How long should your appliances last? 

How long should your appliances last?

How long should your appliances last?

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.


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