Operating a hotel restaurant taught me many things about the importance of appliances. They’re like the heart of any kitchen, and for households appliances are also the heart of your home comfort and lifestyle. For example you wouldn’t be so eager to bring 5 towels for your family to the beach if you knew you had to hand-wash those towels and air dry them yourself afterward. You might opt to bring just a few towels instead. Not having appliances limits your time and in many cases your freedom as well. But not everyone wants the most expensive latest models. Whether it’s because you love the vintage look or you’re trying to be economical in 2025’s economy, there’s nothing wrong with opting to buy cheap, used appliances instead, especially if you understand the following tips and tricks.

First, just like when you buy a brand new appliance, buying a used one also requires that you get your measurements right. New appliances make this easier because stores have so many to choose from and professional salesmen can bring up all the stats without you having to measure the appliance yourself. But when hunting for a good used appliance you might find the perfect deal only to discover that the dishwasher you brought home is two inches too wide to fit between your fridge and countertop. Avoid this hassle by knowing your dimensions and being strict about those dimensions when hunting for a used appliance.

Another thing to keep in mind before you select the appliance you buy is that most used appliances won’t come with a warranty, so where are you getting this used appliance? Is it from a sketchy dealer on Facebook Marketplace or is it from a trusted local used appliance store. If you do decide to buy a used appliance from a stranger online, it’s my rule that you got to be twice as vigilant about ensuring that it works before you buy it. It’s the same reason why a TV or a microwave with a “FREE” sign on it sitting on the curb will often take several days before someone grabs it. Most people who drive by and see that “FREE” sign will doubt the appliance even works, so don’t give money to the seller until you’re sure the appliance works.

Second, let’s assume you got your appliance and you’re bringing it home. You know it doesn’t have a warranty and you’re hoping it will do its job just as well as a brand new appliance that costs thousands of dollars. Assuming it does work, you still feel cautious that it might break down at any time, especially if you got a super good deal for it. Not all good deals are too good to be true though, so give yourself a pat on the back if the appliance does work, even if it’s loud and some of the buttons are worn. You already made it through the hardest part: finding a cheap, used appliance that works! However, your caution is still well warranted, but here’s a tip on how to lessen that caution and turn it into prudence.

One thing I always tell other restaurant owners is that they should always have a phone number for local emergency appliance repair on hand. Make a familiar relationship with your local appliance repair company, and you’ll feel better that even if your used appliance does break down in a year or two that you still saved money by opting to go for used rather than new because appliance repair service typically only costs a few hundred dollars, whereas getting a brand new appliance costs thousands. So don’t stress about it, just have that phone number ready.

On this blog I’ve talked about appliance repair before, but this next example (or long story) will help you see why having an appliance service expert’s phone number on hand is important.

When I was staying in Kelowna, British Columbia to visit a friend, the year was 2023, and it was summer, and if you know anything about Kelowna you might know that 2023 was the year forest fires devastated much of the land around the city. It wasn’t the best way to spend a vacation, but at least my friend was prepared. The fire was so bad that even the wooden poles holding the power lines got scorched, and many houses lost power for days. And to make things worse my friend lived on the fringe of West Kelowna where the devastation was at its worst. I was only in town for a few days when fire broke out. Thank goodness my friend has a trailer because it made evacuating easy. We simply drove a few towns over to camp, but when the evacuation advisory was lifted we went back to West Kelowna to find that although my friend’s house was unscathed it would be another week before we would get power back because all the power lines were burnt to a crisp.

So there we were after over a week of camping coming home to find that we’d be camping still but only it would be in a pitch-black house! Except, here’s the twist. Remember how I said my friend was prepared? Well, it’s because he had a gas generator. We wheeled that thing out back and cranked it on, and to save fuel we decided to sleep in the living room together where we could keep one AC unit and a appliances running (trust me you don’t want to be inside without AC during a Kelowna summer).The saddest part of this though was that neither of us had cellphone data, and no amount of gasoline no matter how many generators you got will help you get cellphone data. So all we had was call and text service for those last few days I was visiting. This is important to know, because what happened next is precisely why I’m telling you this long story.

So there we were sitting in the candlelit living room wishing we had a movie to watch as we got ready for dinner. We had stopped to grab some steaks and chicken to BBQ over the next few days and had connected the refrigerator to the generator to keep the meat chilled. But, lo and behold, when we opened the fridge to find our dinner we noticed that, hey, “Why isn’t the light turning on? Wait, the fridge isn’t working!”

At first we thought the generator wasn’t connected right but when we did the same thing to the oven it worked fine, so we knew the fridge was broken. Why was it broken? You guessed it! It was an old used fridge my friend had bought just a few months before. And there was no way my friend was going to go over a week without a fridge, because that meant he’d either have to eat preserved foods for a week or spend a fortune eating out. So instinctively I pulled out my phone and said, “I’ll get us an appliance repair guy. They might appreciate the business during this time after all.” But I was used to having a wifi connection, hence why I had no cellphone data, and so I immediately looked silly when the search browser on my phone failed to load. Habits, eh!

Like I said though, my friend was prepared. After he laughed at me he dug into a kitchen drawer under candlelight and retrieved a note that had the number (778) 561-4708 on it for appliance service in Kelowna, and the business was still open, thank goodness. Of course I recorded that phone number into my cell’s contacts while my friend called it up otherwise I’d be a hypocrite by giving you this advice. At least I was right about one thing. The experts on the other end of the line, like nearly every other business in Kelowna, had been slow since the fire broke out, and so they were eager to help us. In fact, they showed up in less than an hour and had the fridge humming healthily again in time to prevent our meat from spoiling. They fixed it so fast our meat was still a little cold by the time it was working again, and so we knew it was safe to BBQ. It was some of the best BBQ I ever had!

All this was to illustrate just how important having a local appliance expert’s phone number on hand is, because when you’re living with appliances that are nearly as old as you are you never know when that phone number will come in handy. Even after tipping that appliance repair company an extra $80 for our gratitude, my friend still saved money compared to being forced to eat out for a week. He would never settle for eating preserved foods like canned beans unless he actually really had to, but because we had that phone number ready he actually didn’t have to.

One other tip about owning old, used appliances is just as important, even if I don’t need to tell a long story to explain its importance. And that tip is something everyone knows but because it’s so obvious most people fail to remember it. And that’s simply educating yourself about your old appliances. Even YouTube is a great resource for learning about your appliances, because once you get educated about your brand and model you can avoid common mishaps and possibly even fix the appliance yourself in the case that it does break down. You might have a Maytag fridge from 1997 that was made before your kids were born, and by simply watching a YouTube video you might discover that that specific model often has an issue with its circuitry.

Here’s an example of the type of video that can educate you on your appliance:

So when your fridge breaks down you can order that circuit board you need from Amazon and save a few hundred dollars fixing the appliance yourself. But I understand that while most people know this is a good idea because it’s economical, barely anyone does it, which is why good appliance repair companies are always on stand by.

With all that, I wish you the best of luck with your used appliance hunt and hope you take some notes about what we discussed here. The time involved in being prepared and prudent might not seem worth it, but we only live once and being prudent has served mankind well for thousands of years, so be like a good restaurant owner and stay vigilant.

All the best!