Should I Replace My Washer or Dryer?

First off, a little background, I am a children's pastor that fixes and sells used appliances part time for extra cash. I am seeing a trend developing, the fancy front loaders and top loaders are the rave. Many home owners are upgrading to newer washer and dryers either because their old appliance has kicked the bucket, their looking to save energy, they are just looking for a machine that will fit the most clothes possible, or they are looking for a set that looks good in their new laundry room. There are many things that may spark your desire to get a new appliance, but before getting a new appliance there are a few things that you need to consider.



The newer laundry machines may look nice with their electronic control boards and flashing lights, but the cost of repair on these things are much higher than the previous generation of appliances that used mainly mechanical parts over electronic parts. The other day I picked up a very nice looking Kenmore Elite HE3 washer with all the bells and whistles. This machine was around 5 years old and cost about $1100 brand new. The bearings failed on the machine. The manufacturer suggest that the rear outer tub be replaced in order to fix this problem. The outer tub costs about $400+ if you buy it online. If you have a repair tech come out to do the repair, you would probably be spending around half the amount that you originally paid for the machine brand new. These machines have become disposable since home owners don't want to pay the price for the repair. Instead of repairing them, they are ending up in the dump.

The last repair example was a broken bearing, but what about the control boards? Control boards can cost anywhere from $100 to $300. Some machines have two control boards, the main control and the motor control. Some repairs require replacing both control boards. Wow, talk about expensive!

The life expectancy on the newer front load washers are averaging about 10 years. The previous generation of washers had a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. My grandma has laundry equipment as old as me. I don't mean to come off sounding doom and gloom about the new stuff, I'm just reporting what I've seen.

My suggestion for home owners is to do what they can to keep their older appliances going. Most parts for the previous generation of appliances are a fraction of the cost of the newer appliances. If you do the repairs yourself, you can save a load of money by keeping your older appliances. There will be a day though that the parts for your appliance become obsolete. My suggestion would then be to carefully choose the right appliance that fits your needs. Read all the reviews you can. Check out appliance repair forums and see what repair techs are saying about the machines. Do a parts search on any appliance you are considering purchasing and see what the price of new parts will be. If you are into going green, really go green and don't let your used appliance end up in a land fill. Try your best to reuse it.

If you are needing washer repair help or dryer repair help, check out WasherDryerRepairHelp.com. WDRH is full of free articles and videos that will help you to fix your washer or dryer.