Staff Writer
CARIBOU, Maine — Scott Doody, owner of Fire and Ice and the Appliance Servicenter of Aroostook, has been in the business of appliance repair since 1986. Though the environmental mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle has been repeated for years, it wasn’t until recently that Doody noticed an increase in the ‘reuse’ aspect of consumerism. “Phone traffic started picking up this past November,” he said, his cellular phone ringing twice during the brief interview as if confirming his observation. “Recently, a lot of folks have been looking to purchase their own parts and fixing [their appliances] themselves; the trend seems to be that more people are looking to fix their equipment where they would have purchased new appliances in the past,” Doody added.
With turbines and organic farming on the rise in Aroostook county, could the re-use of our washers and dryers mean that The County is thinking green?
Not according to Doody.
“I contribute the increased call volume more to the slump of the economy,” he explained. “Instead of making small repairs, a lot of people were replacing appliances that were only five or six years old; now, they’re interested in diagnosing the problem and obtaining a quote so they can balance their options,” he added. “If it’s a relatively new appliance, it’s probably worth fixing.”
Doody mentioned that in some situations, when the cost of the repair is 40 to 50 percent the cost of a new appliance, he recommends replacing the equipment.
“The life of your average appliance depends on how well it’s maintained and taken care of,” he said, advocating preventative maintenance.
Most of the preventative tips that Doody recommended seemed to be quick and painless while others, though necessary, seem slightly daunting. Technology has come a long way, but the floor under the refrigerator has yet to clean itself.
“The coils under the refrigerator pick up every bit of dust and pet hair, which makes [the refrigerator] run harder and hotter,” explained Doody. “By cleaning under your refrigerator, you’re helping to prevent the failure of that appliance.”
He also recommended using a tablet, call Affresh™, in washing machines.
“It actually cleans the inside of the washing machine of soap buildup and lint, helping the machine spin freer,” said Doody, who also commented that a freer spinning washing machine will use less electricity.
For dryers, he recommends cleaning from the lint trap all the way to the outside vent. Not only will it help extend the life of the dryer, but it can also reduce the risk of fire.
While there isn’t much preventative maintenance to be done on dish washers, fixing a broken dish washer may be as simple as fixing a switch.
“Door switches are a real common and simple fix for dishwashers,” said Doody. “It will take me about an hour to fix by the time I take it apart, replace the part, put it back together and test it; for about $75 they can have their existing appliance operational instead of having to go out and purchase a new one.”
He advised that when a dishwasher is worn out, it’s probably time to throw in the dish towel.
With the increased amount of mechanical repairs being contributed to the troubled economy of today, Doody reports that many people are using way more laundry detergent than is needed.
“A lot of folks don’t realize that the 2x soap is concentrated and if they count the number of caps they’re putting in per loads, they’ll find that they’re only getting about half the use out of it,” he said. “They’re using too much soap.”
“You’re clothes aren’t as dirty as you think they are, especially with front-loading machines,” Doody added. “When people have questions about it, I’ll take three or four of their folded and clean towels and put them in the machine on a hot wash, and you can look through the door and see all the soap coming off of their towels.”
According to Doody, a lot of people won’t use hot water to wash their clothes because they think it costs more money to was their clothes.
“Soap has a hard time breaking down with cold water, so it builds up on the inside of the tub,” he explained. “Cold water combined with an excess of the 2x soap is actually creating conditions for the washing machine to run slower and not extract all the soap and water from the clothing.”
For whatever reasons people have taken an interest in repairing their equipment, there are some appliances that aren’t really worth fixing, according to Doody.
“As far as toasters and things of that nature, I don’t work on those because it’s not worth it to the customer,” he explained. “It’s going to cost about $30 for me to work on a $30 toaster; consumers are better recycling those types of appliances and getting a new one.”
Appliance Servicenter can be reached at 498-2033.
