An auger is a spiral metal or plastic rod. It looks very much like a giant screw. You'll find it hidden inside a few common household machines. It spins to push loose material forward. The word itself comes from the Old English word nafogar. A nafogar was a sharp tool used to bore holes in wood. Over time, engineers took that name and applied it to any spiral device that moves material along a hollow tube.
Where You Will Find It
You'll mostly see this part in two places around your house. The most common spot is inside your refrigerator ice maker. The auger sits right in the middle of the ice storage bin. When you press your glass against the door dispenser, a small motor kicks on. This motor turns the auger. The spiral motion grabs the loose ice cubes and pushes them out the front chute into your cup. If you want to keep your ice maker running well, read our guide to Appliances.
The second place you might find an auger is inside a pellet stove. Pellet stoves heat your home by burning small, compressed wood pellets. The auger sits at the bottom of the storage hopper. A motor slowly turns the spiral rod to feed the wood pellets into the firebox. It acts like an automatic feeder. This keeps the fire burning at a steady rate without you having to add wood by hand. If you rely on a pellet stove, the auger is a critical piece of your HVAC & Climate Control system.
Common Problems to Watch For
Augers do a very simple job, but they can still fail. In a refrigerator, the most common issue is a frozen jam. If you don't use your ice dispenser for a few weeks, the cubes can melt slightly and freeze together. They form a solid block of ice. When the auger tries to turn against this solid block, it gets stuck. Sometimes the plastic spiral blades on a fridge auger will actually snap or crack under the heavy pressure.
In a pellet stove, the metal auger can jam if a stray rock or an oversized wood pellet gets into the hopper. Sawdust can also build up around the spiral rod. If the sawdust gets damp, it hardens like cement. A jammed pellet stove auger means your fire will starve and go out.
Here are a few signs your auger is stuck:
- Your fridge motor hums but no ice drops into your cup.
- You see a giant block of frozen ice stuck inside the bin.
- Your pellet stove fire goes out because no wood feeds in.
- You hear a clicking sound coming from the back of the stove.
Repair Costs and Hiring a Pro
If your auger breaks or the motor burns out, you'll need to replace the parts. For a refrigerator, a new plastic or metal auger part usually costs 30 to 80 dollars. It's a repair you can often do yourself with a simple screwdriver. If you prefer to hire an appliance repair technician to do the work, expect to pay 150 to 300 dollars total for the parts and labor. Keep in mind that exact prices vary based on where you live and the brand of your fridge.
Pellet stove parts are much heavier and cost a bit more. The thick metal spiral itself runs 50 to 150 dollars. If the jam burned out the auger motor, a new strong motor costs another 100 to 250 dollars. Hiring a stove professional to take the hopper apart and fix a jammed or broken pellet auger usually costs 200 to 500 dollars. It's messy work, so many homeowners choose to pay a pro.
You might also hear a plumber talk about an auger. Plumbers use a long, flexible metal cable called a drain auger or a plumbing snake. They push this spinning cable down your pipes to break up tough clogs. While it's a tool rather than a machine part, it uses the exact same spiral motion to get the job done. You can read more about clearing clogs in our Plumbing section.
