Repair, Restore, Rejoice: Making the Most of Home Appliances
Published on - January 22nd, 2009 (by J.D. Roth) This is a guest post from Betsy Teutsch, who blogs about sustainable living and socially-responsible investing at Money Changes Things.
As any homeowner can attest, appliance longevity is diminishing. For technophiles, the breakdown of electronics can be welcomed as an excuse to upgrade to a cheaper, faster gizmo. But constant breakdowns of household appliances frustrate harried homeowners, since it’s frequently impossible or extremely inconvenient to repair them, or so expensive as to be dis-economic.
Having lived in the same home, which we equipped with all-new appliances 22 years ago, I can attest to the culprits. We’re on our third refrigerator, second stovetop, third dishwasher, third toaster, and maybe sixth (or seventh or eighth — I’ve lost count) instant hot-water dispenser.
Our dryer, microwave and wall-oven are the sole survivors. The dryer is somewhat of an exception, since we air-dry the bulk of our clothes, towels, and sheets and just run them through the dryer for ten minutes or so to soften them, so it gets off easier than in most households.
My advice to householders making appliance decisions is:
- Avoid fancier, excess features which make appliances more complicated (and expensive).
- Keep your manuals and the sales info someplace where you can find them, and also record this info electronically if you’ve switched to storing things in cyberspace.
- Do not purchase extended warranties (but make sure the appliance has a reasonable one up front).
- Avoid the temptation to buy cheap small appliances. I have a friend who, after her third bargain blender broke, realized it would have been less time-consuming to buy a better quality product from the get-go.
- Be persistent about attempting repairs.
About ten years ago, the plastic knobs on our island stovetop began to break, one by one. To my astonishment — and outrage — there was no way to replace these simple parts. Down from four burners to only two functioning, we ran out of possible solutions and replaced the whole damn thing, costing $1000 or so, including installation. The company spokesperson was entirely unsympathetic when I indignantly complained the stove was just 12 years old. “That’s actually pretty good — the industry standard is 5-7 years!”
Fast forward: the internet has provided a great way to research your appliance’s problem and read up on solutions, or at least vent along with other annoyed consumers.
When the knob on our under-sink “toe heater” went missing, I recalled the fiasco with the stove knobs. Armed with my ancient manual, I tracked down the company, which was still in business in South Carolina. Here’s where persistence is required. In response to their “Tough bounce, lady — no longer available” email, I called and grilled Customer Service Guy. (My husband has dubbed these folks “customer disservice representatives”.)
There are two tricks to this:
- Finding an actual person to talk to (try the Gethuman Database)
- Asking the right questions to elicit actual help
When I asked if they manufacture the knobs or buy them from a supplier, Bingo! He passed along the number of their knob supplier. That company was wonderful; their business model includes servicing harried householders crazy to replace appliance knobs. For a $10 charge, the correct knob was quickly dispatched and works perfectly. No more turning the dial shaft with a screw driver and risking it breaking off completely!
As for instant hot-water dispensers — my nominee for the most fragile appliance ever invented — do not bother. Just buy an $8 quick-heat coil pot. If you, like us, are suckers for the tap-delivered near-boiling water, buy the highest quality product you can find, with a multi-year warranty included. It will pay for itself remarkably quickly.
Our last one started leaking after a year, but — aha! Its three-year warranty covers free house calls. I contacted the local rep at 8:30 AM, and by 10:00 in the morning was the surprised owner of a new unit, installed. From an environmental standpoint, I hate this. But as frugal home manager, I was pleased. The new unit has two years left on the old warranty. Want to take bets?
For more on this subject, check out:
- Get Rich Slowly: When to replace common household items
- GRS forums: Kitchen appliances: The good, the bad, and the unnecessary
- CNN Money: When good appliances go bad
- The New York Times: Time to buy a new stove. Again.
What about you? What’s your experience with major appliances? Do you have recommendations for appliance repairs that are practical and easy to do yourself? For which appliances is it most important to pay up-front for quality?
Previously at Get Rich Slowly, Betsy has shared The pros and cons of working from home, Wedding registries: A love-hate relationship, and Why we shop: Getting a grip on consumerism.
This article is about DIY, Frugality, House and Home
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Thank goodness for the Internet. I have saved significant money by researching a problem online — with manuals, and especially with forums where those with years of experience share their wealth of knowledge. Often, someone has asked the question I have.
