Was surprised to see this here. But yes absolutely, they are expensive don't get me wrong. But they are worth it. Their shit just works, i have their washer and heat pump dryer, dishwasher, and CX1 canister vacuum. Each are the best version of that thing I've ever used. Dishwasher will clean anything no rinse/soak needed even for baked on pasta or cheese, vacuum is powerful but also shockingly quiet, dryer sips power (700w avg load) but dries everything just fine.
Had em for the years now, i am NOT gentle with the vacuum i drag it outside to clean the car and other various things it's not really for, toss it around use it as a footstool sometimes and it shows no signs of the wear. You get what you pay for with them
Miele makes just as many shitty products as anyone else, their “top of the line” and industrial products are great though. Same thing with Bosch and Siemens.
They buy a computer monitor "made in Britain" which immediately catches on fire. They grab the fire extinguisher but it doesn't spray anything. He looks and it also has a "made in Britain" sticker. Once he looks at... The fire extinguisher catches on fire.
In these modern times, lots of people don’t have many phone numbers memorized. We just keep contacts in our phones, so we forget those numbers over time. I have a few that I still have confidently memorized.
The IT Crowd new emergency services number is one of them.
That isn't my experience. Bought two, one six years ago, one three years ago, both still work perfectly. Sold one of them recently for half what I paid for it.
First I’ve heard of Miele. I'll look into it, but the reason why I got Dysons in the first place was constantly hearing others rave about them.
On my second Dyson, not sure why I bought a second one. Thing is always getting jammed up with hair and needs complete disassembly to clean it out, and batteries will only last two years before needing replacement. All the joints are very loose as well now. Will be going with the Miele HX2 at some point soon which is actually cheaper than some of the Dyson.
After an allergy test revealed that I had a dust allergy I bought a Dyson to replace our cheap generic vacuum cleaner and thought it was the bee's knees. Then the power switch went. And it would clog the power head constantly. Then, at about 10 years old it packed it in completely when the motor died.
Replaced that with a Miele which hasn't missed a beat. So much so we bought a second when we moved into our current house (one for upstairs, one for downstairs, I'm lazy). In terms of suction they are the same or better, but ergonomically they shit all over the Dyson. Not as purple though.
The old Dysons are way better than whatever the hell they're doing nowadays. I could genuinely feel the difference in the plastic quality when I moved from an older DC 39 to a newer Big Ball (the Big Ball's is significantly worse). Not to mention the Big Ball has gone through two roller heads (both had the mechanism break). No wonder their newer cordless models have a 2 year warranty instead of the old corded 5 year. They used to be really good, if a bit expensive, but now the options from Bosch and Miele look far more attractive.
Bought a refurbished stick one about 8 years ago and its still going strong after a battery replacement (its modified to use my power tool batteries now, same voltage so no hassle). I'm just happy I can get replacement parts easily.
I've had mixed results. Mine started becoming far less efficient after about 3 years. I tried regular maintenance to no avail, and I took it completely apart and cleaned the venturi. It got kinda better. Then a year later, I used it to vacuum up some curry powder, and from then on it smelled incredibly strong of curry.
It still wasn't cleaning all that well. It had stopped picking up pet hair, then the high-speed bearing started making noise. Taking the lower assembly apart was way too involved and the replacement motor itself would be 1/4 of the price I paid.
I ended up getting a cheap bagless Shark at costco. Self cleaning brushes, cheap two-stage filter. Thing runs like new 4 years in.
I'd rather have gotten a Miele, but the price just wasn't in the cards at the moment.
I do think their stick vacs are a little better though
The only problem I had with my Samsung fridge was that the shelves kept breaking. They were expensive to replace too and kept breaking. Eventually I installed a wooden shelf haha that lasted way longer than their plastic. Looked rustic too haha
I ended up getting a used LG dishwasher and it work really well, but during kitchen renovations I think dust got into the motor, it got noisy, ran being noisy for a couple year and it got rid of it, but it still worked. My parent LG fridge broke multiple times under warranty, never ran right and was related to the lg linear compressor lawsuit. I have a GE dishwasher now that seems okay, but the cycle is over 3hr!
You can still buy high quality, lasts a lifetime, refrigerators. We have grown accustomed to $400 refrigerators that will last five to ten years worth of doing a piss poor job (freezing some areas while not cooling others). A "buy it for life", excellent refrigerator of equal size will run you $10k+. Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they're 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.
