches of time.

Read our blog to see how to take out a personal loan to pay for new appliances if you end up needing them sometime soon.