Data page / What repairs cost
What appliance repairs cost, and what the visit adds
Every guide on this site prices its own fault, and the numbers are not comparable until you know what is inside them: a quote can be for a part, for the part fitted, or for the visit alone. This page collects the figures the guides publish so a quote can be placed somewhere on the map instead of being judged on its own.
The visit, before any part is fitted
The fixed part of an appliance repair is the visit. Everything above it is the part and the labour to reach it, which is why two invoices for the same fault can differ by a factor of two while both are honest.
A diagnostic fee is normally credited against the repair when the work is approved, which is what makes the free checks on each guide worth doing first. Where a source prices the visit as the whole job - a vent clearing, for example - the figure appears in the repair column rather than as a fee.
The span inside one fault
The most useful number on any of these pages is not the average, it is the distance between the cheapest and the dearest cause behind the same symptom. That distance is the reason a phone quote is not a quote.
| Appliance | Cheapest route on that page | Dearest |
|---|---|---|
| home appliance | loud screech at startup (dryer: worn drive belt) — $322 installed | buzzing or rattling from the back (refrigerator: evaporator or condenser fan motor) — $422 installed |
| boiler | steam boiler water level low, so the low-water cutoff has locked the burner out — no part needed | failed gas valve — $500–$900 installed |
| Bosch dishwasher | clogged filter — no part needed | water in the base pan, anti-flood lockout — $266–$390 installed |
| central air conditioner | clogged air filter — not priced | failing compressor — $2,055–$2,676 installed |
| commercial dishwasher | a booster heater that no longer brings the final rinse to 180F — not priced | a low temperature machine being read as an equipment fault when it has no booster to fail — no part needed |
| commercial oven | a spark module, electrode or pilot assembly that has stopped igniting the burner — not priced | the element or the control on electric equipment, where the control is the expensive end — not priced |
| commercial washer | a front loader door boot seal that never gets the chance to dry out — not priced | not a fault: a shared riser with intermittent pressure, which produces fill faults that look like a failed valve — no part needed |
| cooktop | heat trapped under a pan that is too big, or too small — no part needed | the fault is under the glass, not in it — $255–$530 installed |
| cooktop | a failed zone switch or infinite switch behind the control — not priced | a radiant element that has failed open-circuit in the dead zone — $380 installed |
| dishwasher | wrong detergent, or overfoaming — no part needed | cracked sump or tub-to-sump gasket — $285–$425 installed |
| dishwasher | clogged spray arm holes (mineral scale) — no part needed | failing wash pump or circulation motor — $300–$480 installed |
| dishwasher | rinse aid has run out — no part needed | hard water scale shortening the element's life — $294–$514 installed |
| dishwasher | the supply stop under the sink is closed, or the fill hose is kinked or its washer is not seated — no part needed | a control board that never commands the fill — $369 installed |
| dishwasher | control lock, delay start or sleep mode left on — no part needed | failed main control board — $280–$500 installed |
| dryer | failed door switch — not priced | failed drive motor — $320–$520 installed |
| dryer | crushed or kinked transition duct — no part needed | lint-packed or failed blower wheel — $368 installed |
| dryer | clogged vent run (lint restriction) — no part needed | burned-out heating element (electric dryers) — $60–$150 part |
| dryer | lint accumulated past the screen in the duct run — no part needed | a run with no margin left, where a section or termination has to be replaced — $199–$405 installed |
| dryer | blown thermal fuse — $273–$368 installed | failed drive motor — $334–$505 installed |
| freezer | dust and pet hair packing the condenser fan — no part needed | a control fault commanding a fan that has not failed — $342–$470 installed |
| freezer | a blocked defrost drain refreezing the meltwater — no part needed | a control board or timer that no longer schedules the cycle — $430–$700 installed |
| freezer | door gasket that no longer seals — $312–$588 installed | failed control board — $408–$604 installed |
| furnace | clogged air filter — no part needed | failed hot-surface ignitor — $200–$350 installed |
| garbage disposal | jammed flywheel or impeller — no part needed | seized motor bearings — $150–$450 installed |
| garbage disposal | loose hose clamp or worn gasket at the drain elbow and dishwasher inlet (side leak) — not priced | cracked disposal body or failed internal motor seal (bottom leak) — $129–$399 part |
| gas stove | food residue blocking the burner ports — no part needed | dead igniter, cracked electrode or failed spark module — $315–$576 installed |
| refrigerator | shutoff arm or ice level sensor stuck in the off position — no part needed | compressor or sealed system fault behind a warm freezer — $466–$1,200 installed |
| microwave | demo (showroom) mode left switched on — no part needed | burnt or soiled waveguide cover (arcing) — $265–$527 installed |
| microwave | burnt food or grease baked onto the interior — no part needed | soiled or burnt waveguide cover arcing — $265–$527 installed |
| oven | an edge chip that finally propagated across a tempered pane — $352–$501 installed | a door that no longer closes square after the break — $352–$501 installed |
| oven | one leg of the 240-volt supply lost — no part needed | weak or failed gas igniter — $210–$380 installed |
| oven | calibration drift, which is not a failed part — no part needed | failed control board deciding the wrong thing — $469 installed |
| range hood | a grease filter that has stopped passing air — no part needed | undersized duct, or a run that breaks the code it was installed under — $650–$2,500 installed |
| refrigerator | dirty condenser coils — no part needed | a compressor worn out by age — $670–$1,330 installed |
