An appliance repair quote against the price of a new one

Enter the repair quote, the price of a replacement, the appliance's age and its expected life. The calculator shows the repair as a share of a new one, the share of its life used, and the cost per year of each.

Where to find your numbers

• Repair quote. Enter the total on the technician's written quote, parts and labor together. If the service call is billed separately, add it in.
• Replacement price. Enter the price of a comparable model, with delivery, installation and haul-away if the store charges for them.
• Age in years. Enter how old the appliance is, from the purchase receipt or the warranty card.
• Expected life in years. Enter the life the maker or the manual gives. A storage water heater, for example, lasts about 10 to 15 years.

What the figures mean

Repair as a share of replacement is the quote divided by the replacement price. Life used is the age divided by the expected life. Years left is the expected life minus the age.

Repair per remaining year spreads the repair quote over the years left. Replacement per year of expected life spreads the price of a new one over its full expected life. Set side by side, the two are what each choice costs for each year of use.

When the age reaches the expected life, years left reads zero, and the repair has no remaining years to spread over. An appliance can keep running past its expected life, but the figures can't tell you for how long.

Getting the repair quote

Get the quote in writing, with the work, the parts, the date and the price on it. For an appliance, that's the part being replaced and the labor to fit it. If two quotes differ a lot, ask each technician why. Enter the total from the quote you'd accept.

What it leaves out

Running costs aren't in the calculator. An appliance costs money to run as well as to buy, and you pay for its energy for the 10 to 20 years it lasts. The EnergyGuide label on a new model shows its estimated yearly operating cost and the range for similar models. Warranty coverage on the repair, or on a new model, isn't counted either. Neither is the time without the appliance while a part is on order, or what the old one might fetch if it's sold. Add a delivery or haul-away charge to the replacement price if the store doesn't include it.