How Long Do Appliances Last? Repair or Replace, Decided

The appliance breaks, an engineer comes out, says “that part’s gone” and quotes a number. The decision you make in that moment actually rests on two questions, and most people answer neither, because they only look at the quote.

The two questions: where is this appliance in its life? and how much life does this repair buy?

Average lifespans

These are averages — how hard it’s used, water hardness, whether it’s been serviced, and the build quality of the brand decide where in the range you land. A boiler that’s serviced every year sits near the top; one that’s never been touched sits near the bottom.

The rule that decides it: the half rule

The practical threshold:

If the repair costs more than half the price of a new one, and the appliance is in the last third of its expected life — replace it.

Both conditions have to hold. Neither works alone:

• Expensive repair + young appliance → repair. A three-year-old fridge’s compressor is expensive, but it has ten years ahead of it.
• Cheap repair + old appliance → repair, but budget for it to be the last one. A £120 pump in an eleven-year-old machine is worth it; a third repair on the same machine is not.
• Expensive repair + old appliance → replace. That money works harder as a deposit on the new one.

The third line nobody counts: energy

A ten-year-old fridge uses noticeably more electricity than today’s equivalent. That difference never shows up in a decision, because nobody looks at what a single appliance costs to run, but it accumulates all year.

If the call is borderline, do this: check the appliance’s energy rating and compare it against the equivalent sold today. Two classes of difference tilts it toward replacing.

Three corrections to the half rule: age, part, repetition

The half rule is a good start but blunt on its own; three corrections sharpen it. Age: even below the half line, be careful if the appliance is in the last quarter of its expected life — at that age the first major repair is rarely the last, because one part gets renewed while every other part stays old. Part: which component failed matters as much as what the repair costs. Heart components — compressor, bearings, motor, control board — genuinely add life when repaired. Peripheral parts — hinges, seals, hoses — say nothing about remaining life, and a cheap peripheral repair doesn’t change the truth of an old machine. Repetition: the same fault arriving twice is a signal independent of price. A part replaced a second time says either the root cause was never found or the machine’s working conditions wear that part — both ways, replacement joins the table before a third repair.

Together the corrections compress into one sentence: the half rule measures the price; these three measure the future. The decision lives at the intersection.

If the answer is replace: retire the old one intelligently

A “replace” verdict spawns a second, smaller decision: what happens to the old machine? Three routes, in order. If it runs, sell it or pass it on — every working appliance has a buyer in the used market; the machine you call inefficient may fit someone else’s budget exactly. Hand over the service receipts and warranty paperwork with it. They defend the price. If it doesn’t run, ask about part value — some repairers and collectors buy dead machines as donor stock. Failing both, recycle it — municipal and retailer take-back schemes exist, and having the old unit collected on new-delivery day is usually the most practical route.

And one word on timing: the reward for not leaving the replacement decision to breakdown day is large. Decide today that “the next major failure retires this machine”, and the model research and price watching happen calmly in advance — breakdown day becomes merely the day the order is placed. Panic purchasing is the most expensive way to buy an appliance.

On the phone with the repairer: open the quote up

The repair decision usually happens on a phone call where a single number is offered: “it’ll be about this much.” To actually decide, open that number up — three questions do it. “Which part, and how much is labour?” The part/labour split is what makes a comparison quote from a second service meaningful. “How many months of warranty on the new part?” A major repair with no parts warranty is buying the same risk twice. “Roughly how much longer does this repair buy the machine?” An honest engineer answers with a range, and that range is the other half of the half rule: a repair that buys two years and one that buys six months are not the same decision even at the same price.

These three questions continue what you do before calling a service: the preparation there describes the fault; the questions here weigh the quote. Together they turn “whatever the engineer says” into a decision made with information.

🔴 The one thing this decision needs

The second half of the rule — “is it in the last third of its life?” — requires knowing how old the appliance is.

In most homes that number doesn’t exist. “I think we bought it when we moved in” isn’t something you can calculate with. Nor is there an answer to “what have I already spent on this one”, and on a third repair, that total is what should decide it.

Duevo records exactly that: every appliance logged with its purchase date and warranty expiry, the invoice photo alongside, and each service written into its history. So when the engineer quotes a number, you can see the appliance’s age and everything it has cost you so far on one screen, and decide with a figure instead of a guess.

For an annual plan across the whole house see the appliance maintenance schedule. For the final month of cover, 5 things to do before your warranty expires; and before you call anyone, 6 things to do before you call a repair service.

There’s a version of this same calculation you make at the till: is an extended warranty worth it.

If you replace and sell the old one, whether the warranty transfers changes the price: transferring a warranty on a used appliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a refrigerator last? On average 10-15 years. Frequent door opening, a dusty condenser coil and a hot location shorten it; keeping ventilation clearance and cleaning the back once a year extends it. Compressor failure usually arrives near the end of that range and is the most expensive repair it can have.

Should I repair or replace an appliance? Replace when the repair costs more than half the price of a new unit and the appliance is in the last third of its expected life. If only one of those is true, repairing is usually the better economics. To judge it properly you need the appliance’s age and what it has already cost you in repairs.

How do I find out how old an appliance is? If you don’t have the receipt, the serial number on the rating plate encodes the year of manufacture for most brands — the manufacturer’s service line can decode it. To avoid the problem next time, record the purchase date and keep the invoice from day one.