Does Anyone Proactively Replace Appliances/HVAC?

[rmorris50]

We bought a new build in 2020 and the developers put in a fridge that wasn’t truly counter top depth. It quickly became apparent that it was way to crowded to the island. So we replaced a perfectly nice new fridge with a true counter depth and it makes a total difference on ease of accessing the fridge.

The fireplace they put in was cheap too, so we upgraded a that as well even tho the cheap one technically worked.

Since we were trying to get into the house during COVID I think supply issues contributed to what the developers used.

 

[OldShooter]

We installed a high efficiency furnace maybe 10 years ago. Three or four years ago in the fall, the induced draft blower bearings started making the whine of death, so I decided to solve the problem before winter. Semi-proactive, I guess. Of course, one cannot buy the blower or the bearings so I had to buy a $400 subsystem. A couple of years ago, a bearing in the new unit started crying, but our HVAC contractor got the replacement unit under warranty.

 

[Exchme]

We replaced both furnace/AC units last year, which cost $17K. They cool the house better because the multi-speed motors allow them to better match the load and so run more hours and dehumidify. Unexpectedly, the room that could never be heated/cooled properly is also better.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

My LG gas stove/oven failed last fall and I had no luck getting it serviced here in my rural area. I suspected it was just a failed ignitor, but I was unwilling to replace it myself using YouTube video training. So I bought a new one. But I also made it a BTD moment and replaced the perfectly good refrigerator, microwave, and dishwasher so that they would all match in color/style/manufacturer. I had a mixture of various manufacturers stainless steel before. One brother self-repaired the stove for less than $150 and is using it in his kitchen. Another brother took the microwave and fridge for his basement/garage kitchen.

My furnace is coming up on 28 years old. So I toy with replacing it each year. But it works fine and gets a maintenance check each year. We will see on that one.

 

[COcheesehead]

A few houses ago - a 1926 Craftsman bungalow - we replaced about a 40 year old furnace and added A/C. We also replaced a water heater of undetermined age. All in at the time was about $4000. Why? We were putting the house on the market. I made sure to Sharpie the install dates clearly on both so people touring could see their age. The house sold quickly and at asking.

In retrospect the increased efficiency of the furnace would have paid for it over time and the A/C would have been nice all the years we lived there.
We vowed to make improvements from then on early so we could enjoy them.

 

[CRLLS]

I usually do not replace appliances until they break down and are not easily repairable. About 25-30 years ago I replace a forced air heater because the differences in efficiency made it an easy decision. A few years back I replaced a working water heater that was 27 years old on general principle. I mean, it was that old. However, I had Sulphur odors afterwards where I didn't before. It took me a while to resolve that. The mfgr suggested a resistance anode that worked for about a week. After reading about them on the internet, I then changed the anode to an electric version. No problems. The original water heater had no anode at all, none, not one that was fully depleted.

 

[Mark1]

..... Obviously it’s an inconvenience but the life of appliances isn’t really predictable, ......

Therein lies the problems. If you want to be proactive, then you should probably replace them once the warranty runs out, since the vendor probably has the most data on reliable life expectancy. Seems expensive and wasteful to me.

 

[Aerides]

While in general, I'm a "no" on proactive replacement, once something is getting up there, it's a good idea to shop and have in mind prices/items/locations for your replacement. Better to have that pre-work done before you suddenly need a new fridge.

We have our old fridge in the garage, so we'll make do in a crunch. If we didn't, I might be more proactive on that one. But DW/MW/W-D/Stove? Nah. Can go a week or three if needed on any of those.

 

[Midpack]

I had my water heater replaced when it was 18 years old. Still worked but I didn’t want to deal with having no hot water for days on end. This was 2021 right before I retired.

This last November I had my 19 year old refrigerator replaced. It was still working but again I didn’t want to deal with not having one for days or weeks depending on availability.

So I guess my answer is yes I have replaced appliances that were still working.
And I will continue to do so. I’m not the least bit mechanically inclined and I’m at the mercy of others on how quickly something new can be installed. The last few years that’s been pretty sketchy.
Prevention is a better option for me.

