Does Anyone Proactively Replace Appliances/HVAC?

[Midpack]

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?

 

[USGrant1962]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

 

[MarieIG]

There has to be a reason for us to replace an appliance. Not simply, it might wear out sometime in the future.

(You might end up replacing an appliance which gives you absolutely no trouble, with a fancy new malfunctioning piece of equipment.)

Now - if you don't like it - you're redoing the whole room, i.e. a new kitchen, that's a different story.

 

[Alan]

When we bought our house in 2017 the current the boiler was 15 years old and while it was still working it didn’t really heat the house to my satisfaction during the coldest weeks of the winter so I decided to replace it a couple of years later knowing that when it did fail it would likely be in the bleak midwinter

When changing it I also replaced the 4 radiators in the living room to double panel radiators. This was 4 years ago and I’m very pleased with the results.

 

[REWahoo]

I replaced a fully-functional 12 year old water heater a couple of years ago. Our well water is extremely hard and our three previous water heaters failed between 3 and 9 years. I ran across a once in a lifetime bargain on a brand name water heater (total cost, installed, was under $400) so took the opportunity to replace it.

I also replaced our fully functioning dishwasher a few years ago. The coating on both the racks was deteriorating and the cost to purchase new racks was almost as much as a new dishwasher.

 

[SoaringEagle1]

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 timely 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.

 

[Charlotte]

We always balance it with the level of inconvenience it will cause us when it breaks. For example… I live in NC, and it gets awfully hot here sometimes in the summer. We knew our HVAC was 20 years old, it had been needing off and on repairs and might have a slow leak of Freon. But it was working okay-ish. Still… air conditioning always seems to fail at the worst time, and then you are miserable and hot while waiting for the repair people, or for the part to come, etc.

So, we replaced it all, heat and AC in one fell swoop.

 

[MichaelB]

When we bought our house in 2017 the current the boiler was 15 years old and while it was still working it didn’t really heat the house to my satisfaction during the coldest weeks of the winter so I decided to replace it a couple of years later knowing that when it did fail it would likely be in the bleak midwinter

When changing it I also replaced the 4 radiators in the living room to double panel radiators. This was 4 years ago and I’m very pleased with the results.

This is the key point for me. A furnace won’t fail during the summer when there’s no need for an immediate replacement, it may fail when it is needed most and one has limited options. Repairing an appliance that is past its useful life span is throwing good money away, and appliance service businesses are more likely than not to exploit those situations to their max advantage.

I think it makes sense to proactively replace an appliance if there’s an opportunity for a good deal or a particular brand that otherwise might not be available.

 

[Midpack]

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 timely 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 agree, but it depends on where your water heater is. In our last house it was in an unfinished basement near a floor drain. In our current house it’s in the garage. So while inconvenient, a leak hasn’t been the end of the world for us. If our water heater was in a finished area I wouldn’t hesitate to replace it proactively.

 

[Northforker]

Our refrigerator failed 2 weeks before we were leaving for Florida for a 3 and 1/2 month stay in our RV. We moved all of the contents of the house refrigerator to the RV refrigerator that was parked in the shed and carried food to the house for 2 weeks. We ordered a new refrigerator from Lowe's to be delivered 2 days after our return from Florida. They brought the new one into the house and hauled the old one off. small inconvenience.

When we moved into this house it had an electric stove/oven, we hated it. We had the propane lines extended from the gas fireplace to the kitchen and further extended them to the electric hot water heater and branched them to the deck for a future gas grill hookup.

The furnace is propane and the original in the house built 24 years ago we need to replace it.

The electric hot water heater in the garage will be replaced with a propane unit when it fails.

The dishwasher is also 24 years old and next on the list for replacement, although it functions just fine.

Having an RV with full hookups adjacent to the house gives us lots of flexibility.

 

[Winemaker]

I replaced a water heater last year in a rental property; I put it in 22 years ago. The place was vacant and wanted to replace it at my convenience.

DW is talking about replacing out 8 year old side by side fridge with a model that has no front door water or ice dispenser. I can't use it to put grape lugs in it in because it's too small. So I'm still using my late DMIL's 1946 International Harvester and Late DM's 23 yo Whirlpool.

