Thursday, February 16, 2017

Appliances Don't Last as Long Anymore

When I was growing up, household appliances seemed to last forever, or at least I don't ever remember replacing them.  While growing up, we had the same refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, range the entire time.   Also, my mom had the same vacuum cleaner until it became too heavy to use after 40 years.

Nowadays, household appliances seem to have a much shorter life.  Recently, we replaced a 25 year old dishwasher and double oven.  The sales representative told us the life of the new dishwasher was about 8-10 years.  The working life of the double oven was also 8-10 years.  The quoted lives are based on standard usage.  Since we use our dishwasher three times more than the standard, we may get a shorter useful life.  We use our oven less than the standard, so it will probably last longer.

So even though we just replaced our kitchen appliances, we'll probably need to replace them 1-3 more times during our retirement years.   There is silver lining benefit to the short replacement cycle.   Although I'd prefer to keep the same appliance, I must admit the newer appliance are function much better, and in the case of our dishwasher, much quieter.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or appliance advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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