Getting the most from your appliances
High efficiency? New or used? Here’s what buyers should know Consumers looking for large appliances should consider buying them together for a discount.
A Whirlpool refrigerator with French doors and bottom freezer waits for a new owner in a Cobourg appliance store.
With a $1,000 price tag, the gleaming black beauty won’t have to wait long.
Two or three years old, it’s been taken apart, refurbished and cleaned to pristine condition — “better than new,” for about half the price, according to Rob Rowe, owner of Rowe’s Appliances.
The previous owners relinquished it because they couldn’t wait a month for a replacement part, he explains. They bought a pre-owned fridge from him instead.
It’s a conundrum consumers face shopping for big-ticket appliances: New or used?
With pros and cons to both, there are several factors to consider including price, features and energy efficiency.
Rowe, a 27-year veteran of the appliance business, repairs and sells only the “cream of the crop,” two to 10 years old, priced about 50 per cent lower than new and accompanied by a oneyear, parts-and-labour warranty.
“I can refurbish an eight-yearold washer and it’s better than new because it doesn’t have electronics,” says Rowe, who blames the introduction of electronics and better energy efficiency for reducing the quality of newer appliances.
Natural resources champion Dianna Miller takes a different view.
“If you’re buying something that’s not energy-efficient, you’re just wasting money,” says Miller, chief of Energy Star Products at Natural Resources Canada.
While the blue Energy Star label doesn’t reflect quality or life expectancy, it does signify “stellar energy-efficiency performance,” she says.
A certified clothes washer, for example, uses 25 per cent less energy, on average, than a standard model, and 33 per cent less water.
Energy Star products also emit fewer greenhouse gases.
The rules are periodically upgraded at different times for different products. New standards for washers came out last May, for instance, but those for refrigerators were upgraded in 2014.
“If you buy a four-year-old fridge, you’re still getting the same Energy Star specifications as a new fridge,” notes Miller, who advises buying appliances that are less than five years old if energy efficiency is a consideration.
To save money on operating costs, she suggests picking a machine with low kilowatt usage, indicated on the EnerGuide label.
With prices ranging from several hundred to thousands of dollars, buying new calls for careful shopping. Discounted appliances are typically found in the fall, with the exception of fridges, which are cleared in spring.
Package deals can also cut costs, according to personal finance website MoneySense, which suggests that buying a fridge, stove and dishwasher together could save 15 per cent.
Appliances perform better and last longer if you take care of them, say the experts like Rob Rowe, who describes a customer’s dishwasher repeatedly bunged up by toothpicks, peach pits and other debris, and fires waiting to happen in lintclogged dryer drums.
Martin Vyhnak, a former repairman for more than 20 years (and, full disclosure, this writer’s brother), is appalled by maladies he’s witnessed: Washers so overloaded that small items jam the water pump and dryer lint traps with a buildup “like the rings on a tree.”
“You’re supposed to clean the damn thing after every load!” fumes the Nanaimo, B.C.-based authority on appliance abuse who once encountered a water pump that had exploded when a bullet was forgotten in a pocket and the gunpowder ignited.
Condenser-coil neglect really rankles him, as he recalls fridges whose compressor ran constantly because the coils — which dissipate heat extracted from inside the fridge — were packed with lint, fur and dust.
Soil contributes to wear and tear on all household equipment, according to Pam Helms, co-founder of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day planet-friendly, plant-based products. She advises wiping down kitchen appliances regularly inside and out with a multi-surface cleaner.
Deep-cleaning fridges and stoves twice a year is also recommended.
The pros’ tips to help appliances run better and last longer:
Empty pockets thoroughly before washing clothes.
Don’t overload washers; one full laundry basket at a time is plenty.
Wash large, bulky items like duvets and comforters at a coin laundry.
Regularly clean your dryer’s exhaust duct and vent.
Make sure the duct has no kinks and isn’t jammed into a small space.