Avoid
Holiday Appliance Disasters
W
e have all heard the epic holiday horror stories or watched it play out in the movies. You know, heaters that conk out during the coldest week of the year. Ovens that die with a frozen turkey inside. Refrigerators that go on the fritz right after you’ve filled them with Christmas pies. Washing machines filled with towels and sheets that go on strike right before your holiday guests arrive. During the holidays we put our appliances on overtime, and yet it is a time of year when we can least afford the time and money to fix them if they fail us. We’ve all heard the saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, so why do we not attempt to head off an apocalypse of broken machines that could quickly take the stuffing right out of our holidays. If we all could just set aside a few hours before the holiday
10 TRACY ELLIS: REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE
rush to tune up our appliances we would most likely save ourselves a lot of problems. As a busy Realtor, Radio Host, Magazine Publisher, Owner/Operator of Real Talk, The Voice of Freedom, wife, and Mom to 4 sons, I completely understand that life gets in the way, and we do not get a chance to do what we need to do around our own home at times. So many of us have stacks of a lot of owner’s manuals for all our appliances, but unfortunately, it is not something that most of us take the time to read until we have a problem. If you cannot find your owner’s manual or purchased a home and they were not left behind for you, sometimes you can find them online through the manufacturer. How do you know whether you should repair or replace an appliance? A good rule of thumb is that if a repair will cost more than 50% of the value of the appliance, it is probably time to replace it. Now with the internet, YouTube or DIY sites, people are more willing to try repairs for themselves.
