Big home appliances definitely aren’t cheap, but they can last for a really long time if you take care of them and perform the proper maintenance at regular intervals.
It’s really easy to forget about the things you use every day. Your refrigerator, dishwasher, laundry machines, and other appliances are such common parts of day-to-day life that many homeowners have this false sense of thinking where these appliances will just keep working all by themselves. But in reality, they need our help every now and then.
Here are some of the biggest and most important appliances in your home, and some information on taking care of each of them so that they last as long as possible.
Not every house is blessed with a dishwasher, but if you have one, make sure you’re taking care of it. First and foremost, clean out the filter at the bottom of the dishwasher regularly. It’s usually underneath the bottom sprayer and it catches any larger bits of food or other debris from getting lodged in the drain hose. Cleaning it periodically can ensure it never gets clogged.
Make sure that you don’t overload your dishwasher, too. If it’s stuffed with dishes all over the place, water may not be able to get to other dishes that need cleaned, and you’ll end up having to run it again or taking more time to clean the dishes by hand instead.
Also, run your kitchen faucet and let the water get hot before starting your dishwasher—that way it can start immediately with hot water rather than using more energy and time for the heating element to heat up the water first before it actually starts washing the dishes.
Lastly, if glass breaks inside of your dishwasher, it’s obvious that you’ll need to clean it up, but you want to make sure you get every last piece, so doing it by hand isn’t the best option. Instead, use a shop vacuum to get all of it, because even the tiny pieces can cut through a seal and let water into the motor.
Cleaning off your refrigerator’s condenser coils is perhaps one of the most important things you should do. These coils make it possible to remove the heat from inside of the fridge, which is what keeps your food cold (believe it or not, refrigerators don’t actually produce cold air). However, dust and other debris can latch on to the coils, making the refrigerator work harder to do it’s job and eventually overheat the motor.
To clean off condenser coils, just take a vacuum with a brush attachment and go over the coils to get all of the dirt off—it’s as easy as that.
You should also take a close look at the rubber seal along the door’s edge, which keeps warm air out. When the seal starts to get old and begins cracking, it compromises the tight air seal and warm air can seep in, making the refrigerator work harder to keep your food cold. Be sure to inspect it every few months and replace it when needed. Pro tip: spread a thin layer of petroleum jelly on the seal to keep it from cracking and keep a tight seal when the door is closed.
As for your freezer, try to keep the freezer full, but not too full. All of that frozen food will radiate its own coolness, just like an ice pack would, so the more you have in your freezer, the less it needs to work to keep it cold inside. If you don’t have a lot of stuff in your freezer, consider filling up jugs with water and putting them in the freezer to help with that.
However, don’t absolutely stuff your freezer, because you want to keep the vents free from blockage, as they help circulate air and keep it cold.
Believe it or not, you don’t have to do much maintenance on your oven and stove—you just need to keep it clean, and most ovens are self-cleaning.
In fact, you don’t want to use oven cleaner on a self-cleaning oven, because it’s too aggressive and will ruin the surface of the interior of the oven. Instead, just use the self-cleaning feature, which will heat the oven up to almost 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and burn everything off. When it’s done, you’re left with crumbs that you just need to sweep out.
Some experts say that using the self-cleaning feature isn’t always a good idea, because you run the risk of blowing a fuse, which requires a repairman to come in and fix. If you use the self-cleaning method, perhaps only run it for an hour or so, instead of the 3-4 hours that manufacturers suggest in the manual.
As for the stove top, just make sure it’s clean and that there’s nothing blocking the gas burners. If you have an electric stove top, make sure there isn’t anything on the coils that could burn up and stink up the house.
When washing clothes, don’t use too much laundry detergent, especially on high-efficiency machines that don’t use a whole lot of water. Too much detergent can leave behind a film on the inner surface that can be a hotbed for mold growth.
Furthermore, pull the washer out from the wall and inspect all of the hoses for wear and tear, which could eventually cause a leak.
Make sure that your washer is perfectly level and is firmly planted to the floor. If not, excessive vibration can occur, which can loosen connections over time and cause a water leak, not to mention lots of noise.
You probably know this already, but it’s very important: clean out the lint filter after every cycle. A clogged lint filter severely reduces drying time and can also be a huge fire hazard.
On top of that, take the time to deep clean your dryer every few months, as lint can build up in other places besides the lint filter. You can usually remove the back panel by unscrewing a few screws, and from there you can get access to the inside. It’s also not a bad idea to check the dryer exhaust duct for trapped lint and clean it out.
At 911 Appliance Repair Services, we believe that repairing the appliances in your home is only the very beginning of the job—and while it is an important one, it is not everything we want to do. At our appliance repair company, we strive to deliver a superior service to all of our customers by taking the extra steps needed to fully protect their home. When you work with our team, you can trust that you will be working with expert technicians who take pride in the cleanliness of their work; that pride is reflected in how we treat you, as well as how we treat your home. For example, we bring our own doormat to the job and put on protective shoe covers before we enter.
Calling an expert technicians from 911 Appliance Repair Company is the smart choice to make. Not only do we charge by the job instead of by the hour, we provide an accurate quote before we begin any work. We will also never attempt to diagnose your appliance problem over the phone; that is because we want our quote to be based in the facts and what you need instead of on our speculation. When you give us a call, you can be confident knowing that you will be working with highly trained, polite in-home service professionals who are interested in helping you find a solution for your immediate appliance problems, as well as helping prevent any future issues.