Appliance Handbook For Women

Service vs. Replacement

At some point you are going to come to this cross road. I have seen many customers that believe it is a waste of money to have a service tech come out to do a repair. Sometimes that is true. Look over the physical condition of your appliance before you call for service. If you see rust, broken or missing parts such as shelves, handles, knobs and so forth then it may be time to look at replacing the appliance. But if your appliances are under 10 years old and in good shape the repair might be much less than the cost of replacement. Of course you will need to make sure you have an honest repair person to do the job. See chapter 12 for tips on this.

There are a lot of service techs that will tell you that you are better off to spend the money to keep your old machine going because it is better made than a new one. You have to decide that based on the physical condition and how well you like the appliance. This is what I tell my customers when they ask for my opinion. If your appliance is 10 years old or older and the total repair is more than a third of the price of a new one, then you may be wasting money to repair it. If one part is bad on a machine that age, all the other parts also have the same wear and may or may not be far behind on needing to be replaced. If you really like the appliance and want to fix it keep in mind that only the bad part is being replaced. If any other part fails down the road it will cost additional to replace it. You may end up spending more to repair it over the long run than to replace it now.

I have also run into customers that will call for service and pay the price for a service call and not be willing to spend any money to have the repair done. Keep in mind that to have any appliance checked out you will have to pay at least a service charge or trip charge. No reputable company will send a tech to your house and spend the time to properly check your appliance for free. If you are not going to fix the appliance for any price don’t waste your money for a service call. Also keep in mind when looking into replacement that there are other costs to include for things like delivery and installation. Be sure to include all of these costs into your decision.

1. New dryers

New dryers use a lot less energy to run than older dryers.  The newer the dryer the more this is true. Because of that, the newer dryers require some different hook ups than your older dryer. Venting is the most important thing on your dryer, old or new. The vent going out of your house needs to be 4” in diameter and has to be keep clean all the way through to keep you dryer running properly. Many people believe that the lint filter catches all the lint. This has never been true. The older dryers never caught all the lint.  The biggest difference is today''s newer washers don’t filter lint.   They agitate the clothes a lot faster loosening a lot more lint from the clothing.  Thus, your dryer has to remove all the lint. Newer clothing, like everything else, is different and most fabrics release more lint. So now your dryer is sucking out a lot more lint and filling your vent with more lint. You can read more about cleaning your vent in section 2 of this chapter.

You may also hear some strange noises in your new dryer.  Some of these are normal due to the changes made in manufacturing. To find out if the noise is a normal noise for that dryer, refer to the owner’s manual.  If the noise is not described in the owner’s manual, call the manufacturer at the number listed in the owner’s manual. Many people call where they purchased the product and ask the sales person or the service counter people. It is rare that these people would know if your model is supposed to make a certain noise. Your best bet is to call the manufacturer to be sure. Remember your warranty will not cover a service call on your new product if the product is not actually broken. Your newer dryer does not get as hot as the older ones and they use more air and less heat to do the job. The newer washers spin the clothes out a lot faster so they are not as wet going into the dryer. If you purchase a new dryer and keep a older washer you may find it takes a little longer to dry due to the fact your older washer does not spin as fast as the newer ones. Don’t confuse this with having a restricted vent.  See section 2 on “takes too long to dry” to be sure. If your dryer is hooked up properly and you keep your vent cleaned you will get several years of use and most likely will never have a service call.