And see 2k is a good price. I would spend that on a well made fridge.
The options however are piss poor cheap fridge for $400, fridge with a bunch of fancy crap but no real improvement in life/performance for $2,000, or a fridge that is high quality for north of $5,000.
There it is. Probably won't take much to hear you say "most that can't afford it simply didn't try as hard as me and the people I know cause hard work is all you need".
You don't need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.
The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.
Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don't stay balanced well.
Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.
I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.
What's the cause? it's a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.
I've considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it's done.
Ohh yeah, the old ones were awesome. They used to install macerators in the pump wells to grind up any debris that might bypass the filter and had motors that could go all day long.
I had a 90's whirlpool at my old place that probably got scrapped directly after I sold it. It stopped cleaning all that well once, I took it apart and cleaned all the bits, put it back together and it kicked ass like the day I moved in, I used it almost every day for 15 years.
I mostly use the simple, freezer on top, refrigerators. In the past (maybe 15 years ago), they did a good enough job. Lately I have noticed that the cold air distribution to the refrigerator has been terrible. In some units, food places in the back of the fridge will freeze while the front remains cool rather than cold. Other units show the same issue but top versus bottom. I feel like a tiny fan to help distribute the air would fix it.
I do want a Subzero but, Jesus...they are so expensive.
I have one! a HUGE one! it sips power all year long. It also has a compressor small enough that you can run it off a really tiny UPS and go for AGES without grid.
mine works on a 1500va, haven't tested runtime but it can def run on it for quite some time the i accidentally popped the breaker from another outlet and didn't know it for two days, it was still running.
This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.
The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.
And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).
FYI, your $600 Maytag did not come with a 10 year warranty. It comes with a 10 year parts only warranty, labor is not covered, only on the compressor. Labor is only covered for one year.
Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it'd be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it's not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?
If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.
Liebherr makes fridges with 10 years of warranty for about 20% more than cheap brands. Super happy with mine. Nice features and efficiency too.
BSH is also supposed to build good appliances. Our old dishwasher from Neff was 20+ years old when we sold our apartment and you could still find manuals and replacement parts on the official website. A heat exchanger, a huge and complex part was like 100€. Fridge too: a drawer broke and we bought a replacement for around 15€.
In the US they are sold under the Bosch brand AFAIK.
You don't even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.
Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I've had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.
Except in this case this particular fridge has worked for 40 years already, so just by Bayesian statistics it is more likely to keep working than a modern one from a range that are known to break. Same reason why some old cars are getting more expensive nowadays.
If you're being serious try shimming it, determine where the noise is and chuck a block between. My brand new Whirlpool rattles because the floor is uneven so I have a small piece of wood between the floor and front bottom piece which takes care of it.
I am lol. It sound like a loose belt in a car motor just slapping rapidly. I may look into your idea (and thank you), but since we bought it it has been through two homes and many positions on the kitchen floor and the sound never occurred before this technician got in there and replaced the compressor. I'm not confident it's the position. Sounds like something loose deep inside.
This is just survivorship bias. There were absolutely garbage appliances in the "good ol days".
You can still get large appliances that last forever, but you're not going to get them for $500. Decent fridges back in the day were about the equivalent of $2k+ today.
Part of the problem is disposable culture too. Back in the day people would call the local repairman, but I know people who almost bought a new washing machine because of a $20 broken lid switch that took 30 minutes to replace.
I dunno. I don't remember people buying new appliances when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. Granted, not something a kid would notice, but my kitchen and my friend's kitchens were unchanging. If this is merely survivorship bias, we lucked out on every major appliance in the house.
Over 50 years mom only bought 1 of everything except the microwave, which still works, and the washer, which still works. It was a big deal getting a new appliance!
Also, when I became an adult and had to buy my own shit, the used appliance market wasn't flooded, and certainly not with good stuff. In the past 2 years, my wife and I got a new washer and the nicest fridge I've ever had, $200 each. Hell, I found our nice glass-top stove on the side of the road, barely used, fully functional!
You're right though, people just throw stuff instead of fixing it. Buddy of mine had a side gig buying and picking up free washers and dryers, made about $600/wk. fixing them in the evening. Didn't even have to keep lots of parts around as there are only 2 different sorts across all domestic units. If I had a garage, I'd be all over this.
A 40 years old fridge can easily average 200W more than a new one. Depends on the details of how well it's conserved and how good it was to begin with. That would be some $15 a month more.
