OKAY. Can anyone beat this? Every morning since 1973 Greg and Sue Judd of Seacliff Park have browned their breakfast bread using the same Hotpoint toaster. If the Judds average four pieces of toast a day, that's 1460 pieces a year or 62,780 pieces in 43 years.
In a handwritten note Greg wrote: "The toaster is now 43 years old and used every day. Dropped off the counter a couple of times and left on for an hour or so when forgotten. 
"Other people's stories would be interesting. My wife, Sue, continues to nag about throwing it out and getting a new one - that won't happen â€¦ I'm proud of the old girl and her story needs to be told." In 1973, when the toaster began its daily tasks, Gough Whitlam was prime minister, Don Dunstan was the SA premier and the Sydney Opera House and Wrest Point Casino were opened.
Of course the Judds' toaster doesn't have a timer to pop-up the toast when it's ready. It only toasts one side of the bread at a time and the side-panel doors have to be opened manually. You can't set and forget. In fact, a few absent-minded moments and the toast can be burned black. But the Judd's Hotpoint was obviously made to last.
Their story is relevant following the release of a report by the University of Bonn and the Oeka Institute in Germany which revealed the number of large household appliances that had to be replaced due to a fault in the first five years has risen from 3.5 per cent in 2004 to 8.3 per cent in 2013. Fridges, washing machines, drivers, dishwashers and electric ovens have become increasingly unreliable. Washers lasted 16 years in 2004 but now have an average life of only 13.7 years.
A humble toaster may not qualify as a large household appliance but those figures wouldn't surprise many people. We've all been frustrated by faulty household electrical appliances whether it's a washing machine, refrigerator, dryer, oven, microwave, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, irons, television or hi-fi.
They inevitably conk-out at the most inconvenient time and generally it is about two months after the warranty expires. It is cheaper to simply throw them out than have them repaired. The call-out fee for electrical repairs is about the equivalent of the cost of minor heart surgery and the fine print in household insurance contracts doesn't help.
Australians own about 50 million electrical appliances and discard about 2.5 million a year. In the past 15 years in our house we've had three microwaves and two washing machines. But our Kenwood toaster keeps on popping up. We probably bought it for $25 but the comparable model today costs $169.
The curious tale of the longevity of the Judd's Hotpoint toaster provokes the obvious question: What is the longest-serving electrical appliance in regular use in SA?
Colour television was introduced in 1975 so there couldn't be too many operating black and white TVs. What about valve radios, reel-to-reel tape decks or twin-tub washing machines?One thing's for sure, if anyone can top the service ground out by the Judd's 43-year-old toaster, they've certainly had value for their dollar.