Replacing at 18 and 19 years seems more than reasonable. Unfortunately I had a Whirlpool washer that was still going strong after 26 years, with a $9 and a $20 DIY repair to keep it going. For all I know it's still going strong at 30, as I left in our old house to new owners.

I may start replacing some appliances before they quit, like AC and HW heater. The only kitchen appliances that ever failed me were a disposal and a microwave, both easy DIY replacements. Losing a fridge or freezer would be a serious inconvenience, might do that proactively if they get too old.

 

[Walt34]

It's kind of a judgment call, depending on a host of factors, like what happens if the appliance fails, is there a backup (such as a wood stove for a furnace) that may be inconvenient but doable, and the like.

At our old house the A/C died in the middle of fall during ideal weather (not too cold, not too hot) but when they took the plenum off the furnace the first thing the guy said was "that heat exchanger does not look good". I had to agree, and it was 30+ years old so I'd definitely got my nickel's worth. So we opted to replace the furnace too since it was already half apart anyway. And we didn't have a backup for the furnace.

I wouldn't do that for the central A/C, since we have two "backup" window air conditioners, one that I'd bought 40+ years ago and still works, and one that I bought on a whim at a garage sale for $20.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Yes me. (Answer to OP's initial title question) I just replaced a dishwasher that was working but 13 years old and showing it's age.

Monday (Tomorrow) I am having a new upstairs HVAC installed (We have 2). It is still working but the Heat pump is very rusty, and the coil fins are starting to corrode badly.

Never want to be without AC in Florida in the summer.

 

[FI_RElater]

... in a way, I did

When buying my first house, before I was married (occurred ~five years later), I'd had as part of the sales agreement that the furnace be replaced, with increase in my offering price but the unit be conditioned on my acceptance (I didn't want just a poor builder grade off-brand unit). While it was functional it was an old "octopus style" unit in the center of the basement that had been converted from an oil fired to gas fired one and was clearly quite old ('40's vintage house). The house also had only been using window A/C units (which clearly also weren't going to be cost effective).

When I eventually was in it, the new unit was far more efficient and now had standard A/C (also more cost and energy efficient). I also was able to relocate the unit to a more favorable location, since new ductwork had to be installed anyway. That allowed for better utilization of the basement... allowing future improvements to the then unfinished basement. Another plus is that I was able to amortize the cost since it was under the original mortgage agreement and not have to come up with all the funds directly. (I'd maintained a fund for the then suspected future roof replacement, which I also did somewhat proactively. After replacing, in the next year or two there was a massive hailstorm in the area--- while insurance might have covered some of the cost (pro-rated by age) contractors had increased the actual cost by almost double, so indeed I would have been worse off if I had delayed. An insurance inspector from my policy had come around to the area and inspected all their covered houses (it was a big storm)... my roof had no damage as the hail just was able to bounce off the fairly new shingles. )

 

[ls99]

Only did it at "request" of late DW. That LG Fridge failed after 4 years, out of warranty. As did the Samsung Dryer after 6. The Samsung washer is still running fine. The Bosch Dishwasher was/is a success, 17 years and still working fine. Although it is not a critical item. Failure is no big deal. Otherwise never.

 

[5Miler]

We replaced out 25 year old Whirlpool washer and dryer about 7 years ago as DGF was occasionally getting some spots on her clothes and had just about enough of that. Same problem with new washer and dryer as the issue was elsewhere. Still miss that old pair.

Replaced 20 year old builder grade dishwasher and stove that still worked fine about 11 years ago when installing granite counter tops in kitchen.

Replaced side by side refrigerator after 23 years that functioned fine but we hated the small size both the freezer and main compartments. Never again a side by side. Worked OK in garage until we just decided to get rid of it after 25 years service. New LG has been pain in backside so may just cut our losses on it soon.

My downstairs furnace/air conditioner is 32 years old and still going strong with only a few repairs by me. I'll milk it for all I can as the upstairs bedrooms have a separate unit that is much newer so we can survive a few days downtime if necessary.

 

[ncbill]

I don't replace 'em until they can't be fixed.

