The common habits quietly wrecking your household appliances, according to an Oxford expert

It’s easily done – overloading the dishwasher, not descaling the kettle or guesstimating how much washing detergent to use. But these everyday habits could be quietly killing your household appliances.

If left unchecked, your most-used home appliances could be left out of action for weeks and leave you with an expensive repair bill or cost of replacement.

To help break the cycle, Mark Linsey, owner of appliance repair company Pacifica Local in Oxford, has shared the biggest mistakes he sees people making that ruin their home appliances. Here’s the countdown from five to one...

5. Keeping your freezer in the garage

While having an ‘outdoor freezer’ is a common sight in many Oxford homes, it can cause problems for the unit. Most garages are not temperature controlled, leaving them freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer.

In really cold temperatures, your freezer compressor can switch off, resulting in a load of thawed, inedible food. On the flip side, the compressor may have to work harder to keep food frozen during the summer months, accelerating wear and tear – even to the point of overheating and unit failure.

Homeowners may not even notice these issues until it’s too late and their food has gone bad. If you can’t fit that extra freezer unit in your kitchen or storage cupboard inside your home, chest freezers often cope with temperatures better than fridge-freezer combos or you can invest in a garage heater kit.

4. Leaving spills in the bottom of the oven

Beyond looking unsightly and causing lingering odours, leftover spills and food debris in the base of your oven can erode its protective enamel lining. Without this layer of protection, heat, moisture and food acids can cause it to rust.

Damage like this can affect the oven’s efficiency, forcing it to work harder and use more energy to cook your meals – resulting in higher household bills.

Repairs can be costly - the rust needs to be sanded down, primed and sealed, requiring specialist equipment and solutions. A quick wipe to remove crumbs and spills once the oven has cooled is all it takes to keep the rust at bay.

3. Not cleaning the dishwasher filter regularly

A clogged dishwasher filter can significantly reduce its performance, leaving dishes dirty and in need of a second wash. While inconvenient in the short term, it can also cause serious strain on the machine’s pump.

If water can’t flow freely through the filter, the pump is forced to work harder to get the job done. The longer it struggles, the shorter its lifespan.

Replacement pumps can range from £10-£150 depending on the machine and then there’s the cost of labour on top. Ask anyone who’s seen the dishes stacking up in a busy household when their dishwasher is out of action and they’ll tell you: it’s better to rinse the filter regularly!

2. Running constant high-temperature washes

It’s simple science – hot water kills any germs that may be lingering on your clothes. Alongside a bio-detergent, your clothes are left clean and fresh. Yet, if you’re a family that requires multiple loads of washing throughout the day to keep on top of the ever-growing pile of laundry, it may reduce the lifespan of your machine.

The good news is that if you can’t avoid regular back-to-back washes with football kits, office shirts, reusable nappies or bathroom towels, the scientists have come to your rescue. Most of the detergents on the supermarket shelves nowadays work just as effectively at lower temperatures. Check out which work for you on a 30-degree wash – and as a bonus, switching from a 60-degree wash to 30 can save up to 60% on your energy usage.

1. Not cleaning the tumble dryer lint filter

I’ve put this as my number one mistake for one big reason... in the worst-case scenario, leaving the lint in your tumble dryer filter can cause a fire.

Over time, the build-up can restrict airflow, causing it to become trapped in the drum and internal components. The elements can overheat and burn out. If flammable lint comes into contact with these elements, a fire is possible – at a minimum it’ll leave you with the cost of repairing the machine.

I recommend getting into the habit of cleaning the filter with every unload of the drum – I know people who find this very satisfying - and if you have a condenser-dryer you can empty the water reservoir at the same time.

Since launching Pacifica Local Oxford in 2023, Mark has helped hundreds of customers across the region repair their home appliances instead of scrapping and buying new. Having lived in the area his entire life, Mark is passionate about supporting the local community and providing a reliable, trusted service homeowners can depend on.

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