Wow, my own results growing up and now renting vary wildly from most of these. My family and I aren't particularly hard on our appliances and such, either. To give you an idea, the list below gives ranges for the shortest and longest amounts of time we've had the appliance last.

Dishwasher: 1-4 years (run about once a week)
Garbage Disposal: 2-4 years (run a few times per week)
Microwave: 3-4 years (used a few times a week)
Refrigerator: 3-5 years
Freezer: 50+ years (a Kelvinator)
Washer: 2-7 years
Electric Dryer: 15+ years
Wireless Home Network: 0.5-2 years
Air conditioning unit: 3-5 years
Furnace: 3-5 years
Electric water heater: 2-6 years

When I was a teenager in the 90s, the old 1960s-era appliances my family had finally started to wear out. They were replaced with mid-level, name-branded stuff from reputable dealers, professionally installed and never abused. Usually within a month or so, the shiny new appliance would have to be worked on. If I didn't rent now, my experience would make me inclined to try to just do without everything but a water heater - there's no way that I could afford to have the crappily-made appliances repaired or replaced the way my parents did.

this past week my parents had a bit of bad luck with some of their tech stuff. first their laptop died which it didn't seem that old. Then their wiresless router went out. My dad was pretty upset that the router went out, but I told him that I had purchased his and mine at the same time and mine had died years ago, so he had a good run with it...

i am guessing the above stats for a "wireless home network" are wrong, there is no way a router would last 50 years. Heck, no one would even hav testing for that since they haven't even been around for 50 years, barely 10...

I, too, can attest to the short lifespan of a wireless router. With the exception of my current Airport Express router (2 years and going strong), every other router I've used has lasted maybe 6-12 months before becoming completely useless (D-Link, Linksys, etc.). I can't see how it'd be a result of misuse, given that once you hook up a router, you typically don't have to touch the darn thing anymore.

As for the rest, I can't even remember my family replacing appliances. I know we bought a new fridge when we reno'd the kitchen, and replaced the dishwasher at the same time (both were outdated, but working just fine). Maybe we've just been lucky!

My in-sink disposal is going on 30 years! Hurray for quality American construction :)

We had the same refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove/oven at my parent's house for 25 years.

Hard to believe that a microwave could last only 3-4 years, or a fridge 3-5! That's not been my experience with appliances at all.
I can only wish our old microwave would explode or implode or something, as it must be 35 years old, with "wood veneer" finish. We use it from 3 times a week to maybe 5 times a day (Xmas time baking... softening butter, melting chocolate etc.) It's relegated to the basement (just down the stairs from the kitchen.)
My point: sometimes long-lived appliances aren't a blessing. LOL!

A wireless home network for 50 years? That I have a hard time believing!

Most of my tech friends were shocked that I got seven years out of my old Linksys before it bit the dust (as their experience has been far less…). It was apparently only 43 years off of its life expectancy!

Here's hoping for a glorious half-a-century to my new one! I'm sure there will be no leap forwards in technology in that 50 years, of course.

This is interesting list, and thank you for providing it.

We've had one Linksys for 8 years and another for 7, no problems, ever. For those of you that are having premature death of equipment, how's your power quality? Ours was atrocious so we've been using a battery backup/voltage regulator to protect the important stuff. Electric problems in my parent's house cooked a copier, tv, water heater and some bulbs. New Mac and printer on the battery backup/regulator survived unscathed.

Yeah, this is crazy. Maybe the mechanical/electrical components of this stuff could theoretically last that long, but as for how long tech stuff actually "lasts" (how long people let it last before "upgrading") these days, with the crazy planned obsolescence? ("Home tech?" Mostly appliances, there. I don't really see my washer as "tech." I turn a knob and it spins.)

We have found the same thing as many other people here with regard to wireless routers.

I specifically opened this article to see if it listed the lifespan for a router, and the 50+ years comment floored me!

We seem to get a life expectancy of about 2 years out of a router. We keep them in ventilated areas, try to keep them clean and dust-free...

But consider that they are ALWAY ON, and often crammed in cabinets where they can overheat, and I guess it makes sense.

Wireless routers really seem to depend, had a Linksys for 8-9 years, but the Netgear one only lasted 6 months. Some of these figures seem a little optimistic, especially with rapid changes in technology. They might last that long but are we really still going to be using them?

I second (third, forth etc) the wireless network life expectancy shock.

I'd like to know the make of this miracle router they tested.