All the plastic shelves they all have now break anyway, as well as the shitty plastic drawers. The drawers on mine all broke, and the jazz board died twice. Waste of money. I'd rather buy an old one on Marketplace.
When my wife and I bought our house almost 30 years ago, it didn't have a fridge or a washer and dryer. It had a dishwasher and a range. We bought the fridge and washer and dryer when we moved in.
We've replaced the range twice and the dishwasher, washer, and dryer three times each.
The fridge is coming apart at the seams, but it still keeps food cold. Most of the door shelves are gone. Both crispers have broken and been put back together with epoxy. The deli drawer is cracked such that it falls out of its track and has to be carefully put back. We want to replace it, but every time we get ready to, another large appliance bites the dust and its replacement gets postponed again.
I'm afraid to even talk to my wife about replacing it at this point because it feels like if I mention it, the washer and dryer will go.
I am sorry to hear that. My local landfill has no fucks to give. You pay to drop off, and if you head over to the appliances section, you can grab what you need. Last time I was there I saw that a builder had dumped a tankless gass water heater with all the lines still attached. I grabbed all the copper and flex water lines and used them to plumb my new electric tankless water heater. Total cost? $2 for the recycling dump I had just made.
Mine has a stack of CRT's that have been sitting there for years, it kills me. I keep seeing new ones added to the stack. There's no scrap value in those; they're semi-biohazard.
Fun fact, that "guy in his garage" was Tai Lopez. He and a partner later bought the RadioShack and Pier 1 brands, and as of September, are facing charges for defrauding investors in a ponzi scheme.
They actually do sell peel and stick "stainless steel" covers which should work well on a fridge since it has no parts that get hot in the front and sides.
It's supposed to be a meme, but it's solid advice for any appliance. They used to have lifetime guarantees. Now they upload AI garbage and lock features behind paywalls. Then, they'll randomly break down one week after the one year warranty.
I wish people would stop buying the "smart" appliances. You can still get normal ones that last, but they're getting harder to find, and more expensive
Microsoft just basically tried to force most everyone using a Windows 10 system to purchase a new system, ostensibly over a flaw/shortcoming in the TPM module.
Samsung just started pushing advertisements into their fridge's Android displays.
Apple and the mobile ISPs have been pushing a 'replace every two years' agenda for well over a decade.
I think the 'short life span' here has more to do with the 'modern CPU fridge controller' "failing" due to planned obsolescence, and not as such the mechanics of the refrigerant systems themselves.
I mean, sure? but pretty much everyone of your examples is about general computing, and while i HATE the samsung fridge thing... it doesnt mean it will die any earlier.
Yes, but these new smart fridges are just classic fridges with a general purpose computer attached. Do you think Samsung is going to offer a replacement/upgrade kit for the embedded tablet, or do you think they'll use it as leverage to sell you a new fridge?
If the infotainment system doubles as the gearshift as a deliberate way to marry the two, yes! Try driving a Tesla (well don't because of bad corporate ownership; but still, as example):
The steering wheel isn't connected to the wheels, it's connected to the computer.
The windshield wipers are controlled by the computer.
Everything in the security system checks in by the computer.
The car can be remotely disabled by the computer
If they can make a vroom vroom box dependent on a computer, why do you think a chill box is exempt?
"I'm sorry, but the temperature control requires registering an account in the app"
"Oh, the in-door icebox needs a subscription, but you're welcome to use trays in the freezer if you prefer"
"You missed your installment payment, please pay in 3 days or cooling functionality will be suspended"
"The child door lock has been automatically engaged for your safety"
"The fridge of the future requires an always on internet connection"
You think CEOs aren't just itching to pull crap like this? What use is it if the motor technically operates, if the controls simply refuse to turn it on?
I'm sorry, but I'm talking about the real world, where things actually happen.
I already shared you the study on lifespan of appliances over the decades, and how the old ones we still working are usually due to survivorship bias, I'm not sure what more you want.
I'm just not interested in arguing made up hypotheticals.
“Everything is an order of magnitude more difficult,” she said of the fridge that also uses computer vision to track when food items are running low and can advertise replacements.
The South Korean tech giant also said “security and privacy are foundational” to the AI experiences in the fridge.
On the subject of devices lasting a long time, does anybody remember when Ikea used to have displays in their stores where you could see a machine testing a piece of furniture over and over? Like, they had one that simulated someone sitting down in a chair over and over again, or one that simulated a drawer being opened over and over again.