Once, our furnace died on a cold Sunday morning. I couldn’t fix it. But by the time I gave up and called a repairman, I had identified the problem precisely (with the help of the manual and the Internet). He was able to make sure he had the likely part before he came to our house, and then he was in and out in just a few minutes — convenient for him and cheaper for us.
We also always ask repairmen what they are doing. Most of them are regular joes like us who feel kind of bad charging an arm and a leg for something unnecessary — like rebooting the dishwasher’s computer. They’ll usually show you how.
My other advice is to have tolerant repair people for appliances, electrical and plumbing. I now will almost always try to fix it myself … then call in the pro if I get stuck. I pay in cash and tip ‘em too. My people are very patient.
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Considering going online to look for repair tips — from professionals or homeowners — before you give up.
I am *not* advocating you tear apart the washing machine if you’re not very handy. I’m just saying that sometimes it’s a simple fix.
For example, back in the days of VCRs ours finally quit after seven or eight years of service. A series of how-to books had showed up at the newspaper where I worked (I was then writing a lot of home stories), and one of them was basic VCR service and repair. I checked the troubleshooting guide, did what was suggested, and suddenly the machine worked again. A few times over the next five years it quit again, but I always got it going. Finally it died for good, but it didn’t owe us a thing.
Now that I’m an apartment-house manager, I find myself doing Internet searches for topics like “leaking refrigerator” and “garbage disposal fix.” Sometimes it works. Sometimes I wind up calling a service tech. Sometimes the building owners replace the appliance. The leaky fridge was a good example: The cause was one of two things, according to info I found from a how-to Web site. It wasn’t one, so it was the other — and I fixed it in about half an hour from beginning to end. The owners were very happy to pay me $7.50 for my time vs. calling an appliance company to send a guy out.
“First, do no harm” is my motto — but if I’m confident I can try a simple fix without making things worse (or electrocuting myself) then I’ll try it. I expect to keep the same mentality when I get a home of my own someday.
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We usually try to fix the problem ourselves before buying new. I took apart the dryer and bought a new piece but after installing it, it still didn’t work. I tried, didn’t fix, so we bought new.
We’ve fixed a dishwasher ourselves that was a quick and easy thing. And then there are times when we try to fix it, can’t, we call a repair guy, who also can’t fix it and we have to buy new. Times like that I wish we could have seen the future and just bought new!
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For parts you need the brand and model number. Sometimes this is only on the box, so copy the boxes. Also useful is the UPC code and serial number. With these you can get a parts diagram online or order it. You can look in the parts diagram for the part number and search for it and possibly buy the part on the net.
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Great post. I would also add that used major appliances (e.g. washer & dryer) can often be a bargain. We have an ugly green dryer that cost $40 on craigslist (including free delivery), and it’s the best dryer we’ve ever had. It has no frills, but the clothes get dry fast.
I find it mystifying that it’s so difficult to order stove knobs – I couldn’t find a set of 4 for less than $100 for our stove (Americana brand).
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I almost forgot my furnace repair experience – the HVAC guy wanted $800 to fix the induction blower motor on my gas forced air furnace. I got the parts online for $75 and did it myself in half an hour.
On warranties, I generally get the warranty for small appliances with motors (paper shredders, pencil sharpeners, blenders, etc.) if the price of the cheap model plus the warranty is still a lot less than a nicer model.
However, I agree that with some products, such as mixers and blenders, it’s better to pay more for a higher-quality product. We’ve burned through so many hand mixers that we may as well have purchased a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.
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I’ve discovered I can do a lot of repairs myself. But my best advice is….. Appliance paint. Local hardware store. $6. My (formerly harvest gold) stovetop hood is white and my (formerly almond) dryer matches my washer.
My other advice: Use lingerie bags for baby socks…. makes ‘em easy to match up AND it prevents them from going down the drain and possibly plugging things up.
I was at the “transfer station” (a fancy term for the town dump) dropping my garbage and my recycling and I snagged some knobs from the appliance graveyard for a kid-kitchen I was building (those dumb knobs are $17 at the hardware store) and I remembered my mother-in-law was complaining about her dishwasher rack… I lucked out and found her brand with a rack in perfect condition…. and those racks are expensive.
I did not get the extended warranty on our new fridge (it won’t cover if my kids climb the front and crack the shelves or drawers and, honestly, that’s the most likely problem we will have). But I will get it if/when we get a new washer/dryer… because those fancy computer parts are tricky. Oh, and I got the warranty on my camera (5 years) and used it several times AND it included free cleaning…. which was worth it because the camera spent a lot of time shoved in saddle bags.
