Here's How Much An Ice Maker Repair Will Cost You
For most people, the ice maker is an essential part of their kitchen. Typically found inside refrigerators, this appliance forms ice that can be used to keep drinks cold or make things like smoothies. If your fridge doesn't have this luxury, you may even have one of these freestanding appliances in your kitchen.
If you rely on this appliance to give you ice with just the push of a button, you may become frustrated if it suddenly stops working. Perhaps you're wondering what's gone wrong and how much it will cost to get a professional to fix it. For a repair, the average price is going to be between $100 and $250, but if you need a full replacement, it will cost a bit more, around $300 to $420. Additionally, before you call a professional appliance technician, make sure you check your fridge or ice maker's warranty to see if some of the repair or replacement costs can be covered.
The repair cost depends upon what's wrong
The ice maker repair cost will depend upon what exactly is wrong with it, which a professional appliance technician should easily be able to diagnose. You'd need to pay around $100 to $200 to have a professional repair or replace the water inlet valve or the water line, which are both responsible for bringing water to the ice-making module. If they find that the motor has burnt out, this will cost around $100 to $300 to fix. A corroded or dull drive blade will require $85 to $150, while a replacement for your water filter will cost $85 to $250.
How accessible your ice maker and refrigerator are will also determine how much you need to pay. If your ice maker is hidden behind other fridge parts that will need to be uninstalled, or if your fridge is tucked away into a corner and is hard to access, these things could cause the service to cost more.
Should you buy a whole new appliance?
Perhaps, after discovering that something is wrong with your ice maker, you're wondering whether it would be best to buy a whole new fridge or a freestanding model. To decide what to do, consider how old your appliance is, how much a new one would cost, and whether the warranty would cover fixing the ice maker.
If your ice maker is installed inside your refrigerator, buying a new fridge is rarely the most economic choice. This is because a new fridge will most likely cost around $1,500 while replacing just the ice maker will cost $400 at the most. However, most refrigerators last around 12 years, with some working up until they've hit the 25-year mark. If yours is near this cutoff, a replacement may make more sense. On the other hand, perhaps you have a portable ice maker, which can cost anywhere from $20 to $300, in which case you may want to buy a whole new one. This is also the case for stand-alone and freestanding models, which can cost anywhere from $100 to $1,000. Depending on how much you spent, a replacement may be more cost-effective.