Repair is usually worth it when the appliance is well short of its typical lifespan and the fix costs less than half the price of a comparable new one, a rule of thumb Consumer Reports gave for years. Replace it when it's near the end of its expected life, needs a sealed-system or main-board repair close to that 50% line, or shows safety warning signs like scorching, a gas smell or a shock.
Start with a real diagnosis
You can't make the call until you know what's broken. A dryer that won't heat might need an inexpensive thermal fuse, or a heating element that costs a lot more. A fridge that's warm might have dusty coils or a dead compressor. The repair-or-replace answer is completely different for each.
Write down any error code, look it up on our code pages, and do the free checks first: power, settings, filters and the obvious clogs. If that doesn't fix it, a service call gets you a diagnosis and a written quote. Ask the technician for the part name and the labor separately so you can compare.
Apply the 50 percent rule
Consumer Reports put it plainly in a 2014 release: no matter who does the repair, don't spend more than 50 percent of the cost of a new product on fixing an old one. Price a replacement with the features you actually use, add delivery, installation and haul-away, and compare that total with the repair quote.
Treat the rule as a starting point. NerdWallet reports that Consumer Reports has since refined that advice, using member data on products bought from 2012 through 2022, into interactive tools that weigh purchase price, age, repair cost and how fast each category depreciates. Those tools lean toward repair for pricier appliances. The same repair bill that's an easy yes on a high-end built-in refrigerator can be a coin toss on a basic top-load washer.
Compare the age to typical lifespans
Age tells you how much life you'd be buying with the repair. Two widely cited sets of figures are below: the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) life-expectancy table as reproduced by the USDA Forest Service, and 2019 estimates from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) as reported by NerdWallet. They don't match exactly, because they come from different studies and different years, and your own appliance can beat or miss them by a wide margin depending on use and care.
A repair that puts a 4-year-old dishwasher back in service is buying many years. The same repair on one that's already past both figures may only buy time until the next part fails.
- Refrigerators: NAHB lists 17 years for a standard refrigerator and 14 for a compact. AHAM puts top-freezer models at 14 years and side-by-side models at 11.1.
- Dishwashers: NAHB lists 10 years. AHAM's estimate is 12.
- Clothes dryers: NAHB lists 14 years. AHAM's estimate is 13.4.
- Washers: NAHB lists 13 years for automatic and compact washers. AHAM puts top-loaders at 11.2 years and front-loaders at 9.1.
- Freezers: NAHB lists 16 years for a standard freezer and 12 for a compact. NerdWallet's AHAM list has no freezer figure.
- Ranges: NAHB lists 17 years for electric and 19 for gas. AHAM puts electric at 11.6 and gas at 14.2.
Repairs that usually make sense
Plenty of common failures are cheap parts with modest labor. When a repair like this comes up on an appliance in the first half of its life, fixing it is almost always the better deal:
- Washers: drain pump, door lock, lid switch, inlet valve, drive belt.
- Dryers: thermal fuse, heating element, igniter, drum belt, idler pulley, drum rollers.
- Dishwashers: drain pump, inlet valve, door latch, spray arms, filter assembly.
- Refrigerators: evaporator or condenser fan motor, defrost heater or sensor, door gasket, water inlet valve, ice maker assembly.
- Air conditioners: condensate pump, clogged drain line, a temperature sensor or the indoor fan motor, with anything electrical done by a technician.
Repairs that push toward replacing
Some repairs are expensive no matter the brand. A refrigerator compressor or sealed-system leak means a certified technician has to recover the refrigerant, open the system, braze in parts and recharge it. On a fridge near the end of its life, that bill often lands near or above the 50 percent line. The same goes for an AC or heat pump compressor, an indoor coil replacement, washer tub bearings, and main control boards on some models.
Parts availability matters, too. Older models can have boards and motors that are back-ordered or discontinued. Ask the technician to confirm the part is in stock before you approve the job, and ask about a warranty on the repair itself.
Safety signs that mean stop and get it checked
Some symptoms aren't a cost question at all. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker and don't use it again until a qualified technician has looked at it if you see any of these:
- A burning or hot-plastic smell, smoke, or scorch marks on the cord, plug, outlet or inside the cabinet.
- A tingle or shock when you touch the appliance or water near it.
- A breaker or GFCI that trips every time the appliance runs.
- Any smell of gas near a gas dryer or range. Leave the house and call your gas utility from outside.
- An oily residue or hissing at refrigerant tubing, or a refrigerator or AC that keeps losing cooling after recharges.
- Water leaking where it can reach wiring, or a cracked washer tub or dishwasher tub.
Factor in energy use, especially for old fridges
Running costs can tip the scale. ENERGY STAR says a refrigerator more than 15 years old could be costing you about $95 a year more to run, and that an old fridge uses about 20 percent more energy on average than an ENERGY STAR model. AHAM adds that an old unit kept as a second fridge in the garage, where temperature swings make it work harder, can push your energy use up for no good reason.
ENERGY STAR estimates about $150 in savings over a new certified fridge's 12-year life when you recycle the old one and replace it, which won't pay for a new fridge on its own. It does change the math when you're deciding whether a big repair on a 15-year-old unit is worth it. Your utility may also offer a rebate or a pickup bounty for the old one.
Get rid of the old one properly
Refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers contain refrigerant that has to be recovered before the unit is scrapped. EPA puts that responsibility on the final disposer, usually the scrapyard or recycler. EPA suggests arranging pickup through your public works department, the retailer, a utility rebate or bounty program, or another recycler. Many retailers take the old unit away when they deliver the new one.
EPA warns that appliances left at the curb may be landfilled or otherwise disposed of unsafely, and it advises against reselling old units because they use so much electricity. While an old fridge or freezer waits for pickup, take the doors off or have them removed so a child can't get trapped inside.
When to call a professional
Get a professional diagnosis and written quote before you decide on anything beyond a simple part swap, especially for compressors, sealed systems, control boards and anything gas-fired. Ask for parts and labor listed separately and for the repair warranty terms.