Let’s face it: Your relied on kitchen appliance is going to break for you at some point or another, even if it hasn’t happened already. As far as keeping your valued kitchen running smoothly goes, there’s nothing worse than encountering a broken appliance, especially when you need it the most. Is your microwave not microwaving? Or is your oven not cooking? These are important issues that should be addressed immediately. That being said, what’s the best way to deal with these problems?

Today’s post by your friendly appliance technicians over at Profix Appliances is going to look at fixing a broken appliance on your own versus contacting a trained, professional appliance repair service to take care of it. Is it really worth taking the issue into your own hands? Maybe, but it really depends on a number of factors.

Be assured that you can always contact our authorized appliance service professionals to keep your kitchen operations moving forward because we have the right tools, knowledge, and experience to quickly fix your broken fridge, oven, stove, or other essential kitchen appliance. Let’s take a look at DIY’ing your broken appliances.

Repairing vs Replacing

If you’re at least making a spirited attempt to fix your broken kitchen appliance yourself, then you’re probably already saving yourself a good amount of money because you’re not shelling out exorbitant amounts of money to outright replace your broken fridge, oven or stovetop. If you don’t have the right tools or knowledge, however, then it is technically possible that you could make things even worse than they already were before, but that’s on you.

As long as the repair costs, whether or not you go through a professional appliance repair service like Profix Appliance, are significantly cheaper than the cost of a new appliance, then you’re already making a smart move. Generally, the cost of repairing your broken appliance is about 20 to 30 percent of the cost of replacing it, depending on the age of your appliance and the amount of use that you’ve put it through. Repairing will also save you the time of having to shop and compare prices for a new appliance, so there’s also that to consider.

Severity Of The Fix

Whether or not you can fix your broken appliance yourself largely depends on the tools you have available and if they will get the fix done for you or not. For instance, if the parts of your broken appliance in question are held together with screws, bolts, plugs, and other take-apart type of fasteners, then the chances are that you can probably take care of the fix yourself.

On the other hand, if the parts of your broken appliance are held together with rivets and welds, then don’t try to repair the appliance yourself – unless you have the proper tools and extensive repair experience, call Profix Appliance in this case.

Is Worth The Time Or The Pain?

This is another extremely important consideration to make. Even if you have the necessary implements to bring your valuable stove, fridge or oven back to life, do you really want to fix it yourself? Probably not. Fixing things is a time-consuming pain, and while probably rewarding to get the job done yourself, it’s much less of a hassle to hand it over to the professionals who you know can get the job done right every time. If you’re looking to save as much time as possible in order to dedicate it to more important matters, then don’t even bother trying to fix your broken kitchen appliance yourself.

Life Expectancy

Though your kitchen appliance’s lifespan is largely affected by the frequency of use, it’s important to know how long your major appliances should last in your household. That way, if something breaks, then the fix isn’t as unexpected as it otherwise would be.

According to Angie’s List, if a repair will most cost more than half the price of a new appliance and the unit is more than six or seven years old, then it’s worth considering a brand-new kitchen appliance purchase. They also reference the National Association of Home Builders, who provide the following estimates for the longevity of common household appliances:

-Dishwasher: 9 years

-Dryer: 13 years

-Freezer: 11 years

-Washing Machine: 10 years

-Gas oven: 15 years

-Refrigerator: 13 years

If one of the following appliances is broken, you’ll obviously still have to fix it one way or the other, but being familiar with the life expectancy of your major household and kitchen appliances should give you a good idea of what needs to be fixed and how soon it needs to be fixed.

Troubleshooting a Broken Appliance

Before you consider if you should fix the appliance yourself or have the professionals do it for you, ask yourself the following questions:

-Is it really broken? If the problem is a simple short in the plug, a tripped circuit breaker or a bad surge-protector outlet, then you probably don’t need to call a professional.

-Is it under warranty? If your appliance is still under warranty, then the repair may be covered by an authorized appliance repair service like Profix Appliance. Why fix it yourself when you don’t have to pay for it otherwise?

-Have you had this trouble before? If the kitchen appliance in question has always worked well, then it might be a simple DIY fix that you can take care of before contacting the professionals.

Obviously, there are further considerations to make before deciding if you should fix a broken kitchen appliance yourself or have a professional home appliance repair service take care of it. Ultimately, it just depends on your style, budget, and willingness of effort. If you decide that you don’t want to take care of your broken appliance, then give Profix a call and we’ll take care of it for you, hassle-free!

Learn More About Our Appliance Repair Services Today!