Essential Home Items Lifespan

The struggles of a homeowner is real, especially a new homeowner. You have expenses that most renters don’t need to worry about and a bunch of maintenance and tasks you need to remember to do. Doing routine seasonal maintenance and replacing things when they are no longer efficient, will not only maintain the value of your home, but save you a bunch of money in the long run. 

If you were ever wondering how long before you need to replace something in your home, here’s the details:  The source of the information below is: PillarToPost

Roof Covering

  • Asphalt Standard Shingle: 12 - 15 years

  • Asphalt Premium Shingle: 15 - 30 years

  • Wood Shingle: 10 - 2- years

  • Concrete/Clay Tile: 20 - 40 years

  • Asbestos Cement: 40 - 80 years

  • Slate Tile: 40 - 80 years

  • Roll Roofing: 5 -15 years

  • Tar & Gravel: 15 -25 years

  • Metal: 60 years

Heating

  • Forced air furnace: 10 - 25 years

  • Oil Tank: 40 years

  • Water/Steam Boiler - Welded Steel: 15 - 30 years

  • Water/Steam Boiler - Cast Iron: 30 - 50 years

  • Water/Steam Boiler - Steam Circulating Pump: 10 -25 years

Cooling

  • Central Air: 10 - 15 years

  • Heat Pump: 10 - 15 years

  • Window Air Conditioning: 10 - 20 years

Plumbing

  • Galvanized Water Pipe: 2- - 25 years

  • Hot Water Heater: 5 - 15 years

  • Septic/Sewer Pump: 5 - 10 years

  • Well Pump: 10 years

Appliances

  • Dishwasher: 5 -12 years

  • Dryer 10 -25 years

  • Garbage Disposal: 5 -12 years

  • Oven/Range: 15 - 20 years

  • Washing Machine: 5 - 15 years


Knowing the life expectancy of the important items in and on your home is extremely important for all homeowners. Whether you’re new to the homebuying process or if this is your 3rd home you’ve purchased. Whether your home is new or old. No matter how well-kept your home is. Everyone needs this information so they can make smart decisions when it’s time to make repairs. Using this guide will definitely help you keep track and stay on top of things.

Remember, the life expectancy is just a guesstimate. You also have to keep in mind how often and how much these things are being used, what part of the world you live in, and how many people are using these things. The information won’t be the exact same for everyone. For example: a location where you may get more snow and rain may need to replace their roof (depending on the type of roof) sooner than a place that doesn’t.

Write these down in a notebook and put reminder in your phone when it’s time for things to be replaced. You may also want to set money aside for these repairs and replacements so you don’t have to worry about coming up with the money all at once. Don’t forget, if things breakdown sooner than you anticipated it, you can certainly use your emergency fund to cover the cost. However, the lack of planning when you now have all of this information is not an excuse to use your emergency fund in the future.