IMHO, even a heat pump is worth fixing until the compressor fails.

Components like the capacitor(s), contactor, Schrader valves, & even the A-coil are all replaceable at a reasonable cost versus a whole new system.

I chose what was then a high-efficiency (SEER 15, now the minimum) unit when I replaced the original builder-grade one nearly 15 years ago.

With our low electricity prices I'd never save enough in operating costs to justify simply buying a new high-efficiency HVAC.

 

[foxcreek9]

replaced our 17 year old elec stove that was working because citi offered us 11x points on home improvement plus 11x points on online purchases, so a $956 stove returned $205 back in points. We then sold the old oven on FB for $175! The old "throw it on the wall and see if sticks" - someone is getting ready to sell their house and they need a ss stove to match the other appliances, didn't even try to haggle me down.

 

[athena53]

I've been fortunate with kitchen and laundry appliances- the few that have failed, I've had replacements available so quickly it hasn't been a problem. That does, however, remind me that my Electrolux fridge is probably 30+ years old. Ack. Good refrigerators are NOT cheap and that's something you don't want to live without while you wait 3 months for the replacement to come in.

I've been replacing my windows gradually since buying in 2015- house was built in 1995 and when we bought it there was condensation between the panes in a few of them. We got price concessions accordingly. Since the condensation can eventually seep into surrounding wood and cause rot, it seems better to replace them before that happens. I think it will also be a good selling point when I do sell, although the cynical part of me still remembers all the whiny feedback from the HGTV crowd when we sold our previous home. They didn't care about extra insulation in the attic and the windows we'd replaced or the popcorn ceilings I'd smoothed out. The appliances weren't all stainless steel and the light fixtures were outdated.

 

[gwill1010]

I have never replaced a working dishwasher, disposal, oven, range, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, hot water heater, humidifier, furnace or air conditioner. Obviously it’s an inconvenience but the life of appliances isn’t really predictable, depends on quality, usage and maintenance/care. TBH I use most items until they break or wear out except cars (typically keep them 7-10 years).

Do you? Should I?

I agree with others. I replaced a 22 yo water heater last month. It was leaking a little around the heating element. I'm planning on taking some long trips this year, gone for weeks at a time. If not for that....

 

[ocean view]

We’re getting a new water heater tomorrow. The old one is 14 years old, 2 years beyond the original warranty, and never flushed as they suggest. We plan to travel this summer, leaving our kid home to house sit. We don’t want our him to have to deal with this, should it fail while we’re away. My experience with water heaters is that they fail within a few months of the warranty, so at 2 years I feel like we are pressing our luck.

We also plan to replace our 18 yo fridge as soon as the Memorial Day sales begin. It has died twice in the last three years, always on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend. Fortunately, the replacement relay switch is cheap and relatively easy to install so we’ve repaired it ourselves both times. We discussed just keeping an spare on hand, but again, our kid couldn’t do this on his own if we were out of town. The gasket around the freezer door is also failing. That part is no longer available…so the writing is on the wall, it is time.

I’m glad to have the time to shop for replacements, rather than rush during an unexpected failure.

Other than those items, I usually wait for them to die before replacement.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I usually wait for them to die with a few exceptions. We had an octopus furnace years ago and the power company offered no interest loans to replace so we took it and saved money since it was much more efficient.

When I moved into my condo 2 years ago the appliance were old, filthy and apartment size instead of full size. I have lived with miss matched appliances many times waiting for them to die. I decided for the second time in my life I was going to buy matching appliances and I got full size.

My refrigerator died at only 8 years old right after we bought 500 in groceries and went on a camping trip. Came home to a stinky mess. That was unexpected as it wasn’t old.

 

[iloveyoga]

Only in recent years. In our younger days we would have never replaced anything still working. We have replaced our roof, refrigerator, washer and dryer, and HVAC in the last five years or so and none of them were all the way broken down yet. But some items were very old.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Replacing at 18 and 19 years seems more than reasonable. Unfortunately I had a Whirlpool washer that was still going strong after 26 years, with a $9 and a $20 DIY repair to keep it going. For all I know it's still going strong at 30, as I left in our old house to new owners.

