When everything’s working, your home can be a wonderful place to be. Hot water when you need it, food cooked to perfection and clothes washed and dried on time. But when one of your appliances breaks, it can throw a spanner in the works. So what do you do – repair or replace?

Here’s a few things to think about before deciding:

• Is your appliance is under warranty?
• How much was the appliance?
• How old is your appliance?
• What new products and features are available now?

Warranty

If your warranty is still in effect, then you should be able to get either a repair or a replacement. Check the details, see what’s covered, and if you can get your appliance fixed or replaced, brilliant.

Price

If your toast keeps getting burnt instead of lightly bronzed, it may be cheaper to get a new toaster than to fix it.

But with larger and more expensive appliances like washing machines or fridges costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds in some cases, getting it fixed may be cheaper. Again, check your warranty before deciding.

Age

Got a trusty washing machine that’s never let you down in 10 years but now it’s on the blink? It’s likely to be on its way out, even if it’s been reliable up to now.

As a general rule of thumb - if the cost of the repair is half of a replacement, replace. Otherwise, repair.

The general rule of thumb is – if the repair costs half of what a new machine would, it’s probably better to get a new one.

New products

With advances in technology happening all the time, if you decide to upgrade your appliance, it’s more than likely to be significantly better, either in features, energy and/or water efficiency, or both.

A new appliance is likely to be more energy and water efficient, as well as have new features.

If you do decide to buy a new appliance and it needs installing, we can help.

How can Local Heroes help?

We’re here to help you find skilled and vetted local tradespeople quickly and easily. Our on-demand, end-to-end service is simple to use – just tell us where you are and what needs doing.

We’ll give you a price estimate straight away. Then choose a date and time and we’ll find a qualified professional in your area.

Your Local Hero will get in touch to discuss the work and instantly give you a quote. You can then decide to go ahead or cancel the job for free.

When the job’s done, you don’t have to worry about having cash at hand. Simply use your debit or credit card to settle up on the Local Heroes platform and we’ll give you a 12-month guarantee.