It’s really difficult to tell anyone how long his or her appliances will last or what the ‘life span’ of an appliance really is. A good general rule is that with proper care and maintenance performed by you, as well as a preventative measures annual service call from one of our qualified appliance technicians, your appliances can potentially outlive your time in the home you live. We have seen many appliances last as much as 10-15 years.
Many factors, however, influence how long you can reasonably expect your appliance to last. These include, among other things:
- The type of appliance
- How often you use the appliance (example, a fridge is always running but you might use your washing machine once a week)
- Whether or not you clean your appliance regularly
- The overall quality of the appliance you have
Refrigerators and Freezers: 10 – 15 Years
Preventative maintenance tip:
Try cleaning the condenser coils, located on the back of the fridge or at the bottom of the front of the fridge, usually behind a plastic covering that spans the width of the fridge. Make sure dust and debris doesn’t remain settled on the coils. If your coils are dirty, your fridge and freezer are working harder to keep your food cold.
Dishwashers: 10 – 15 years
Preventative maintenance tip:
Clean out the drain screens at the bottom of the dishwasher regularly to help ensure a good flow of clean water. Its also a good idea to run the washer empty on the sanitize setting (or really hot) at least once every six months. This will help keep the bacteria down and the dishwasher running more smoothly.
Washer: 10 – 15 years
Preventative maintenance tips:
Avoid overloading the washing machine with too much laundry soap. Too much soap is hard on the appliance and can also be tough on your skin. Remember, also, that high efficiency washing machines use less water today than their predecessors and the soap you use can be more concentrated now when you buy HE laundry detergent.
Did you know this quick soap test? Put 4 or 5 clean and dry towels from your linen closet into the drum of the front-loading washing machine. If you have a top-loading washer, just use 1 or 2. Do not add any laundry detergent and choose the warm water cycle. After 5-6 minutes, check to see if there is any soapy residue or suds. If you see it, that’s evidence of soap left in your clothes from previous washing machine cycles!!
Dryer: 10 – 15 Years
Preventative maintenance tips:
Be sure to clean out your lint screen after every load and don’t forget to vacuum the lint ducts and hoses once in a while too. Depending on the type of dryer vent hose you have, lint build up can be a fire hazard and its best to always consider this as a possibility. If your clothes are taking too long to dry, its also possible that there is a lint build up or the vent to the exterior is blocked somewhere. Get that cleaned out.
If you need any help or would like to book an appointment for appliance repair, please give us a call. Kenco Services's certified technicians are trained and courteous and happy to help resolve whatever repair challenge you have with your appliance.
