Home Appliances: Reliability vs. Cost vs. Efficiency

Most people understand the importance of their fridge, washing machine, vacuum cleaner and other home appliance. While shopping, people are more interested in the price and appearance of a household appliance. They rarely give a thought to other important things to consider when shopping. If you want to get the best out of your household appliances, you will need to pay keen attention to how its reliability compares to cost and to efficiency. The last thing you want is to have something that breaks down fast, consumes household resources and does very little. Here is a breakdown of the three issues that affect the value of your home appliance i.e. efficiency, cost or reliability. Use them to make wise replacement decisions.


Efficiency

Every appliance that you add to your home will consume energy and you will have to pay the associated bill or stay without the service. Think about all the electricity that you will use to power your refrigerator, tumble dryer, TV, oven and the rest of the appliances. For one item, the energy cost might appear negligible but when you combine the total consumption of a fully furnished house, the energy consumption becomes significant. It is wise to go for appliances that have the highest energy star rating because this translates to lower running costs.

The ability of an appliance to go on standby mode or switch off when not in use is an important quality of its efficiency. It might seem expensive to replace an appliance that offers no power regulatory options but in most cases, this is the best thing to do. You do not want to pay for resources like electricity, water, oil used when you are away from home.

Cost

Choosing between cost and efficiency is a close call. The affordability of some home appliances allows you to spare some money and pay your bills. Manufactures and retailers strike out most benefits out of appliances so that they can reduce their retail prices. In many cases, they offer buyers a limited warranty, no after sale service, and ask the buyer to meet the transportation costs from the dealer. The price tag might show that the appliance is affordable but when it breaks down you will have no other option but to pay for a new one, or new parts. You can decide to pay a high initial purchase price and get a guarantee of service.

Reliability

How well an appliance serves you is a measure of its reliability. Once you pick a home appliance, you expect it to work when you need it to work. In addition, you expect a certain threshold of service based on what you paid for it. If in any way the appliance fails to fulfill its purpose or performs poorly, you should fix or replace it. The non-tangible costs of missing an essential service carry more weight than the monetary costs. If your fridge malfunctions, it might let your food go bad and lead to grave consequences on the health of your family. Similarly, a jammed tumble dryer can burn your shirt and make you miss an interview.

The right home appliance is not necessarily the best looking or the cheapest. Several factors as discussed above should influence your decision when evaluating the value of appliances. Anyone looking to have value for their money should use the home appliances' reliability, or cost or efficiency as yardsticks of determining whether it is a good choice. When you neglect this condition, you might end up with a shiny piece that works terribly.