I did replace a working 24 yo fridge in one of the rentals because DW refused to clean it. It was a mess. I duct taped it shut, loaded it on my pickup, and took it to the scrap yard. This fridge we took out of the house when we bought the rental and put the new one in our house. That rental fridge outlasted the other 2 house fridges and was working on the 8 year old side by side above.

 

[Andre1969]

I had the water heater replaced in my old condo, before putting it on the market to sell. I think it was the original water heater, so it was over 30 years old at this point. I figured that would help it sell easier.

The water heater was also in a really awkward spot. You accessed it through a closet in one of the secondary bedrooms. If it went bad, it would have made quite a mess, so this one might have been a good candidate for pre-emptive replacement.

In my old house, the water heater went bad, back in 2010. It got a pinhole leak. Unfortunately, one of those little clear plastic dress shirt collar stays had gotten on top of hole for the drain pan, so I didn't realize it was leaking, until that drain pan filled up and overflowed. Luckily it was in the laundry room, and didn't really do any damage.

Current house has its water heater down in the basement, where it wouldn't do much harm if it did start leaking, so I don't give it much thought. I guess I should check the date on it, to see how old it is, though. I bought the house in 2018, and know the house went through a huge renovation in 2008, so I always just presumed it was replaced then. But, who knows?

 

[jjbychko]

Attic Water Heater

I proactively replaced my original water heater because it was in the attic, and was going on 12 years.

 

[justakrusen]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

The day before meeting our real estate agent,the water heater went. It was 19 years old. ($1,800)

 

[qwerty3656]

I proactively replaced my original water heater because it was in the attic, and was going on 12 years.

I had a 20 year old water heater that I replaced even though it was still working.

 

[Midpack]

I proactively replaced my original water heater because it was in the attic, and was going on 12 years.

That would be a clear case to be proactive, especially given water heaters aren’t that expensive!

 

[disneysteve]

Hot water heater is the only one that should be proactively replaced because failure is often catastrophic, especially if it is located anywhere other than in an unfinished basement. And even then, it can do a lot of damage when it fails. Waiting until the basement is flooded and has taken out the heater, washer, and dryer is too late.

 

[Car-Guy]

Nope, except for cars/trucks.

 

[jebmke]

Hot water heater is the only one that should be proactively replaced because failure is often catastrophic, especially if it is located anywhere other than in an unfinished basement. And even then, it can do a lot of damage when it fails. Waiting until the basement is flooded and has taken out the heater, washer, and dryer is too late.

Heh; depends on whose job it is to wash the dishes if the dishwasher breaks.

 

[jim584672]

My 1964 Fedders (air cons) wall units still turn over. So no.

 

[Gumby]

There has to be a reason for us to replace an appliance. Not simply, it might wear out sometime in the future.

(You might end up replacing an appliance which gives you absolutely no trouble, with a fancy new malfunctioning piece of equipment.)

Now - if you don't like it - you're redoing the whole room, i.e. a new kitchen, that's a different story.

Exactly our philosophy.

 

[razztazz]

Only once have I said: "Gee, the thing's 10-20-whatever years old. I guess I should get a new one." Those things that can be inspected and tended to I do just that. e.g. Furnace, A/C. That gives me a heads up on when I need to get a new one.

Other things like a stove or hot water tank never just croak all of a sudden. When you have to call Mr Fixit you'll know if it's just a quick fix/new part or it's a goner.

One exception was the hot water tank about 2 years ago. I knew it was old. I could see some calcification schmutz on the pipe couplings (the thing was installed in a less than orthodox way anyway). So, I said, "just get a new one. I don't want to wake up in a few weeks or a few months and see it leaking."

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

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.

 

[Sunset]

Normally no.

However, during Covid when things were scarce, our fridge started leaking water due to something wrong with the ice maker.
I turned off the water to the fridge and since the fridge was ~22 years old, decided to order a new one, because at some point it would stop working.

It took ~6 months for the new fridge to arrive.

I have been thinking about replacing the furnace as it's also 22 years old, and it will only break in the Winter.

 

[pacergal]

There has to be a reason for us to replace an appliance. Not simply, it might wear out sometime in the future.

(You might end up replacing an appliance which gives you absolutely no trouble, with a fancy new malfunctioning piece of equipment.)

Now - if you don't like it - you're redoing the whole room, i.e. a new kitchen, that's a different story.

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