Those machines were great. They should bring them back.
Somewhat relevant: when I first searched for those videos I searched for "robot that tests Ikea chairs by sitting on them" or something. I got lots of results, but every one of them was about robots that were building furniture, not testing it. To actually get the results I wanted I needed to say "furniture testing machine".
So, I guess the Internet doesn't think those are actually robots, so they don't worry about their purpose.
Bet they would be if people put a little effort into fixing them. Now people throw them out at the slightest issue, or just to get another for aesthetic value. Only reason I tossed my old fridge, which was newish, was that I could no longer fight the 4-5 separate issues it had.
This is kind of what my parents have done in my childhood home. But our real fridge never broke. We just have this older fridge/freezer in the garage to hold extra food in, and it is a genius idea for a family to have the extra space
One can be used for stuff like drinks like beer/soda and food that doesn't go bad quickly.
The other is that if neither one is packed full, it means space is available to put things in when making food for groups. Keep that beer/soda fridge half full and you can put trays of food in it while finishing up the cooking. You still want both to be like half full for the thermal mass instead of leaving one empty, but it is really nice to have aome extra fridge space once in a while and if they are both energy efficient then it doesn't even cost much as a rarely opened fridge doesn't fail as much as one that is constantly opened and closed. Constantly being opened and closed wears out the seals and cooling components faster from wear and tear.
If you don't look into electricity costs, it is a great idea. I had an old 100L fridge, when I looked into it, it consumed more power then my new 360L one. I sold it for some beer money. If I ever need a second fridge it will literally be cheaper to buy a new one after 5 years of power bills.
My husband bought this house from the 1940s that we currently live in about 11 years ago, and it came with a fridge from the 90s. Its not pretty, but it worked then and it still works now, so we just never bought a new fridge.
Never really made sense to us to drop hundreds (thousands?) of dollars on a new fridge just for the aesthetics, so we didn't. Even tho we'll get some comments from our moms about it every now and then...
Make sure you clean the dust off the coils (usually on the back) once in a while and make sure it's not too close to the wall. It helps the compressor not run as much, increasing its life.
I have a refrigerator that's been here since we moved in a decade ago... my parents were too frugal to replace it and sometimes icecream would melt...
Also the bathtub area in the 2nd floor is sometimes leaking downstairs and its still not fully fixed.
Also the heater is kinda broken every year and my dad has to use a temporty fix that eould often stop working a few times through the winter.
Also I had a window AC in the living room that didn't work for like 8 years until it got replaced recently. So it was hot as hell downstairs, so sometimes I ate in my room where the AC worked lol.
Also walls and celings have cracks.
And this is not even the worst place I lived in. I've been to worse
I hope my twenty-five-year-old fridge keeps going. No problems so far, apart from the icemaker, which I don't need anyway. The icemaker was nice to have, and I bought a replacement that looked identical to the old one, but it only lasted two years, so I just use trays now.
I think i've read something about it. What with the nozzle wands in the compressor needing to be thinner (more fragile) for the efficiency requirements.
Maybe we are beyound the sweet spot? Beause creating a new fridge all 2 years isn't efficient either.
We actually had two fridges in the apartment - one is a Samsung fridge that we use for most stuff, and one is an old Whirlpool fridge that's used for freezing and other stuff. I'm pretty sure Mom got the Samsung fridge a while ago.
You mean, when it's in perfectly good condition and there is no reason it shouldn't be able to work, but you didn't pay your [insert brand here] subscription, so it gets shut down remotely
Brought a carpet cleaner in July. The wheels literally fell off in December.
A Hoover.
A Hoover that sucks? heh
Actually, it doesn't. Supposed to spray water and then vacuum it up. That feature works half the time.
Ugh all appliances are such crap now. I want an old vacuum that lasts a lifetime from the 80s. They were much better.
Just get a Miele.
Was surprised to see this here. But yes absolutely, they are expensive don't get me wrong. But they are worth it. Their shit just works, i have their washer and heat pump dryer, dishwasher, and CX1 canister vacuum. Each are the best version of that thing I've ever used. Dishwasher will clean anything no rinse/soak needed even for baked on pasta or cheese, vacuum is powerful but also shockingly quiet, dryer sips power (700w avg load) but dries everything just fine.
