Major appliances with a 5-6 year life span? (heater, vacuum, microwave)
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Front load washer - replaced control board under warranty (was actually 1 month out but I complained to corporate and they took care of it), recently replaced water inlet valve that was leaking.
Refrigerator (Maytag junk) - Replaced the control board at least 3 times (maybe 4)
Dishwasher (Maytag junk) - junked after a year
Dishwasher (Kenmore) - actually has been not too bad. Recently had to replace the door tub liner as it had a small crack in the plastic near the base (first thought it was the door seal) About $50 when identified the part and ordered it on-line. Kenmore on-line chat helped me identify the part number. So maybe lasted 10 years? Probably if had called service person would have been $200-$300 if they identified it correctly so if paying that much would have made more sense to replace.
Dryer - Until recently was using the one from the old house. Held up great for 20 yrs no problem. Probably should have tried to fix it when it went under but was enamored with new shiny technology so got a new one.
Notice the (fairly) common factors here?
Control boards.
I have a.. Hotpoint fridge.. Old style, top freezer/bottom fridge unit.. No computers in it at all. I bought it 7 years ago, 'gently used'.. I had one problem with it.. The evaporator fan motor failed.. Replaced it myself for $60.
Stove is a basic electric.. nothing fancy at all.. No problems out of it whatsoever. Bought it used as well, again, 7 years ago.
Washer/Dryer are.. Probably close to 15 years old now.. The only 'advanced' feature on the dryer is Auto-Dry.. never a problem from either of them.
Dishwasher is relatively new.. 5 years, perhaps.. It's got a recall on it, but I haven't had time to get that done.. Its' on the heating element, which I don't use anyway..
The more crapola they plug into these things, the more there is to go wrong. The basic, cheap models tend to last longer. You get a power surge.. Boom, there goes the computer controlling your fancy fridge and therefore, there goes the fancy fridge. Your old school items don't have all these sensitive components and can handle a surge.. Hell, some things can handle everything but a direct lightning strike and the worst problem you might have is a popped fuse.
Now, with a fridge especially.. The compressor is the great unknown. I've seen those fail after a month.. I've seen them last over 30 years(I replaced one of those puke-green 1976 fridges at my grandmother's house in 2006.. It was still running strong, but the drip pan had rusted out). In general, you get a 5 or 10 year warranty on the compressor/sealed system.. LG gives 5 years.. Samsung is 5 years from what I recall.. Maytag gives 10 years.. Whirlpool is 5 years.
Edit.. Crap, I just realized i've been in my house 9 years now.. So, what I said above about buying things 7 years ago? Make that 9.
I don't see a date on that article.. But i'd say it's probably better than 5 years old.. Raise those numbers by about 20% and i'll buy into it.
What is not mentioned there is the fact that you also have to wait for the compressor to come in.. Which is probably a week, because those are special order parts.
There's also no mention of the charging/recovery/environmental fees that you get charged for that smart, certified tech to handle that dangerous refrigerant.. The added time they'll charge you for to disconnect and reconnect water lines.
All that being said.. A $2500 fridge.. Yes, it still would be cost effective to have it repaired. A $600 fridge? Not so much.
New stuff do last less then old stuff but it also depends how much you use. Those regular washer machines ( not energy efficient ones) that cost 400$ brand new do only last about 5 years. I know some women use to by them just to wash cloth diapers in them. Energy efficient ones should last 15 years. My mother had her washer for 30 years but it had one major work done on it that was probably not worth it. She was attached to it so she got it fixed but for maybe 200$ more she could have bought a new one. Also,people really did wear stuff more them ones and used towel more then ones compared to today. I bet people doubled clothes washing practice in the past 20 years.
Renter can destroy stuff. If they use stove all the time, forget to turn off the over on regular basis....I guess all those things take toll on appliance. Maybe you can factor that into rent. If you know this people don't care, hit them on their wallet.
We took advantage of our states tax free weekend and bought a new range. We are moving ours to a rental house where their ranges oven stopped working. I think those renters were tough on the appliances since in 8 years they managed to break the dish washer, the fridge and now the stove.
I talked to the salesman about the longevity of these appliances and I was shocked when he told me that everything on the floor has a life span of 5-6 years !