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While it’s sensible to buy quality when the item is expensive, I heard a discussion with a representative of an extended warranty company a couple of years ago, where he said that the more expensive brands aren’t always the most reliable. In fact sometimes it was the cheapest product that offered the best reliability.
I got replacement handles for some 30 yr old double glazing units via the internet. I found a double glazing forum and posted a picture of what I needed. I very quickly found a supplier, which saved me replacing two large windows.
I used to get extended warranty for my dishwasher as it was a slimline version that cost more than a larger sized one. Two years’ running something needed attention in the final month of the warranty, so it was worth it.
I’m keen to go backwards when I next need a washing machine (probably later this year when I move from rented accomodation). I want to revert to a twin tub (wash and spin separately for those who don’t recognise the term) rather than buy an automatic. Then I can choose how long my wash lasts, and use water straight from the hot tap rather than getting the machine to heat it up (solar heated hot water so no additional cost).
But the shops here in Greece don’t sell twin tubs any more. And the only ones I can find back in the UK are more expensive than automatics, as they’re targetted at people with limited mobility. So I’ll probably end up with another automatic, with a stack of programs I’ll never use, and electronics to go wrong.
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When my wife and I got our first apartment more than 9 years ago, we purchased our washer, dryer and refrigerator from the couple who were moving out at a cost of $500 for all three. We’ve moved all three appliances to each of the other places we’ve moved, and they still work quite well.
Recently, though, the latch on the dryer door broke so that it doesn’t stay shut, which also means it won’t run. I tried a couple different solutions, but the one that works best is decidedly low-tech: a 2×4 jammed between the dryer and the chest freezer a few feet away keeps the door shut tight enough to work properly.
I’ll probably try to fix the latch at some point, but it works fine enough for now.
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Great posts. My God but do I love this site! My grandparents still have the Tappen range that they bought USED in the 40′s. It still in perfect working order. I have a Crosley from the late 40′s thats in storage and when I get the Tappen from the grandparents I will make sure the Crosley goes to a good home. I will not let a perfectly servicable piece of equipment go to scrap!
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This is late, but you can just a water pot; I’m not sure how to translate it into English, but you can find it in practically any Asian grocery store. It holds gallons of water, you pour it in, takes about ten minutes to boil, is environmentally friendly, takes little to no energy, keeps it hot without ever having to reboil it and the one in my family had been with us for about fifteen yeras before we finally switched to a newer one.
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Another Chambers fan here..
..while new appliances, as was mentioned earlier, often have innovations that were previously unavailable, or are more energy-efficient, this isn’t always the case. My Chambers Model B gas range from the 1940′s has a heavily insulated deep well that–with a few minutes of preheating–will cook anything you would cook in a crockpot using only the heat from the pilot flame, it can cook a roast on retained heat while I’m at work all day, it has a built-in griddle and a stovetop broiler, and it was designed for efficiency. Not to mention that it has been in continuous use since 1943 and that parts, service manuals, and friendly advice are freely available on the Internet. It’s no wonder Chambers went out of business eventually–these stoves never wear out!
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I am trying really hard to find a stove top dial for my sixties Frigidaire Model CT4.63 as we are trying to keep everything in the house original. Just had the stove rewired and managed to source new elements for it but the stovetop knob was broken by one of the kids and can’t find one anywhere.
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After going through three toasters, all made in China, (Name brands) that either broke or didn’t work well I went searching. On Ebay I found and bought a 30 year old Sunbeam Radiant automatic toaster. It works so well, and is beautiful to behold. Just remember the chrome, metal gets HOT, like most metal in the kitchen. Did I mention it also toasts much faster, and consistent? Ok, perhaps I just enjoy antiques!
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When my wife and I got our first apartment more than 9 years ago, we purchased our washer, dryer and refrigerator from the couple who were moving out at a cost of $500 for all three. We’ve moved all three appliances to each of the other places we’ve moved, and they still work quite well.
Recently, though, the latch on the dryer door broke so that it doesn’t stay shut, which also means it won’t run. I tried a couple different solutions, but the one that works best is decidedly low-tech: a 2×4 jammed between the dryer and the chest freezer a few feet away keeps the door shut tight enough to work properly.
I’ll probably try to fix the latch at some point, but it works fine enough for now.
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