I hope I make it to the average life expectancy for an average American male. I exercise, I don’t smoke, I do occasionally have too much to drink or eat while watching a sporting event or at a party, but overall I believe I am doing well. I also get regular wellness checkups. I want to live to be 75 or over just to get the most out of my free coffee pass at McDonald’s. I don’t expect to live forever but with proper care and maintenance (as with other things) I expect to live to about the average life expectancy.
As the resident expert on just about everything non-technology related at BobVila.com, I am often forwarded questions from our visitors. This past weekend, while looking at questions to answer, I was astounded by a visitor’s milieu of problems with her appliances. The dishwasher had gone through several months of costly repairs and her stove was lighting up more than just the burners. I cried FOUL and wanted to tell her, ”Call the manufacturers, email them, visit the Consumer Products Safety Commission Web site and look for recalls and report your problems there.” Do everything you can to get these defective appliances repaired. When I stepped back to ask the make, model and age of the appliances, I found out the appliances were in a rental unit and had survived and worked without issue for 23 years. For appliances, that is like smoking a pack a day and eating ice cream at every meal. I wanted to tell the visitor to send a letter of gratitude to the manufacturer and maybe even send them a holiday card for these appliances had outlived the average life expectancy of household appliances. A dishwasher with average use and care should last about 10 years and a stove 17 to 19 years. So what did I tell the visitor to do? I told her if she wanted to continue life support on her appliances to visit some of spots on our site for dishwasher fixes, oven help, dryer tune-ups and a fridge manual.
Fixing appliances will save money in the short run but, even with the best care, they will not last forever. Also newer appliances often use less water and are more energy-efficient. Additionally, they can create a stylish kitchen without the cost of a full kitchen remodel.
