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Wednesday 19 February 2025
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A Complete Guide to Making Your Home Appliances Last Long

Appliances are some of the first and biggest investments you make when you move into your house. Since they cost a lot of money, you should be able to use them for a long time. To make sure that happens, here are steps you should take to maintain your appliances in top shape.

Air Conditioning Unit

If you live in an area with extreme temperatures, especially in the summer, air conditioning is not a luxury but a necessity. You might be using this appliance continuously for days on end. Do you have to worry about that continuous use?

Good quality air conditioners should last around 10 to 15 years. That is if you do a great job maintaining it. If not, expect to be buying a replacement sooner than ten years.

To make sure your air conditioner lasts that long, schedule regular maintenance with an HVAC service provider. Make sure to have the unit cleaned and the filters changed. Don’t wait until your air conditioning unit starts to blow warm air before you call for a service. The goal is to maintain it and prevent anything like this from happening.

To address the question above, yes, you have to give your air conditioning unit a break from time to time. When you leave the house, you can turn it off. When you sleep at night, and it’s not that hot, you can opt for a fan instead.

Washing Machine

Can you imagine cleaning all your dirty laundry by hand? If you cannot, then take care of your washing machine.

People have the tendency to follow the appliance manual only in the first few weeks from purchase. Months into using an automatic washing machine, or any appliance for that matter, the manual can’t be found anywhere. Thank god for soft copies on the Internet.

You must follow the maintenance guidelines written in the manual. If it says that after every wash you to spin-dry the machine, do it. Every month, perform tub hygiene. Remove and clean the lint filter after every use. Don’t overload laundry.

Using the right kind and amount of detergent also adds to the possibility of your washing machine celebrating another birthday. Too many suds can damage your machine, so you are encouraged to use liquid detergent for automatic machines.

Help your washing machine make it to its 12th birthday. That is the average lifespan for properly cared for washers.

Refrigerator

Your refrigerator must be the most expensive appliance in your kitchen. To squeeze out as much life as possible out of this expensive machine, do the following.

Make sure you don’t overload your fridge. Poor air circulation inside the fridge can make the ref’s compressor work harder to cool the inside. Check if the door seals are tight; otherwise, this contributes to energy loss and unnecessary electricity spending.

Maintain the exterior finish of your refrigerator by only using mild detergent and washcloth when cleaning it. Regular cleaning can help prevent the existence of rust, especially in the corners. Also, avoid placing heavy objects on top of your fridge.

Make sure the coils are clean all the time. When the back of your refrigerator heats up too much, it’s a sign that the compressor is working hard to keep the temperature. Make sure nothing is blocking the back of your fridge. Clean the back with a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner.

Do all these regularly, and your ref can last long, up to 15 years.

Stove and Oven

The most used appliance in your kitchen is the stove. They also get pretty dirty every time you cook. Some food debris is hard to clean, especially if it has been there for a long time. Make it a habit to clean the stove thoroughly after every use.

The burner head-on gas cooktop burners are prone to food particles. Clean it when it has cooled down. A needle is a good weapon against clogged ignition ports caused by none other than food particles.

Your oven is also not safe from food particles, and it’s even harder to clean. Make sure to deep clean your oven at least two times annually. Be careful when you use chemical cleaning solutions. They can get behind the knobs of the oven and damage the internal wiring.

Make sure you clean the racks and dry them properly before returning them to the oven. Use your oven’s self-cleaning feature but not all the time as it can damage the unit in the long run.

Final Thoughts

Maintaining your home appliances is a lot of work. But it will also take a lot of work to afford to buy a replacement to do the best you can.