So I'm expected to buy a $2500 fridge a $1000 stove and a $600 dishwasher and I should plan on returning in 5-6 years? SO anything beyond that is a bonus?
My Mom had a Kenmore stove that lasted her 30 years and the only reason she dumped it was she remodeled her kitchen and the olive colour on the stove didn't match anything.
This suggested 5-6 year life span was on everything including the higher end Kitchen aide appliances.
When I worked in property management I remember the Bosch and Miele appliances had just as many problems as the Kenmores and Maytags.
The phrase "They don't make them like they used to" certainly applies here.
Seems to be. We had a GE washer that self-destructed after 7 years- and that was after two visits from the GE repair guy within the last two years to fix problems with the washer. We replaced it with a Kenmore from Sears. Don't know that the new one will be any better than the GE though.
From the reviews on various appliances I read online, it seems hard to find an appliance that will be troublefree and last as long as those old ones did. I figure there is no point in spending any more money than you have to when you replace them.
I think those longer appliance life terms are very dated.
I have a family of 5 and we use our appliances alot more than, for comparison's sake, my mother did. I cook most meals at home and use my range at least twice a day. Mom used hers once a day--and it was gas. I don't remember her having any of the issues I have had with my refrigerator. Maybe they were made better back then?
As kids, we changed out of school clothes and, more often than not, they didn't need to be washed. We wore one "play" outfit a week that we changed into after school. Oh. my. gosh. Between school. sports, and work, the kids go through 3 smelly/dirty outfits a day and a lot more laundry.
Anyway, here's my completely unofficial list:
electric range (maytag), lasted about 15 years. Current range (GE) works, but I can tell it is not as good as my old one.
Washer & Dryer (previous Whirlpool, lasted maybe 8 years), currently have LG and LOVE them. But they are fancier so who knows.
Refrigerator: (previous Fridigidaire (Oh, how I hate that brand) and lasted around 7 years), replaced with a Whirlpool and so far, so good. I've never had the water line/ice maker work as long as the fridge. This could be due to the fact that my big dogs have always figured out how to use their tongues to get their own cold water on the outside dispenser. Sadly, I did not initially know that they were doing this. Yuck.
My microwaves last, on average, 5 years.
I do not buy the cheapest things out there, either. I generally read reviews/consumer reports and buy mid-range.
I don't know if this is true for Whirlpool refrigerators, but our water line quit working on our 7 year old GE fridge about 3 years ago (about a year out of warranty, of course), apparently due to water repetitively freezing in the lines from the filter to the water dispenser. The fix apparently is to stand in front of the dispenser with a hair dryer on high, and blow on the $&*%! $$ thing for long enough ( has taken well over an hour each time ) for the ice in the line to melt. The repair guy (we didn't know what the problem was and called GE the first time) told us that this was a design problem with the newer models of this fridge. He said that older models had the water lines insulated so they were better protected from freezer temps, but that for cost-cutting purposes they had eliminated this insulation on later models. Well, the fix doesn't last very long, and nobody in this house wants to stand in front of the fridge blowing a hair dryer on the water dispenser for two days of water from the fridge line, so we have just let it go. The ice maker still works well, as does the fridge and freezer, so we are not about to replace it at this point.
All the appliances in the rental were fridgedaire. not top of the line but not cheap either. They broke the new dishwasher in about 2 years. I took it apart expecting to find broken glass in the pump but no. I never replaced that because they said they would rather do dished by hand.. weird I know but ti saved me money.
The side by side with ice on the door lasted them 4-5 years. The ice maker broke first then the compressor. It was going to be half as much as a new fridge to fix the old one so they got a new basic fridge now. So far so good.
The stove lost the oven part but the glass top still worked. I took it apart and started testing circuits and got as far as the main board, power goes in and nothing comes out. A new board was $300 so it made more sense to buy us a new shiny one with all the gadgets and they get our old basic Kenmore.
I hope they don't blow that up since it is at least 12 years old.
Renters are very hard on things.
I would say that things don't last long due to all the electronics in them. In the old days if it didn't work you could hit it with a hammer and get it going again but now not so.
I knew that sales guy was exagerating when he said everything has a life span of 5-6 years. Maybe in his house it does... come to think of it he is a renter.
