How to Tell if Your Home Appliances Have Expired

Interior Design & Decor

Published on: January 11th, 2021
5 minutes read

2394 views

If you find it hard to keep up with the sheer speed of technological advancement, be assured you are not the only one. The rapid invention of novel home appliances greatly improves our quality of life, but when you make new purchases, do you pay attention to how long you can use a certain product?

In fact, each electrical appliance has a limited lifespan. If you keep using the appliance even when it’s long expired, not only are you wasting electricity, you are also risking your own safety.

But how can you tell when an appliance is expired? What are the telltale signs of an expired home appliance? Deco-Man’s here to give you some tips.

Larger electricity expenditure

Home appliances that have long expired will use more electricity than new ones which are more energy efficient.

Old electrical appliances can use up to 40% more electricity than new ones.

For example, a ten-year-old fridge is going to use 2 times more electrical energy than when it’s new. Prolonged use of expired appliances will waste a lot of electricity and eventually your money.

Excessive radiation

Before a home appliance is expired, the radiation it emits does not exceed safe levels. But as time progresses, some appliances which are made with more primitive technology will harm your health since it emits 2 to 3 times more radiation than new appliances.

Lowered or lost working efficacy

Old home appliances lose their functions as they age and experienced prolonged periods of use. For example, old fridges have a weaker sanitising function and cannot keep the food fresh. It might even slowly turn itno a breeding ground of bacteria.

The freon in in aircons might leak, which not only pollutes the environment, but also potentially harms your health.

Old washing machines not only clean poorly, but also break down easily. In more serious scenarios, circuits might be worn down or exposed which causes short circuit to occur.

Fire and explosion risks

When the inner components of home appliances are worn down, short cirsuit might occur, which burns the components or even causes explosion. Old appliances which are not well-maintained are at even greater risk of catching fire or exploding.

How to tell if your appliances have expired

Aircon

Slow to cool or heat up the interior
Dust accumulates at the fans
There is a mouldy smell in the machine
Dark liquids might leak from the machine

Refrigerator

Noisy and inefficient
Poor cooling efficacy
Vibrates at operation
Freon leakage

Washing machine

Noisy
Poor cleaning performance
Water leakage
Exposed wires

Television

Faded colours and blurriness
Flickering
High levels of emitted radiation
Inefficient use of energy

Water heater

Strange noise when operating
Power switch not working properly
Water contamination due to rusted inner components

This article was originally published on HKDecoman.

HKDecoman, now going global as Deco-Man, is a Hong Kong-based renovation platform which provides professional consultancy services and pioneers in the development of A.I. homeowner-engineer matching. We aim at educating the public about the art of home renovation, and have our eyes on transforming the traditional renovation industry, bringing standardisation, transparency, convenience and automation to the business.

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