4 Home Appliances You Should Replace When You Get Your Holiday Bonus

With the Christmas season soon arriving, many employees are eagerly anticipating their holiday bonuses. While it might be tempting to splurge your money on food, clothes, jewelry, and the latest gadgets, it would be beneficial to stop and check if any of your home appliances should be replaced.

Home appliances aren’t cheap, so we purchase them with the expectation that they’ll last a long time. Unfortunately, everything has an expiration date, and even the sturdiest appliances only last twelve to fifteen years on average. Ideally, you want to be able to plan ahead and prepare for the expense of buying a new one before a replacement is needed. But if you receive a surprise windfall, it can be a good opportunity to replace them early or to upgrade to better home and kitchen appliances at Savers.

If you’d like to know more, below is a list of four essential home appliances to replace with your holiday bonus:

Gas Range and Oven

Gas ranges and ovens usually last around fifteen years and are integral parts of your home cooking experience, so it’s important to check their state every once in a while. As with any appliance that handles gas and fire, you want to avoid accidentally setting your kitchen ablaze by replacing your stove once it’s past its prime

If your gas range and oven are taking an unusually long time to heat food or are heating them too fast, there’s usually an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. Gas ranges and ovens that don’t ignite are most likely experiencing faulty wiring, which is a huge warning sign that they need to be replaced. It also helps to check for any broken or loose switches, buttons, and knobs, which could also serve as fire hazards and lead to severe malfunctioning.

Microwave

You don’t want to find yourself making popcorn with your microwave only to find sparks flying everywhere with smoke and the smell of something burning. Microwaves usually last a maximum of twelve years, and many people use them to easily reheat and cook food at the push of a button.

Besides the more obvious defects to look out for, it’s also good to make sure that the microwave’s keypad works properly. A malfunctioning control system makes it nearly impossible to use any appliance, and trying to repair these seemingly small problems might cost you more, if not the same amount of money needed for a brand new appliance.

Refrigerator

It’s difficult to survive without a functioning refrigerator: it ensures that foods, most especially frozen food like meats and delicate ingredients like vegetables, stay fresh and edible for longer. This is why it’s extremely important to check on your refrigerator regularly, as its standard lifespan is usually fifteen years at most. If it suddenly breaks or isn’t functioning the way it should, you could waste perfectly good food and ingredients worth thousands of pesos.

It’s quite possible to fix a defective fridge with minor repairs, but some problems require a complete replacement altogether. Things to watch out for include a temperature that’s consistently higher than forty-one to forty-five degrees Fahrenheit (which quickly spoils food), rubber seals that don’t close properly, overheating, and unusually loud noises. A faulty refrigerator can also increase your electricity bill, as it tends to eat up more energy than necessary while failing to cool properly.

Laundry Appliances

Laundry appliances like washing machines and dryers can efficiently do the laundry while speeding up the process, which makes cleaning clothes and other fabrics a more convenient experience. Due to their frequent use, most washing machines and dryers last a maximum of ten to thirteen years. When considering costs, it’s usually more economical to replace a broken washing machine or dryer rather than paying for repairs.

One of the first signs you need to look out for, particularly in washing machines, is leaks. Certain leaks are caused by minor problems with the hose that can be repaired, but excessive leaking is a problem that can’t be fixed easily and may require a complete replacement. Large quantities of water leaking out of your machine can also use up more energy, so it might help to keep an eye on any odd spikes in your electricity consumption.

Meanwhile, if clothes aren’t drying properly in your dryer, this is a clear indication that something is wrong. Another sign of malfunctioning for both washing machines and dryers is unusual and loud noises like rattling and banging. In both cases, it’s best to attend to these issues as soon as possible by having the appliances assessed by a professional technician. Putting it off can result in a lot of aggravation, wasted money, and an increased risk of having an electrical fire in your home.

In certain situations, replacing a broken home appliance might be more cost-effective than repairing it, especially if it isn’t covered by warranty and has reached its maximum age limit. Though there are ways of preventing your appliances from getting damaged, such as proper care and usage, you’ll have to replace them eventually—which is often a wise choice in the long run. Using your holiday bonus to fund these purchases is a good way to make use of your extra cash and invest in improving your quality of life.