Modern Appliance Repair Challenges

If Watson, the computer that played TV’s "Jeopardy," didn’t draw attention to how computers have become so ubiquitous, your lowly household appliance might. Gone are the days that you can simply hire a “jack-of-all-trade” to take a look at a broken appliance, according to Steven Blaisdell, general manager of Action Appliance Repair in Norwalk.

Today’s modern household appliances often are filled with sophisticated computers that regulate everything from basic operational functions to energy management. The East Avenue business takes pride in providing service technicians that are licensed, insured and certified to perform repair services.

While Action Appliance Repair promotes its tech-savvy repair service, it's not the only appliance repair service in town. , on Westport Avenue, has a showroom in Norwalk and has maintained a network of repair service technicians. Local since 1952,  has serviced and sold appliances to Norwalkers from its East Norwalk location in Ludlow Square.

Today’s modern appliances do more than just the basic functions. They represent the challenge to appliance repair shops. While the sales brochures may talk of features that make the appliance sound energy efficient, they really are describing sophisticated technology sensors. Take a look at washing machines these days, they monitor water, suds, temperature and some even have timers to pick off-peak hours to run.

All those sensors are really small computer chips that manage things like water level and temperature in efforts to use less water, less time or choosing the optimal time to run. It's not just washing machines, but clothes dryers are not immune from the leap into technology, and neither are refrigerators and dish washers. More sensors mean monitoring and more things that can stop working. Any failure of one of the sensors can lead to a call for repair service.

The good news is that diagnosing what went wrong is easier. Hooking up a computer to diagnose the appliance is a common first step. Getting the right replacement part, well, that still requires some old fashioned ordering of parts, no sensors yet to send out for replacement parts.