Is It Time to Replace Your Major Appliances?

Major appliances don’t last forever. It’s a sad fact of homeownership.

One day the boiler will go cold. The microwave will beep no more. The window air conditioning unit will grow warm.

Each one is expected to last only a certain time. If that time is just around the corner, maybe you should be heading to the store to check out some deals.

It’s good to keep the ages of your major appliances in mind—even if your home is relatively new construction.

“I’m finding homes and condos that have been built 10 and 12 years ago, that were built in the housing boom,” says REALTOR® Marty Winefield in Chicago. “While the quality of the construction has been fine, the mechanicals are running up against their lifespan.”

So what are the averages?

One caveat before we start: Appliance Magazine, a national trade journal, publishes an annual study that lists how long people tend to keep their major appliances, numbers oft-cited by the news media. The National Association of Home Builders uses their data, and the numbers match most of those used by the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.

But editor Tim Soheil says the data doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual life span. It reflects when people shop for new appliances—possibly because they’re remodeling and not necessarily because the oven conked out.

“Wall ovens can last 15 years or more,” he notes. “There’s just not that much in them to break down, so they do last quite a long time in terms of durability. But how long you have them installed, it could be much shorter on average.”

Still, the following numbers give some idea of how long you might expect, on average, to keep a major appliance in your home:

• Boiler: 13 to 21 years
• Washing machine: 5 to 15 years
• Dryer: 13 years
• Refrigerator: 9 to 13 years
• Freezer: 10 to 20 years
• Gas oven: 10 to 18 years
• Window A/C: 5 to 7 years
• Kitchen disposal: 12 years
• Microwave: 9 years

The average lengths depend on a host of things—including frequency of use, manufacturing quality and the weather.

Dave Quandt, a vice president with American Home Shield (which handles warrantiesfor home appliances, among other services), notes that central air conditioning systems should last 15 to 20 years‚ but if you live in a coastal area, your system might last no more than a decade.

So if you’re trying to weigh how long you have left with your current appliances—or those built into the house you’ve just bought—consider all the factors that could impact the lifetime of your equipment.

Contact Stacey Guzanick 262.490.3696,   RE/MAX Realty Center  Guzanick@gmail.com,  if you have questions about buying a house or selling one.

I can  guide you  toward your next home.

www.HomesWithStacey.com

See you at the closing!