I may start replacing some appliances before they quit, like AC and HW heater. The only kitchen appliances that ever failed me were a disposal and a microwave, both easy DIY replacements. Losing a fridge or freezer would be a serious inconvenience, might do that proactively if they get too old.

My washer stopped working several years ago and I bought one from Costco for $500/delivered and old one hauled away.
I hate that thing. It won’t die!
It’s not something I would get rid of just because but I wouldn’t lose sleep over it if gave up the ghost.

I can live without a DW, MW, GD. I could even live without my stove/oven. I could get a hot plate and toaster oven until they were replaced.

 

[PlayinwithFIRE]

This is a very personal decision. Nobody can tell you what's important to you.

Minimizing everything, and with a nod to the current forum we are on, ROI would NOT drive a decision to making appliance changes.

There are very few appliances which will ROI in under 6 years of ownership. So if its all about COI (Cost of ownership) then run what you have until it fails.

If you have some sense of paying it forward or saving the planet, there are lots of efficiency improvements available over 10 or 20 year old appliances. These will not turn into $ in your pocket tomorrow, but on a 10 year ROI may benefit you. There is NO argument that says a polluting , energy intensive usage is better than one which is less so when you look at future conditions.

Its hard to find an ROI under 10 years on new large appliances (like frig, water heater, dishwasher etc)...but you may find things like LED lights can have a direct impact on your electricity bill , 1 month from now.

We decided (because we are leaf waving, save the future types) to spend about $14K on solar panels after rebates. In an year, we produce far more electricity than we use-how the utilities use that, is not our concern. We know we are doing our part on minimizing fossil fuels. We know the ROI is something like 8 years, but , in our view, our planet doesn't have 8 years to dick around. This is a personal decision.

The cradle to grave view of objects, appliances in this discussion , would argue that producing a "new" more efficient object costs something as well , meaning your old thing is going to a landfill and whatever efficiency gains must account for that rotting thing in the landfill . Some items do this, some dont.

At the end of this pinot inspired diatribe, it comes down to you. What do you feel is important? If its only your personal $$$, then do as you do. The planet and future generations be damned.

If you feel some need to push things in a more carbon neutral direction, then by all means - spend your hard earned $ to limit your impact on this planet.

It isnt gonna come for free, and dont expect your politicians to figure it out for you.

 

[retire48in2018]

HVAC - if/when maintenance costs (replacing Freon and/or boards, leaks) plus newer units can significantly reduce costs due to efficiency. We’re not there yet. Our 2 systems cost us about $350/year in extra maintenance and an extra $1500/year in higher heating/cooling than new units. So, rounding up - extra $2k/year. 2 new systems - $15k+. So, not yet. Maybe, proactive changing when extremely quiet technology has new price adjustments downward resulting from more competition. (These are $20k for 2 systems).

Appliances- dishwasher technology changed to be so much quieter than older unit - so replaced.

Fridge & double oven - we re did kitchen. Oven had hot spots & cold spots, but knew how to work around issues. Found great new deal on scratch & dent. Ordered replacement panels on them. Sold working older ones - net - paid less than 1/4 of new.

Cooktop - ordered replacement glass top & couple other parts - works and looks brand new - cost was 20% of new unit. Easy to take apart & changeout.

So overall - look at reasonable payback to replace and/or significant technology/feature upgrade.

 

[brucethebroker]

I had the same discussion when my water heater was 22 years old. The lifespan of this water heater is 18 years max. It was still working fine so we decided to wait until it failed. I regret that decision. It failed less than a year later at an extremely inconvenient time. Water leaking on floor. We were leaving for vacation the next day. We ended up paying emergency rates to get it replaced in a time,ly manner. If we would have just replaced it at the 20 year mark then we could have saved over a thousand dollars and likely never missed a hot shower.

I have considered replacing my older water heater for the same reason as above. If you need another fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, etc-it is rarely a true emergency and you can take a few days to shop for a good deal. Hard to do that when you have no hot water and your WH is leaking onto the garage/basement floor.