The last thing anyone wants to have to deal with is a fridge that stops working or an oven that breaks right before you’re able to make dinner. But for most people, just buying another one of these appliances from the store can be a big expense. So rather than buying something brand new, you may want to try your hand at fixing the problem yourself first.

If this is something you’re considering, here are three things to know before trying to repair your own kitchen appliances. 

You Might Void Your Warranty

Unless you’re used to fixing these kinds of things, there are a few things you should think about before you start pulling any of your kitchen appliances apart. 

If your appliance is fairly new, your first response when something goes wrong is to check for your warranty. In many cases, you can use your warranty to get your appliance fixed for you without any cost to you. But if you take matters into your own hands and start fiddling with this, there’s a good chance that you could void your warranty. And if this happens, you won’t be able to get the repairs that you otherwise would have been entitled to. So before you go tinkering around, make sure you check with your warranty first. 

Research Where You Can Find Reliable Replacement Parts

In most cases when something breaks or goes wrong with your kitchen appliances, you’re likely going to have to repair or replace one or more parts in the appliance. However, finding these parts may not be as easy as you might think.

Because of this, it’s a good idea to research a reliable replacement part supplier rather than just looking for the individual parts. By doing this, not only will you feel confident in the parts that you’re buying and using within your own appliances, but you can know who to turn to if and when you need to make other repairs in the future. 

Know When To Replace Versus Repair

Before you invest too much of your time and money into repairing a kitchen appliance that needs some TLC, you should think about at what point you’d want to just replace the appliance as opposed to just trying to fix it.

In general, there’s a good rule of thumb that if the appliance is over halfway through its lifespan of when you’d want to replace it and it’s going to cost you half as much to make the repairs as it would to just get a new one, it might make financial sense to just purchase a new kitchen appliance. 

If you have a kitchen appliance that is in need of repairs and you want to make those repairs on your own, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you do so wisely.