| refrigerator | a water filter cartridge left in past its interval — not priced | a water inlet valve that no longer opens fully or at all — $388 installed |
| refrigerator | sugar and grease left on the contact face — no part needed | a seal that is no longer the real problem — $670–$1,330 installed |
| refrigerator | clogged defrost drain — no part needed | door gasket letting humid air in — $395 installed |
| refrigerator | blocked rear air vents or an overpacked cabinet — no part needed | compressor or sealed-system failure — $670–$1,330 installed |
| toilet | float set too high (water spilling into the overflow tube) — no part needed | fill valve worn out — $195–$345 installed |
| walk-in cooler | a condenser coil packed with kitchen grease and dust — no part needed | a refrigerant leak in a sealed system — $3,536 installed |
| walk-in freezer | a defrost heater, termination sensor or defrost control that has stopped calling for the cycle — not priced | humid air entering through a door that no longer seals — not priced |
| washing machine | an item caught in the boot seal holding the latch open — no part needed | a control board that never releases the latch — $439 installed |
| washing machine | a fill hose fitting that has backed off — no part needed | water inlet valve — $362 installed |
| washing machine | worn directional cogs in a dual-action agitator — not priced | worn transmission or drive motor — $360–$650 installed |
| washing machine | clogged drain-pump filter or trap — no part needed | clogged house standpipe or building drain — $150–$300 installed |
| washing machine | unbalanced load detection stopping the spin — no part needed | worn drum bearings — $334–$408 installed |
| washing machine | levelling feet and a floor that only looks flat — no part needed | worn drum bearings — $380 installed |
| washing machine | a detergent film from over-dosing or a non-HE product — no part needed | biofilm anchored in the folds of the door boot seal — $450 installed |
| washing machine | supply taps not fully open or a kinked fill hose — no part needed | control board on a digital machine — $436 installed |
| water heater | pilot light out on a gas tank — no part needed | failed heating element on an electric tank — $349 installed |
| wine cooler | cabinet standing where the room, not the machine, sets the temperature — no part needed | sealed system failure — $1,640 installed |
Why the same fault quotes differently
Three things move a price more than the part does. Access: a dishwasher has to come out from under a counter, a built-in microwave has to be unmounted, a front-loader's drum has to be partly dismantled - and that labour is charged at an hourly rate, not by the symptom. The market: published national ranges sit below the medians of shops that include the service call in the invoice, and both are published here side by side rather than averaged into a number that describes neither. What is counted: parts, labour, the visit, haul-away and installation are separate lines, and a quote that omits one of them is not cheaper, it is incomplete.
Where the sources behind a record disagree, the record carries both figures. The clearest examples on this site are a washing machine lid switch, priced at $307-427 by one source and $140-220 by another, and a refrigerator compressor, where a completed-repair median of $466 sits against a 2026 installed band of $700-1,200. Neither pair was averaged: which end applies depends on the machine, the market and what the invoice includes.
How to read a quote
Ask three questions before comparing anything: what is included (part, labour, visit, haul-away), what happens if the diagnosis changes once the machine is open, and what the same fault costs to replace rather than repair. The guides apply the half-of-new-price rule to that last question - a repair that passes roughly half the price of a comparable new machine is where replacement starts to win - and the age of the appliance decides the rest, because the same repair is worth doing on a five-year-old machine and not on one already past its expected life.
How much does it cost to fix each appliance?
The same bands, grouped by machine rather than by fault, and asked the way owners ask it. The span inside one appliance is wide on purpose: it is the distance between the cheapest cause and the dearest one behind the same complaint, which is the number a quote should be compared against rather than the average.
How much does it cost to fix a walk-in freezer?
Completed repairs run $486–$1,880 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $150 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a commercial oven?
Completed repairs run $463–$1,361 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a commercial dishwasher?
Completed repairs run $364–$849 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a home appliance?
Completed repairs run $320–$380 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a commercial washer?
Completed repairs run $317–$500 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $150 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix an oven?
Completed repairs run $302–$501 across the 3 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$150 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $700–$1,500. Every oven fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a washing machine?
Completed repairs run $296–$445 across the 8 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$130 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $700–$1,100. Every washing machine fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a freezer?
Completed repairs run $295–$504 across the 3 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $700–$1,100. Every freezer fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a gas stove?
Completed repairs run $295–$455 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $600–$3,000. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a walk-in cooler?
Completed repairs run $283–$3,536 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $150 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a wine cooler?
