How long should your appliances last?
Other Columnists
My "beer fridge" dates back to 1972, the year my mom moved
my little sister and me from a duplex to a newer brick ranch just around the
block. We bought new furniture and appliances that year. It was the first time
mom had bought anything new for herself since my dad died in 1959.
The big deal was her refrigerator, an avocado Amana side-by-side with
automatic defrost and a dispenser that filled glasses with cold water and ice.
I remember teasing mom that finally she could get rid of our old fridge, a
grayish-white, rounded-door model straight from "Leave It to Beaver."
Today, Mom's old Amana sits in my garage. My "beer fridge" also chills
other summer beverages, sports drinks, sodas and juices, as well as preserving
cartons of eggs and extra vegetables. "You really are ahead of the game," says
Jill Notini, a communications specialist with the Association of Home Appliance
Manufacturers, a trade association in Washington, D.C.
According to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders
designed to see how long home appliances and mechanical systems last, our Amana
should have died in the late 1980s. Another survey, by Notini's group, says
that 21 percent of American homeowners are like me - they keep a second
refrigerator, usually in the basement or garage.
At 34 years and counting, the Amana's been one cool bargain.
But it doesn't come close to the bargain Chuck Sozio of Revere, Mass., got
with his Frigidaire. Back in 2001, the appliance manufacturer ran a contest to
find the oldest operating Frigidaire refrigerator. The winner was Sozio's 1924
model. But thousands of units dating back to the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were
discovered, according to the company.
With electric motors whirring away and gas burners spitting out blue-tipped
flames, appliances do have relatively long life-spans, the home builders'
association survey shows. While Americans like me bristle because they don't
make things like they used to, the survey says otherwise.
"Most of the appliances that last for long periods of time usually are
well-maintained," says Al Garrett, who trains home inspectors for The Home Team
Inspection Service of Cincinnati. "People seem to take care of them, keep them
clean and follow some sort of maintenance schedule." Garrett's company uses
the survey to help customers evaluate appliances and mechanical systems during
home purchases.
Ranges and ovens, gas or electric, top the longevity list (about 19 years),
with refrigerators (17 years) and dishwasher (14 years) next.
Garrett, who entered the home-inspection field the same year my mom bought
her Amana, says some of the most durable appliances are old Williamson boilers
and furnaces. "Those old Williamsons date back to the 1940s or '50s," Garrett
says. "They're only about 60 percent efficient, which is really bad by today's
standards, but they just never seem to die." (Established in 1890, the
Williamson company has since merged to become Williamson-Thermoflow of
Milwaukee.)
Jerry Blecha, who operates Advanced Home Inspections in Malverne, says
knowing how long household appliances and mechanical systems last mostly
benefits prospective buyer of resale homes. "The information lets people know
that they might have to replace something minutes after closing a deal," he
says.
For about $400 per home inspection, that's good information to have,
especially when it comes to mechanical systems. A common sight in some old Long
Island homes are electrical fuse boxes, the predecessors of service panels,
Blecha says. He also frequently inspects house with old gas stoves made by
O'Keefe or Merritt that date to the early 1950s.
Buyers might want to consider upgrading heating and electrical systems for
two reasons - energy efficiency and safety - Blecha says. Newer heating systems
burn at 93 percent efficiency or better, and old fuse boxes are a safety
issue. Fuse-style panels were not designed to carry the electrical load of
today's modern homes and can be fire hazards.
Information on appliance longevity also helps consumers make decisions on
big-ticket items, Notini says. If buyers know refrigerators will last 20 years,
they just might go for the more expensive models with more bells and whistles,
she says. More style, more status.
As for the older models, like my Amana, people keep them around for lots of
reasons. Hey, I even have an old stereo console in the basement with a
phonograph and an 8-track tape player.
Gregg Richard, president of appliance retailer P.C. Richard & Sons,
understands the appeal of old working appliances. His company started saving a
few older pieces in good working order a few years ago and display them in the
lobby of its corporate headquarters in Farmingdale. The collection features a
few ringer washers and an old television and phonograph console. "People see
old appliances and are amazed," Richard says. "I think they just really enjoy
seeing these old things; it shows them how things used to be. It's nostalgia."
Over time, people change their appliances for one main reason, says the
survey by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. "People tell us
their old one died and they needed a new one," Notini says.
That same survey also makes another surprising statement: Almost 70 percent
of consumers want their new appliance to be good, old-fashioned white.
What, no demand for an avocado side-by-side?
Life Expectancy
RANGE (GAS OR ELECTRIC) 19 years
REFRIGERATOR 17 Years
CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING 15 years
CLOTHES DRYER 14 years
WATER HEATER 13 years
CLOTHES WASHER 13 years
MICROWAVE 11 years
DISHWASHER 11 years
GARAGE DOOR OPENER 10 years
Their secret stash
Some people find strange uses for their appliances.
For example, a great uncle of mine swore his freezer was the safest place
for keeping $100 bills, wrapped in tin foil, as many as four or five at a time.
"Nephew," he'd ask me, "who would look here for money?"
Gregg Richard, president of Long Island appliance giant P.C. Richard &
Sons, recalls a customer who, several years ago, used his clothes dryer as a
safe for valuable personal items.
"This gentleman had all sorts of items, including gold coins and personal
papers, stored in a compartment in this old dryer," Richard says.
Turns out, the man had purchased a new dryer from a P.C. Richard store
somewhere in Suffolk County. When the company came out to deliver the new
dryer and cart the old one away, the customer didn't remember stashing items in
the old dryer.
By the next morning, the customer had remembered using the old dryer as a
safe, so he called the company's corporate offices. "He was frantic," Richard
says. Company officials tracked the dryer to one of eight trucks, which were
leaving that morning to deliver old appliances for recycling.
"We emptied almost every one of the eight trucks before we found it,"
Richard said. "All his papers and his jewelry were there, too."
- GARY DYMSKI
WRITE TO: Gary Dymski, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250 or e-mail
Gary.Dymski@newsday.com
