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
| Appliance | Average life |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 10-15 years |
| Chest freezer | 12-16 years |
| Washing machine | 8-12 years |
| Tumble dryer | 8-12 years |
| Dishwasher | 8-10 years |
| Built-in oven | 12-15 years |
| Gas hob | 13-17 years |
| Boiler | 12-18 years |
| Split air conditioner | 10-15 years |
| Extractor hood | 12-15 years |
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.
🔴 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.
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.