Had em for the years now, i am NOT gentle with the vacuum i drag it outside to clean the car and other various things it's not really for, toss it around use it as a footstool sometimes and it shows no signs of the wear. You get what you pay for with them
Miele makes just as many shitty products as anyone else, their “top of the line” and industrial products are great though. Same thing with Bosch and Siemens.
Same make and model as the last one. The first lasted about ten years, the second didn't make it ten months.
Henry
Numatic has a whole family. Hetty, Charles, George.
Henry! Henry Aldrich!!
https://youtu.be/5OMPaCuHcsY
You clearly aren't thinking about the investors. How would the lines go up?
Im imagine the “made in Britain” scene from the IT crowd
Never saw it, but I think I get the idea
They buy a computer monitor "made in Britain" which immediately catches on fire. They grab the fire extinguisher but it doesn't spray anything. He looks and it also has a "made in Britain" sticker. Once he looks at... The fire extinguisher catches on fire.
The scene where Moss calmly sits down to compose the email gets me every time
I'll just put this fire over here with the other fire...
I heard that in Moss’ voice of course
I'd be disappointed if not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NjFxjFNxfk
Thanks
The whole scene is solid gold, but the bit with the "made in Britain" is around 0:35.
EDIT: And in case you're wondering what's the number he was typing when trying to call emergency services, check this scene out.
In these modern times, lots of people don’t have many phone numbers memorized. We just keep contacts in our phones, so we forget those numbers over time. I have a few that I still have confidently memorized.
The IT Crowd new emergency services number is one of them.
you have 5 seconds to get Jenny on the line.
Thanks
Dysons are the first vacuum cleaner that I don’t actively loath. They’re not perfect, but they’re built to… actually work well.
Just not for very long. Get a Miele and be done with it.
That isn't my experience. Bought two, one six years ago, one three years ago, both still work perfectly. Sold one of them recently for half what I paid for it.
First I’ve heard of Miele. I'll look into it, but the reason why I got Dysons in the first place was constantly hearing others rave about them.
On my second Dyson, not sure why I bought a second one. Thing is always getting jammed up with hair and needs complete disassembly to clean it out, and batteries will only last two years before needing replacement. All the joints are very loose as well now. Will be going with the Miele HX2 at some point soon which is actually cheaper than some of the Dyson.
From experience, the filtering cyclones in the mieles are quite a bit worse than the Dyson.
If you want a good and lasting vacuum, don't buy a cordless one. When looking at corded vacuums, miele is definitely one of the better options.
The cordless sticks, and stick vacuums in general are not built to be BIFL. Doesn't matter what brand you get.
Read the reviews. HX2 isn't that much better reviewed and it costs a hell of a lot more.
Been through this.
After an allergy test revealed that I had a dust allergy I bought a Dyson to replace our cheap generic vacuum cleaner and thought it was the bee's knees. Then the power switch went. And it would clog the power head constantly. Then, at about 10 years old it packed it in completely when the motor died.
Replaced that with a Miele which hasn't missed a beat. So much so we bought a second when we moved into our current house (one for upstairs, one for downstairs, I'm lazy). In terms of suction they are the same or better, but ergonomically they shit all over the Dyson. Not as purple though.
The old Dysons are way better than whatever the hell they're doing nowadays. I could genuinely feel the difference in the plastic quality when I moved from an older DC 39 to a newer Big Ball (the Big Ball's is significantly worse). Not to mention the Big Ball has gone through two roller heads (both had the mechanism break). No wonder their newer cordless models have a 2 year warranty instead of the old corded 5 year. They used to be really good, if a bit expensive, but now the options from Bosch and Miele look far more attractive.
It's just too bad about his politics.
Bought a refurbished stick one about 8 years ago and its still going strong after a battery replacement (its modified to use my power tool batteries now, same voltage so no hassle). I'm just happy I can get replacement parts easily.
I've had mixed results. Mine started becoming far less efficient after about 3 years. I tried regular maintenance to no avail, and I took it completely apart and cleaned the venturi. It got kinda better. Then a year later, I used it to vacuum up some curry powder, and from then on it smelled incredibly strong of curry.
It still wasn't cleaning all that well. It had stopped picking up pet hair, then the high-speed bearing started making noise. Taking the lower assembly apart was way too involved and the replacement motor itself would be 1/4 of the price I paid.
I ended up getting a cheap bagless Shark at costco. Self cleaning brushes, cheap two-stage filter. Thing runs like new 4 years in.
I'd rather have gotten a Miele, but the price just wasn't in the cards at the moment.
