Appliance Life Cycles?

[bearslayer]

Shackbash,

Looks like you mastered the art of fixing your Amana dryer in the picture. I'm sure you've had to fix it a few times if it's 10 years old.

[Shack]

This the second time I have had it part. I firmly know this failure was induce by my wife Actually with my wife's laundry practices, I commend this dryer. Since I repaired the "spun" pulley on the motor last month, I still have caught her doubling up on dryer loads

Now, the washer is another story

I think what kills these washer and dryers more now-a-days is the little switches and sensors that fail. Most times when a failure occurs, it is only a $10-$20 part and an hour of your time, but the entire machine is scrapped for a new one.

[Justfishing]

My dishwasher is 6-8 years old and is running fine though I did think I had a problem with it this week. Turns out a piece of cellophane was blocking the discharge pump. If I hadnt looked into my self it would have been a $100+ service charge.

My washer and dryer are the same age and I agree with shackbash about the little switches. The lid switch on mine has been acting up. I picked one up for less then $20 and will be installing it shortly. Both are running strong.

If you are handy and can change out switches and drive belts stuff will last a long time. But when you have to call someone out for a repair then rolling the dice on whether to replace. A service charge will cost you around $100 just to find out if it can be repaired. So on a $300-500 appliance your a good chunk to new and it becomes a tough decison.

Recently I was at Lowes and walked through the appliance section. Front loading washers had low utility costs. Top loading varied a lot with some close to the front load for utility cost. I think they did include the cost of the water heating in the cost which makes me think the lower water volume of the front loading is where the utility savings come in. So if you tend to wash mainly in cold water then you may not get the savings.