If your furnace has ever died during a winter storm, your clothes dryer caught fire or a burst appliance hose flooded a room, you know how important it is to maintain a good working relationship with the big machines in your home.

Some appliance failures are out of our control, but plenty of them are common, self-inflicted disasters.

Here are some of the habits — or lack thereof — known to damage home appliances.

1. Ignoring manufacturer instructions

Appliances are increasingly complex, and manufacturers depend on purchasers to follow their use instructions. Ignore those, and you’ve got one foot firmly planted on the path to trouble.

Take appliance fires, for one example. Product defects, including poor manufacturing quality, wiring design and insulation, can cause fires.

But you need to do your part too, as Realtor.com notes. Always follow your appliance manufacturer’s recommendations for installation and use; doing so can help prevent damage and even fires.

2. Letting dryer lint build up

A full lint trap in your clothes dryer may not seem so bad, but it’s actually courting disaster. Not only can you wreck your dryer, you can also set the house on fire.

“The leading cause of home clothes dryer fires is failure to clean them,” the National Fire Protection Association’s safety tips say.

Sears Home Services says to keep your “dryer in excellent condition, clean the lint trap after every use to prevent lint buildup and potential fire hazards.”

Keep the dryer’s drum lint-free, too, and use a lint-removing tool to reach as far into the opening behind the lint screen as you can to pull out built-up lint.

At least once yearly — more often if you can see it’s needed or if the dryer stops working well — clean lint out of your dryer’s vent pipe.

3. Installing it yourself

Another way to screw things up: Install major appliances yourself.

You may be top-notch handy, but clothes dryers, for one, should be professionally installed and properly grounded, the National Fire Protection Association says.

4. Turning a blind eye to mold

Letting mold infest your front-loading washing machine is pretty easy. You may not even be to blame: Some machines may be inherently prone to mold, Consumer Reports finds. Still, preventing it is on you.

Sears Home Services’ tips and advice include:

• Washers: Leave the washer door and the detergent drawer, if the machine has one, open between uses so air can circulate inside. Don’t let wet laundry sit in the appliance, either.
• Refrigerators: Clean up spills promptly, and wipe the appliance with vinegar monthly.
• Dishwashers: Select the heat-dry option before use, and leave the door open for a bit after use.

5. Skipping the maintenance

Regular maintenance is key to getting a long life out of your appliances. Skip it, and parts wear out sooner and hoses crack and break. Your manual explains what to do, and when.

If you don’t have the time or the appetite, call a professional and schedule the work. It costs money, but probably a good bit less than fixing or replacing an appliance.

Sears Home Services stresses the importance of maintaining appliances like microwaves, garbage disposals and ovens:

“Ignoring routine tasks such as cleaning filters, unclogging vents, or checking for leaks can lead to premature breakdowns and expensive repairs or replacements.”

6. Overloading the dishwasher

Overloading the dishwasher is a common source of wear and tear on the machine.

Some internal parts have safety devices that prevent overheating, Mark Stoltzenburg, an instructor at the Midwest Technical Institute in Illinois and Missouri, tells Reader’s Digest.

Overloading a dishwasher makes the device work harder, which can make parts more likely to fail.

7. Forgetting about the filters

Ignoring buildup on your stove vent hood filter is a great way to gum up this helpful appliance. Dirty vent filters block airflow, making the machine work harder, which can make it wear out faster.

Cleaning filters in all types of appliances is the single most important task for helping household appliances last longer, Consumer Reports says, sharing a video that demonstrates how to find and wash filters on various household appliances.

8. Pouring on the soap

Using more detergent than recommended for your washer creates wear. Too much soap draws added power, since some washers will automatically add extra rinses and pauses to get rid of suds, says Reader’s Digest.

Newer machines are calibrated to work under specific conditions. If your owner’s manual calls for HE (high efficiency) detergent, use that and only that — and in the exact amount recommended on the detergent label.

If you follow instructions and still get a too-sudsy wash cycle, use the lowest recommended amount of detergent, Reader’s Digest says.