How long do household appliances actually last?

Expected life figures are useful for one thing: deciding whether a fault is worth repairing. A given repair at year three and the same repair at year eleven are completely different decisions, and knowing roughly where an appliance sits in its life is what separates them. The ranges below are broad because usage varies enormously — a washing machine doing ten cycles a week in a hard water area and one doing three in a soft water area are not the same appliance in service terms, even if they came off the same line.

What you'll need

• The appliance's age, from the serial number or your records (optional)
• Your water hardness figure from the water company's website (optional)

Step by step

1. Establish how old the appliance actually is.The serial number on the rating plate usually encodes the week and year of manufacture, and many manufacturers publish how to read theirs. Failing that, the purchase receipt, an old bank statement, or the date of the kitchen it was fitted with.
2. Place it against a realistic range for its type.Washing machine 8 to 12 years, dishwasher 8 to 12, fridge or freezer 10 to 15, fridge-freezer 10 to 14, electric oven 12 to 17, hob 10 to 15, extractor hood 10 to 15, tumble dryer 8 to 13, microwave 7 to 10, vacuum cleaner 6 to 10, dehumidifier 5 to 10, water softener 10 to 20, waste disposal unit 8 to 15.
3. Adjust for how hard it is worked.Cycle count matters more than years. A washing machine in a household of five doing ten to fourteen washes a week will reach the bottom of its range; the same machine doing three a week will comfortably exceed the top. Manufacturers design to a total number of cycles, not to a calendar.
4. Adjust for water hardness on anything that heats water.Washing machines, dishwashers, kettles and combination boilers all lose years to scale on the heating element in a hard water area. Scale insulates the element, which then runs hotter to do the same job and eventually fails. This is the single largest regional difference in appliance life in the UK.
5. Know what actually ends each type.Washing machines: drum bearings, and on a sealed drum that is usually terminal. Dishwashers: the pump, the heater and corrosion at the sump. Fridges and freezers: the compressor, which is terminal, and door seals, which are not. Ovens: elements and door hinges, both cheap and worth doing. Tumble dryers: heater and thermostat, usually economic. Vacuum cleaners: motor bearings and cracked plastic. Dehumidifiers: refrigerant loss and compressors, generally terminal.
6. Separate the cheap faults from the terminal ones before deciding anything.Door seals, hoses, pump filters, belts, thermostats, heating elements, carbon brushes, hinges and control knobs are usually inexpensive. Sealed-drum bearings, a failed compressor, a cracked outer drum and a discontinued control board are usually the end. The fault matters more than the age.
7. Check parts availability, which caps everything else.Manufacturers must make certain spares available for a period under the current ecodesign rules, but availability for older models falls away sharply. If the part does not exist, the appliance's life is over regardless of what the ranges say.
8. Do the small maintenance that genuinely extends life.Clean the washing machine filter and run a maintenance wash; clean the dishwasher filter and keep the salt and rinse aid topped up; vacuum the fridge condenser coils and check the door seals; clean the dryer lint filter every load and the condenser regularly; wash vacuum filters. None of it is difficult and all of it moves an appliance up its range.
9. Do not confuse a long warranty with a long life.A ten-year warranty that is parts-only after year two tells you about the manufacturer's marketing more than about the machine. Build quality shows up in the bearings, the drum material, the motor type and whether parts are still sold for their decade-old models.
10. Use the range to make the repair decision, not to predict a date.These are averages with wide spreads. An appliance at year six with a cheap fault is worth repairing; the same appliance at year twelve with an expensive one usually is not. That is the only decision the numbers are good for.

Tips

• Cycle count is a better measure than age for anything with a drum. Some machines display a total cycle count in a service menu, and it is worth looking up for your model.
• In a hard water area, descaling and correct dishwasher salt use are worth more years than any brand choice.
• A washing machine that has started to sound like an aeroplane on spin is usually bearings, and on a sealed drum that is normally the end of it. Get it diagnosed before spending anything.
• Keeping the manual and the model number means the eventual repair decision takes minutes rather than an afternoon.

Common mistakes

• Treating the expected life as a deadline — These are wide averages. A well-maintained lightly used machine routinely exceeds the top of its range, and a heavily used one in hard water can fail well below the bottom of it.
• Deciding to replace before getting a diagnosis — The fault decides more than the age. Many faults on an eight-year-old machine are a cheap part and an hour of labour, and replacing instead is the most expensive possible answer.
• Assuming an expensive appliance lasts proportionally longer — Above the mid range, extra money often buys features, finish and quietness rather than years. Bearings, drum material and parts availability are what buy longevity, and they are not always what the price reflects.

Questions people ask