Your appliances are essential to modern life, the refrigerator and freezer allow you to keep food handy without having to visit the shops. Even the washing machine is an integral part of staying clean without the hassle of visiting the launderette or local stream.
But, in order to enjoy these appliances, you need to look after them. What may surprise you is that there are a number of things you’re doing on a daily basis that can damage them and shorten their lifespan.
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1. Maintaining The Circuits
To ensure your appliances last as long as possible you should have a level 2 electrician in Sydney, or near where you live, inspect your electrics annually. Wiring issues can causes shorts in the machine, power surges, or even cut the power temporarily. The result of these will be unnecessary wear on the appliance components, shortening the life of the machine.
Unfortunately, electric issues can also increase the risk of fire in your home, that’s why you need regular inspection, it can save you more than just money.
2. Hot Water in Your Garbage Disposal
It may seem unimportant what water you use while running your garbage disposal but hot water can seriously shorten the lifespan of your garbage disposal unit. The reason is actually quite simple. Your unit is designed to chop up all food waste into tiny pieces, allowing them to go down the drain without blocking it.
However, hot water causes fats and greases to melt, allowing them to flow through the garbage disposal and solidify later, in a cooler section of the pipe. This leads to blockages which means taking the unit apart and potentially damaging it while it tries to work properly but can’t.
3. Overloading Washing Machines
When you have a lot of washing to get through it’s tempting to cram it all in the machine. However, doing this will leave your machine unbalanced. There won’t be enough space for the clothes to turn freely and that means the load will move around in an irregular pattern. This places a high amount of stress on the joints and can cause them to fail prematurely.
You may also want to note that loose coins left in your pockets can get stuck in the machine and cause a surprising amount of damage.
4. Too Much In the Freezer
A freezer is a funny appliance. If you don’t have enough food in it then it will cost more to freeze the items and keep them cold. Fill it up and the frozen items will help to keep the temperature down and minimize your running costs.
However, if you overfill your freezer you’ll find that the air vents can be blocked. This means that it has to work harder than normal to keep everything cool. Not only will this increase the freezing cost, but it will also place a huge strain in the condenser which needs the airflow from the vents. If it’s straining all the time it will wear out much quicker than it should.
5. Washing Your Gas Burners
If you have pride in your home then you’re going to want to keep the kitchen looking great. That means washing the range regularly. However, if you use regular soap to clean gas burners you can partially block the vents and corrode the metal!
This will quickly cause your burners to fail. Check your instruction manual to find out what you should be cleaning them with.
