Fix It or Ditch It? Make ChatGPT Build You a Repair-vs-Replace Calculator

October 15, 2026

By Kim Komando

🧊 Fridge court

I’m staring at a $450 repair quote for an 11-year-old fridge, wondering whether to fix the dang thing or send it toward the big appliance showroom in the sky.

Choose wrong and you could blow $800 on a replacement you didn’t need, or repair an aging energy hog that adds another $100 a year to your electric bill. Homeownership, where every decision comes with a receipt and low-grade regret.

🧮 Make ChatGPT do the fridge math

Just last week, ChatGPT launched Intelligent UI, and it can now show interactive visuals,including custom calculators you can tweak right in the chat. It’s very slick indeed. 

Check out this image below. I know it’s big for an email newsletter but it’s worth the space.

ChatGPT/Kim Komando

Most people compare the repair quote with the price of a new one and call it a day. The real math also includes your electric bill, how long the fridge will last and whether this repair is just the first domino.

One common rule is that replacement makes sense when the repair costs more than 50% of a new appliance and the old one has already hit the halfway mark. Energy-efficient replacements can also save around $100 a year, depending on the model and your electric rate. 

Open ChatGPT and paste this:

You’re a home efficiency expert. Build an interactive repair-versus-replace calculator for my [appliance type]. The model is [brand and model number; if you don’t know it, describe the size and type, like “side-by-side, 25 cubic feet”]. Include adjustable sliders for appliance age, expected lifespan, repair cost, replacement cost, annual energy cost for the old model, annual energy cost for the new model, installation and haul-away fees, expected maintenance and the risk of another breakdown. Show total costs over [number] years, the break-even year and your recommendation. Clearly list every assumption.

Plug in your real numbers. If you don’t know your model number, you can ask ChatGPT where to find it, too. If ChatGPT won’t give you sliders in chat, ask for a year-by-year comparison table instead. Less fun to drag around, still cheaper than guessing.

A $100 annual energy difference adds up to $500 over five years. That might be enough to turn your dying fridge from a repair project into someone else’s haul-away problem.

📩 Send this to someone who is about to spend $500 fixing something older than their car.