I do think their stick vacs are a little better though
Our old fridge still works but the icemaker and water dispenser broke and then started to spray outside and leak inside if connected.
But we kept it and put it in the garage and keep beverages in it. Man does it feel opulent to have a garage drink fridge.
Kind of like when I became able to afford paper towels. Pure wealth and extravagance.
Garage drink fridge is the most underrated luxury item out there. Total life changer.
Stuck on step one, where do I get a garage
Obviously look for signs for garage sales 😜
"I will take this space for $5"
"uhh the garage itself isn't for s-"
shows gun "I said I will take it for $5"
Wait... This revealed an old memory... Wasn't this actually a sketch on the original animaniacs?
https://youtu.be/YOPI8eXZx9Y
Dexters Laboratory had a bit like this.
Atleast I'm creative and original
🥁✨
Start a tech company. They spawn garages as part of their "backstory" stage.
Do NOT buy Samsung appliances
Im not saying buy Samsung but my two fridges, one 5+ years and one closer to 9 years still work. No idea about other appliances. In Europe.
The only problem I had with my Samsung fridge was that the shelves kept breaking. They were expensive to replace too and kept breaking. Eventually I installed a wooden shelf haha that lasted way longer than their plastic. Looked rustic too haha
It was always cold though. Never stopped working
Yeah knowing them they'll need to be hooked up to the internet and have mandatory apps. Also they steal the data of the food you eat.
My mom's Sammy washer from 2021 ended up with a damaged control board. The part is no longer available, she ended up buying a while new one 😬
My Samsung Dishwasher was ass. Had to get rid of it because it didn't clean well.
I got one of those and they had to replace it twice before it even worked I just sent it back and got a bosch
I ended up getting a used LG dishwasher and it work really well, but during kitchen renovations I think dust got into the motor, it got noisy, ran being noisy for a couple year and it got rid of it, but it still worked. My parent LG fridge broke multiple times under warranty, never ran right and was related to the lg linear compressor lawsuit. I have a GE dishwasher now that seems okay, but the cycle is over 3hr!
You can still buy high quality, lasts a lifetime, refrigerators. We have grown accustomed to $400 refrigerators that will last five to ten years worth of doing a piss poor job (freezing some areas while not cooling others). A "buy it for life", excellent refrigerator of equal size will run you $10k+. Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they're 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.
$10k is definitely hyperbolic, but the "built for life" refrigerators were about $2k in today's dollars.
And see 2k is a good price. I would spend that on a well made fridge.
The options however are piss poor cheap fridge for $400, fridge with a bunch of fancy crap but no real improvement in life/performance for $2,000, or a fridge that is high quality for north of $5,000.
That's ignoring all the problems created by those fridges failing at random.
Still, the GP's ratio is wild. There's no way a fridge that lasts a lifetime costs 30x more to make. It's all monopoly practices.
Plus the environmental impact of replacing a fridge.
As a mechanic, I had a Miele in my condo, and now have a Bosch Benchmark (both built ins with custom panels) in my new house. Both were $10k+.
There are normal people that can afford them.
Nah there's A LOT wrong with being rich when people are starving and homeless. You don't have to be a billionaire to be an asshole with your wealth.
I earned it.
There it is. Probably won't take much to hear you say "most that can't afford it simply didn't try as hard as me and the people I know cause hard work is all you need".
You don't need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.
The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.
Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don't stay balanced well.
Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.
I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.
What's the cause? it's a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.
I've considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it's done.
I've had a generic dishwasher for 20 years and Ir hasn't needed more than a filter cleaning the whole time. Crazy.
Ohh yeah, the old ones were awesome. They used to install macerators in the pump wells to grind up any debris that might bypass the filter and had motors that could go all day long.
I had a 90's whirlpool at my old place that probably got scrapped directly after I sold it. It stopped cleaning all that well once, I took it apart and cleaned all the bits, put it back together and it kicked ass like the day I moved in, I used it almost every day for 15 years.
I mostly use the simple, freezer on top, refrigerators. In the past (maybe 15 years ago), they did a good enough job. Lately I have noticed that the cold air distribution to the refrigerator has been terrible. In some units, food places in the back of the fridge will freeze while the front remains cool rather than cold. Other units show the same issue but top versus bottom. I feel like a tiny fan to help distribute the air would fix it.
I do want a Subzero but, Jesus...they are so expensive.
I bet you could fish a small 12v pc van in there, wire running near the light or the door switch.
