Choosing your purchases with longevity in mind is important. A high price does not determine the quality of an item nor does a low price guarantee a bargain. Instead of looking at the price tag, look at the quality. Is it made of solid materials or pieced together? Less seams mean less chance of breakage. Does it have heft? This is a phrase my grandmother uses to describe kitchen tools, meaning that they have the weight of strong materials like hard woods or solid metals. If you have children, pets, or an avid football fan, furniture requires heft as well.
Warranties don't mean a lot except that the manufacturer expects the product to last that long. Try cashing in a warranty on a toaster or a installed carpet, and you'll see how much the warranty means. It's difficult to prove that the product earns the warranty, and at times the postage and handling to return the product counteracts the benefit of the warranty.
Knowing that your products are going to last for years feels good. Preventative maintenance is key if you want that feeling to last.
For automobiles, tune-ups, oil changes, and regular maintenance is key to a long relationship between car and owner. Interiors benefit from a detailing every few years, and the exterior will look like healthy new paint as well. Rotate tires for longer wear and fix windshield chips immediately before they get worse.
For home appliances like dishwashers, washing machines, dryer vents, furnace filters, and air conditioners a thorough cleaning will keep everything running smoothly. A clogged dryer vent will prevent the hot air from flowing and the lint may back up into the dryer causing motor problems. Be sure to wash the filter with water making sure that it flows easily; dryer sheets can cause build up on the filter.
A simple web search can find the answers to most mechanical problems. When the aforementioned dishwasher wasn't getting dishes clean, it took only a few minutes with the keywords "dishwasher isn't getting dishes clean" to find the solution. From there, a search for "cleaning dishwasher filters" found schematics of the appliance.
Websites such as www.acmehowto.com give troubleshooting checklists as well as diagrams for fixing various parts of appliances.
Another option is to visit home improvement stores like Lowe's and Home Depot who offer Saturday classes about home repair. Community colleges and education centers also offer night classes in the art of maintenance. Learn how to fix an appliance instead of spending hundreds of dollars to purchase a new one.
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My freezer purrs like a kitten! When I go away at Xmas for two weeks to visit family, I make sure to completely defrost my freezer. The food is given away to someone in my local Freecycle and the freezer is completely turned off for two of those weeks.
Words of advice from my service tech husband; preventive maintenance is always the cheapest maintenance!
