When a major appliance breaks, the technician can usually fix it. That is rarely the real question. The real question is whether fixing it is money well spent. Three numbers decide almost everything: how old the appliance is compared with how long it should last, what the repair costs compared with the price of a comparable new machine, and how much extra energy the old machine wastes while it limps on. Line those three numbers up honestly and the answer is usually clear. Look at only one of them — usually the repair quote, because it is the smallest figure on the page — and it is easy to pour good money into a machine that is nearly finished.
The three numbers that decide
Start with age. An appliance halfway through its expected life that breaks is a very different proposition from the same appliance at ninety percent of its life, even if the fault is identical. Next, compare the repair quote with the price of a comparable new appliance — not the fanciest model in the store, and not the price you paid years ago, but what a similar machine costs today. Finally, consider running costs. An old refrigerator, air conditioner or washer can use far more electricity and water than a modern equivalent, and that gap quietly adds to the cost of keeping it every single month. You can run your own figures in our repair vs replace calculator in about a minute; the rest of this guide explains the thinking behind the verdict it gives you.
How long appliances should last
Every appliance has a typical lifespan under normal household use. These are planning figures, not guarantees — a lightly used, well-maintained machine can beat them, and a hard-worked one can fall short:
| Appliance | Typical lifespan |
|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 10–20 years |
| Dishwasher | 9–13 years |
| Washing machine | 10–11 years |
| Tumble dryer | 13 years |
| Oven / range | 15 years |
| Water heater | 8–12 years |
| Central AC | 15–20 years |
| Furnace | 15–20 years |
Use the middle of the range as your working figure. If your appliance is younger than half of that, it still owes you years of service, and repairs start with the benefit of the doubt. If it has passed the top of the range, every repair is buying time on borrowed time, and it should have to justify itself.
The cost rule: fifty percent
The best-known shortcut is the 50 percent rule. As a working guide: a repair that costs less than about 50% of the price of a comparable new appliance, on a machine that is less than halfway through its expected life, usually makes sense. Once you cross both lines — the repair is expensive and the appliance is old — replacement usually wins, because you are paying half the price of new for a machine that may only give you another year or two. Our deep dive into the 50 percent rule for appliance repair works through the maths in detail. The rule bites hardest on cheaper appliances: as our dishwasher repair vs replace guide shows, a single major part can be half the price of a whole new dishwasher.
All prices in this guide are typical US ranges, around 2025 levels, and are given only to show the proportions. Your quote will vary by brand, region and model — sometimes widely — so always run the rule with the real numbers in front of you, never with the examples here.
The HVAC variant: the $5,000 rule
Heating and cooling systems are expensive enough to earn their own rule. For HVAC, multiply the age of the unit in years by the cost of the repair. If the result is over $5,000, replacement is usually the better buy. A 14-year-old air conditioner facing a $450 repair scores 14 × $450 = $6,300, so the rule says replace — even though $450 sounds modest, the system is old enough that another major fault is likely soon. A 6-year-old unit with the same $450 repair scores $2,700, so repair it with confidence. The logic is the same as the 50 percent rule, just weighted more heavily toward age, because old HVAC faults tend to arrive in clusters.
What the price misses
Rules of thumb are a starting point, not the whole decision. Five factors regularly tip a close call one way or the other:
- Repeat failures. One breakdown is bad luck; the third repair in two years is a verdict. Add up what you have already spent — a machine that keeps failing will keep failing.
- Parts availability. For old or obscure models, parts may be discontinued, used-only, or weeks away. A cheap repair you cannot actually get done is not cheap.
- The R-22 refrigerant phase-out. Older air conditioners that use R-22 face brutally expensive refrigerant costs because production has ended. A sealed-system leak on an R-22 unit is often the end of the argument.
- Remaining warranty. If parts or labour are still covered, your real cost may be a fraction of the quote, and repairing is usually right even on an older machine.
- Disruption cost. A fridge that dies in a heatwave, or a washer out of action for a family of five, costs more than money. Sometimes the faster, more certain option is worth a premium.
Two worked examples
Example 1: a 4-year-old washing machine, $220 pump
A washing machine at 4 years is well under half of its 10–11 year life. A replacement pump at $220 — a typical US range for this job is roughly $150–$350, varying by brand, region and model — is around a quarter of the price of a comparable new machine. It passes both tests easily: young appliance, modest repair. Repair it. This is exactly the kind of case where replacing would waste most of a good machine’s life.
Example 2: a 12-year-old refrigerator, $700 sealed-system repair
The refrigerator is 12 years into a 10–20 year life, and the fault is in the sealed system — the compressor and refrigerant circuit, the most expensive part of any fridge. At $700, the quote is a large share of what a good new fridge costs, on a machine past the midpoint of its life, which will also keep using noticeably more electricity than its replacement. Replace it. Our refrigerator repair vs replace guide explains why sealed-system faults change the answer more than any other fridge repair. Run both of these examples through the repair vs replace calculator and you will see the verdicts flip exactly where the rules say they should.
Still torn after the numbers? Trust the combination, not your attachment to the machine. Young and cheap to fix means repair; old and expensive means replace; and when the signals conflict, let repair history and parts availability break the tie. If you want a second opinion on your exact figures, the Repair vs Replace Calculator weighs age, cost, breakdown history, warranty and energy savings together and gives one clear verdict.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 50 percent rule?
It is the best-known repair-or-replace shortcut: if a repair costs more than about 50% of the price of a comparable new appliance, replacement usually makes more sense — and the case grows stronger if the appliance is also past half its expected lifespan. Young appliance plus a repair under 50% usually means repair; old appliance or a repair over 50% points to replace.
How long should appliances last?
Typical lifespans are: refrigerator 10–20 years, dishwasher 9–13 years, washing machine 10–11 years, tumble dryer about 13 years, oven or range about 15 years, water heater 8–12 years, and central AC and furnaces 15–20 years. See the lifespan table above — good maintenance can stretch these figures and heavy use can shorten them.
Is it worth repairing a 10-year-old appliance?
It depends which appliance. A 10-year-old refrigerator is only around the midpoint of its life, so a modest repair can be well worth it. A 10-year-old dishwasher is at or near the end of its 9–13 year life, so only a very cheap fault is worth fixing. Compare the age with the lifespan table first, then apply the 50 percent rule to the quote.
Does the brand change the answer?
Partly. Premium and mainstream brands differ in parts prices, parts availability and how long the manufacturer supports a model, and that can make a repair cheaper or even possible at all. But brand rarely overturns the maths: age versus lifespan and quote versus replacement price still lead the decision.