I have a.. Hotpoint fridge.. Old style, top freezer/bottom fridge unit.. No computers in it at all. I bought it 7 years ago, 'gently used'.. I had one problem with it.. The evaporator fan motor failed.. Replaced it myself for $60.
Stove is a basic electric.. nothing fancy at all.. No problems out of it whatsoever. Bought it used as well, again, 7 years ago.
Washer/Dryer are.. Probably close to 15 years old now.. The only 'advanced' feature on the dryer is Auto-Dry.. never a problem from either of them.
Dishwasher is relatively new.. 5 years, perhaps.. It's got a recall on it, but I haven't had time to get that done.. Its' on the heating element, which I don't use anyway..
The more crapola they plug into these things, the more there is to go wrong. The basic, cheap models tend to last longer. You get a power surge.. Boom, there goes the computer controlling your fancy fridge and therefore, there goes the fancy fridge. Your old school items don't have all these sensitive components and can handle a surge.. Hell, some things can handle everything but a direct lightning strike and the worst problem you might have is a popped fuse.
Now, with a fridge especially.. The compressor is the great unknown. I've seen those fail after a month.. I've seen them last over 30 years(I replaced one of those puke-green 1976 fridges at my grandmother's house in 2006.. It was still running strong, but the drip pan had rusted out). In general, you get a 5 or 10 year warranty on the compressor/sealed system.. LG gives 5 years.. Samsung is 5 years from what I recall.. Maytag gives 10 years.. Whirlpool is 5 years.
Edit.. Crap, I just realized i've been in my house 9 years now.. So, what I said above about buying things 7 years ago? Make that 9.
^^THIS^^
The design of extra features on appliances is mostly to blame (especially as they've made more electronic controls) - much like multi function consumer electronic devices and in the computer peripheral industry. Eventually some feature breaks. If its not that important you can live with it. For instance, making my own ice cubes is not difficult nor do I care for fancy door configurations.
The other thing that would be good to have on ratings of appliance is the actual life cycle numbers from testing. I don't think any manufacturer does so (and last time I bought major appliance, a GE refrigerator), they just have estimated energy ratings.
I go with buying the de-featured mule type appliance. The Sharp microwave I've had about 12 years, current oven/range is from prior owner had and it's probably ten years old (plain electric). I've often thought a new appliance manufacturer could steal major market share by purposely building "mule" type products with longer expected life cycles that are de-featured and energy efficient. A real "green" economy would dispose of the planned obsolescence business model of short life cycles.
Some of it is the optimization of space issue. My parents original refrigerator bought in 1948 was still 'working' after they passed, but the internal space was negligible and the mechanical portion took up a lot of space and was very heavy! Eventually we just got rid of it.
Generally, most de-featured basic white goods appliances will still last from 10-15 years if treated well. The rental environment can be harsh with a variety of users many of which will have little concern for care and are more apt to be abusive in treatment. When I lived in rent the cream color refrigerator in my unit had to be at least 10-15 years old and was fine for the 13 years I lived there. I remember asking my old landlord of large 150 plus unit apartment building about appliances, and she lamented the decline herself and stated they worked hard to replace component parts on existing refrigerators whenever they could and would have maintenance person cannibalize certain working parts when possible.
Agree that teching-up items that don't need the tech often leads to short life spans, especially since mfgrs seem to use the cheapest possibly electronic parts in items subject to heat and humidity and vibration.
We bought a range hood recently, and many of them now have touch screens. Touch screens to turn on a fan! Why?!? From the reviews we read, failing electronics seemed to be by far the most common failure mode, and most hoods are only warranted for a year. We instead went for a 'mule' as a previous poster mentioned: two knobs (fan speed, light dimmer), which move old-school rheostats. An electrician from 1925 would understand it just fine. 7 year warranty.
I also wonder how long our washer will last due to a 'smart' feature. It's a couple of years old already, and per new energy efficiency regulations even on 'hot' it adjusts to a max target temperature rather than letting the hot run full. So the solenoid inlet valves are chattering and banging constantly, like rapid morse code, as it tries to modulate the temperature (I tried counting valve cycles per load once, but stopped counting at 100 open/closes during the first 'warm' fill). That's gotta stress the washer a lot, not to mention my 70 year old plumbing!
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