Completed repairs run $281–$577 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a central air conditioner?
Completed repairs run $279–$849 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $0 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $3,444–$5,359. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a microwave?
Completed repairs run $265–$527 across the 2 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $76–$99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $130–$1,000. Every microwave fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a toilet?
Completed repairs run $264–$565 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $0 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $375–$625. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a cooktop?
Completed repairs run $255–$530 across the 2 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $700–$2,000. Every cooktop fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a water heater?
Completed repairs run $253–$1,791 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $0 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $599–$1,120. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a garbage disposal?
Completed repairs run $209–$1,003 across the 2 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $0–$99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $150–$599. Every garbage disposal fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a dryer?
Completed repairs run $199–$437 across the 5 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$130 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $550–$1,400. Every dryer fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a boiler?
Completed repairs run $190–$2,375 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $150–$180 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $6,000–$12,000. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a furnace?
Completed repairs run $180–$490 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $150–$180 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is not published. The guide for this machine.
How much does it cost to fix a refrigerator?
Completed repairs run $150–$956 across the 6 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$150 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $700–$3,200. Every refrigerator fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a dishwasher?
Completed repairs run $130–$514 across the 6 guides here, after a diagnostic fee of $75–$149 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $600–$1,000. Every dishwasher fault, priced by cause.
How much does it cost to fix a range hood?
Completed repairs run $99–$850 across the single guide here, after a diagnostic fee of $99 that comes off the total when the work is approved. A comparable new unit is $300–$850. The guide for this machine.
What the published national guides say, and what completed invoices show
National cost guides are the number most people see first, and they are not wrong — they answer a slightly different question. The bands below come from a home-repair guide that names its own sources (contractor quotes, HomeAdvisor, Angi and RSMeans) and describes its figures as typical ranges rather than medians; beside each one is the figure this site can trace to a repair company's own completed work orders, with the number of jobs behind it.
| Repair | Published national band | Completed invoices (cited on this site) |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic visit | $75-$150 | $99, applied to the repair ($99-$150 on stacked or built-in refrigerators) |
| Refrigerator compressor | $400-$900 | $956 median across 107 compressor jobs, typical range $670-$1,330 |
| Refrigerator door gasket | $75-$150 | $430 median across 118 gasket jobs, middle half $332-$629 |
| Dryer heating element | $100-$200 | $346 median where an element was replaced, out of 1,799 completed dryer repairs |
| Washing machine drain pump | $75-$150 top-load, $100-$200 front-load | $361 median across 249 drain-pump replacements |
| Dishwasher drain pump | $150-$300 | $335 median across 106 drain-pump replacements |
The gap is mostly definition, and on this list it runs one way: a published band is usually a parts-and-labour estimate for the repair itself, while a completed invoice is everything the household actually paid — the service call, the diagnosis, the model-specific part, the access time and the local market. Mid-range invoices therefore tend to land above the published band. Both numbers are useful: the band tells you what the job is worth in principle, the invoice tells you what people in these records paid.
Two habits follow from the comparison. Ask whether the diagnostic fee is applied to the repair — the guides carry it as a separate $75-$150 charge, and in the records cited here it is $99 and comes off the total. And for anything over $300, ask what was tested before the expensive part was named: the published guides make the same point independently, that a refrigerator running warm is more often a defrost fault at $150-$250 than a compressor. The approval data shows what happens when it is a compressor: about half the households decline the repair.
Inside one subsystem: the refrigerator water system
One source breaks a single appliance down far enough to see the parts individually behind a symptom: 628 completed refrigerator water-system repairs, split by the area that was replaced and by the complaint that brought the call. It is a useful test of the point above. Four different parts, four different faults, the same household at the door - and the medians land $28 apart.
| Area replaced | Typical job | Middle half | Repairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispenser assembly | $393 | $323-$483 | 332 |
| Water inlet valve | $400 | $343-$512 | 145 |
| Water line or fill tube | $372 | $285-$454 | 125 |
| Water filter housing | $400 | $322-$513 | 111 |
The source publishes its own warning with this table: one repair often touches two areas, so the counts add to more than the number of jobs. They count areas worked on rather than splitting the 628 jobs between four causes, and this site does not publish them as if they did.
The same dataset splits by complaint instead of by part, and there the spread is wider than the parts are: 144 leaks at a $388 median, 45 visits for no water from the dispenser at $379, and 30 for no ice at $400. Price does not separate those faults, diagnosis does - which is why the leaking-water guide sends the reader to where the water appears rather than to a price list.
Where these figures come from
Nothing on this page is estimated by us. Each row is taken from the guide it links to, where the figure is tied to a named source: published price guides, and repair companies that publish medians from their own completed work orders together with the number of jobs behind them. Where a source publishes no part-only price, the record says so instead of inventing one; where it publishes no duration, the page says that too.
Have a quote?
Put your quote and the age of the unit into the calculator — the same half-of-new-price rule, with your own numbers.