Service Life of Appliances: Variations by Selected Characteristics of Owner Households

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop estimates of the service life under one owner of selected major appliances according to selected characteristics of owner households. Data from a national sample of approximately 12,000 households on ownership and discard of five selected appliances were standardized and pooled. Actuarial tables were constructed using the pooled data, and esti mates of service life were computed for households classified by income, age of head, and whether the household had moved in the 18 months prior to the survey. Differences among subgroups in the pooled service‐life estimates for appliances were generally not significant except for appliances acquired in a used condition by households classified by age of head and whether or not they had recently moved. The estimates of service life of appliances owned by younger families, and by families with higher incomes, were consistently shorter than estimated service life of appliances owned by all households surveyed or those owned by older families or those with lower incomes. The estimated service life of appliances owned by families that had moved within 18 months prior to the survey was considerably shorter than for all families or for families that had not moved.