What Breaks in Florida Homes: 6,405 Appliance Repair Calls Analyzed (2026 Report)

We are an appliance repair company based in Hallandale Beach. Our technicians work across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, around Tampa Bay and in Southwest Florida. For this report we went through our own job records from July 1, 2025 to August 21, 2026 and sorted 6,405 service calls by appliance and by what the owner said was wrong.

The short version: Florida refrigerators stop cooling or stop making ice, and gas burners click without lighting. Below are the numbers for each appliance, with brand differences and repair costs. Journalists and researchers are welcome to use these figures with a link to this page.

Key findings

• Refrigerators were the most common call: 2,057 of 6,405 jobs (32%). Washers came second with 1,768 (28%).
• When owners described a refrigerator problem, 40% said it was not cooling and 34% pointed to the ice maker.
• Cooling complaints rise in summer: from May to August, 30% of refrigerator calls mentioned the fridge not cooling, against 23% from September to April.
• Gas burners that click but won’t light made up 52% of described range and oven problems.
• 53% of described dryer problems were no heat or clothes still damp after a full cycle.
• Draining and leaks together made up 58% of described dishwasher problems.
• The median repair bill ran from $283 for a microwave to $375 for a refrigerator. In 22% of completed, paid visits the bill stayed at $99 or less, which usually means the visit ended at the diagnosis.
• Repairs cost less on the Gulf Coast, where the median washer repair was $292 around Tampa Bay and $293 in Southwest Florida, against $342 in South Florida.

Refrigerators: cooling and ice

Refrigerators brought in 2,057 calls. In 1,277 of them the owner described the problem in a way we could sort.

The mix changed by brand. Among LG refrigerator calls with a described problem (95 calls), 56% were about cooling, and GE was close at 54% of 82. Samsung owners split evenly: 39% cooling and 39% ice maker across 104 calls. On Whirlpool refrigerators the ice maker came first, at 45% of 60 calls.

These shares show what owners of each brand call us about. Brands that sell more in Florida show up more often in our records, and our customers come from the areas and channels we work in, so the figures say nothing about which brand breaks more.

The pattern showed up in both summers in the data, 2025 and 2026. Intake notes don’t say why each unit failed, so we can’t split the summer rise by cause. Our guide to a refrigerator that is not cooling walks through what a technician checks, and a separate piece covers garage refrigerators in Florida heat. For ice makers, start with an ice maker that stopped making ice; LG owners may also want our write-up on linear compressor failures.

Washers: drains, leaks and noise

Washers brought in 1,768 calls, 757 of them with a described problem.

Drain trouble led for GE (30% of 64 calls) and LG (27% of 71, with leaks right behind at 25%). Samsung and Whirlpool owners most often called about noise or shaking, 23% each (77 and 62 calls). See our guides to a washer that won’t drain, loud noise and shaking on spin and washer error codes by brand.

Dryers: no heat

Dryers brought in 920 calls, 423 with a described problem. 53% were about heat: the dryer runs, but clothes come out cold or still damp. Noise came next at 14%, then a drum that won’t turn at 13%, a dryer that won’t start at 10% and error codes at 6%. On Samsung dryers the heat share reached 61% of 46 calls.

If a dryer still heats a little but needs two cycles, check the vent before booking a repair. A restricted vent produces the same complaint. Our article on a dryer that is not heating lists the tests a technician runs on gas and electric models.

Dishwashers: water that stays or escapes

Dishwashers brought in 704 calls in total. On Bosch dishwashers, water that reaches the base pan lifts a float switch and the machine shows error E15, so some leak calls reach us as error-code calls; our guide to the Bosch E15 error explains the check.

Ranges and ovens: burners that click

Ranges, cooktops and ovens brought in 703 calls, 305 with a described problem. 52% were gas burners that click but won’t light. An oven that won’t heat came second at 16%, then door or glass problems at 12%, error codes at 10% and a range that won’t turn on at 8%.

A clicking burner is sometimes something an owner can check: a burner cap knocked out of line during cleaning, or a wet igniter after a boil-over. Turn the burner off and let everything cool and dry before touching it. If the clicking continues with the knob off, the problem is usually in the spark module or switch, and that is a job for a technician. Our Wolf igniter guide shows the diagnostic order on one high-end platform, and this guide covers ovens that won’t heat.

Microwaves

Microwaves brought in 253 calls, 158 with a described problem: 46% were units that would not turn on at all, 25% ran without heating and 22% had a door or latch problem. Repair usually makes sense only for built-in and over-the-range units; a countertop microwave tends to cost less to replace than to fix.

What the repairs cost

We looked at completed, paid jobs and left out bills of $99 or less, which mostly mark visits that ended at the diagnosis. The table shows the median invoice and the middle half of bills for each appliance. Invoice totals include parts and labor; our $59 service call is credited toward the repair when the owner goes ahead.

Across 2,692 completed, paid visits, 22% ended at $99 or less. Dryers were the exception at 13%; for every other appliance the share was between 23% and 24%.

The same repair cost less on the Gulf Coast. We only compare groups with at least 30 repairs:

For price ranges on specific repairs in Miami, see our appliance repair cost guide.

How we counted

• Source: Berne Appliance Repair job records in Housecall Pro for jobs dated July 1, 2025 to August 21, 2026. Of 9,068 jobs that were not canceled, 6,405 named an appliance we could identify.
• Appliance type and complaint come from the dispatcher’s intake notes, sorted with keyword rules written for this report. A second script recounted the headline figures and matched.
• Many notes name only the appliance and the brand. Between 38% and 57% of calls per appliance had no complaint we could sort, so complaint shares are calculated among calls where the problem was described. When a note mentioned more than one problem, we counted the first match in a fixed order.
• Repair bills use completed jobs with a recorded invoice total. Bills of $99 or less are counted as diagnosis-only visits and left out of the medians.
• Regions follow the ZIP code of the job: South Florida 82% of jobs, Southwest Florida 10%, Tampa Bay 8%.
• Brand figures describe our callers and say nothing about how often a brand breaks.
• Percentages are rounded to whole numbers. No customer names or addresses were used in the published figures.

Using this data

You may quote or chart these figures with a link to this page. For questions about the method, or for a breakdown by appliance, brand or county, call (754) 345-4515 or email bernerepair@gmail.com.

What these repairs cost in Florida: our appliance repair cost guide has median bills by appliance, by problem and by county, from 2,539 paid repairs.