Freezer Chest is the most energy efficient design. That's what you want in the garage. Even without power it will keep everything cold for days.
https://youtu.be/CGAhWgkKlHI
Shout out for TC, I watch everything he posts.
I have one! a HUGE one! it sips power all year long. It also has a compressor small enough that you can run it off a really tiny UPS and go for AGES without grid.
A UPS really? Dam going to have to check my wattage now. That is a brilliant idea.
We have hurricanes often enough that power loss is a regular issue.
mine works on a 1500va, haven't tested runtime but it can def run on it for quite some time the i accidentally popped the breaker from another outlet and didn't know it for two days, it was still running.
This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.
The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.
And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).
My $600 Maytag came with a 10 year manufacturer warranty. But you're right that a higher price point has a higher likelihood of longevity.
FYI, your $600 Maytag did not come with a 10 year warranty. It comes with a 10 year parts only warranty, labor is not covered, only on the compressor. Labor is only covered for one year.
Here's a compressor. You figure out the rest.
Here's the fine print:
https://www.whirlpool.com/content/dam/global/documents/202303/warranty-w11655302-revA.pdf
Apologies: 6yr full service warranty, 12yr system warranty.
Six years? At $8K? That's ridiculous.
Apologies, 6yr full service warranty, 12yr system warranty.
Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it'd be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it's not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?
If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.
Liebherr makes fridges with 10 years of warranty for about 20% more than cheap brands. Super happy with mine. Nice features and efficiency too.
BSH is also supposed to build good appliances. Our old dishwasher from Neff was 20+ years old when we sold our apartment and you could still find manuals and replacement parts on the official website. A heat exchanger, a huge and complex part was like 100€. Fridge too: a drawer broke and we bought a replacement for around 15€.
In the US they are sold under the Bosch brand AFAIK.
You don't even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.
Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I've had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.
Except in this case this particular fridge has worked for 40 years already, so just by Bayesian statistics it is more likely to keep working than a modern one from a range that are known to break. Same reason why some old cars are getting more expensive nowadays.
3-year-old fridge went out two weeks ago. Guy finally showed up to put the compressor in today. Left and it started rattling. Help.
If you're being serious try shimming it, determine where the noise is and chuck a block between. My brand new Whirlpool rattles because the floor is uneven so I have a small piece of wood between the floor and front bottom piece which takes care of it.
I am lol. It sound like a loose belt in a car motor just slapping rapidly. I may look into your idea (and thank you), but since we bought it it has been through two homes and many positions on the kitchen floor and the sound never occurred before this technician got in there and replaced the compressor. I'm not confident it's the position. Sounds like something loose deep inside.
Call there asses back and tell them to fix your shit properly.
lol we did. I think they'll be around at the end of the week.
He didn't remove the air iirc
I had to have my jazz board replaced twice on a very expensive Amana fridge. I don't know the answer.
Or when you get tired of the ads on the new one.
This is just survivorship bias. There were absolutely garbage appliances in the "good ol days".
You can still get large appliances that last forever, but you're not going to get them for $500. Decent fridges back in the day were about the equivalent of $2k+ today.
Part of the problem is disposable culture too. Back in the day people would call the local repairman, but I know people who almost bought a new washing machine because of a $20 broken lid switch that took 30 minutes to replace.
I dunno. I don't remember people buying new appliances when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. Granted, not something a kid would notice, but my kitchen and my friend's kitchens were unchanging. If this is merely survivorship bias, we lucked out on every major appliance in the house.
Over 50 years mom only bought 1 of everything except the microwave, which still works, and the washer, which still works. It was a big deal getting a new appliance!
Also, when I became an adult and had to buy my own shit, the used appliance market wasn't flooded, and certainly not with good stuff. In the past 2 years, my wife and I got a new washer and the nicest fridge I've ever had, $200 each. Hell, I found our nice glass-top stove on the side of the road, barely used, fully functional!
You're right though, people just throw stuff instead of fixing it. Buddy of mine had a side gig buying and picking up free washers and dryers, made about $600/wk. fixing them in the evening. Didn't even have to keep lots of parts around as there are only 2 different sorts across all domestic units. If I had a garage, I'd be all over this.
No I know. The stuff made in the 1970s was utter garbage.
Anything with moving parts, after about 6 weeks you'd hear a grinding noise then a snap and a puff of smoke.
We had a $2k fridge that broke within a few years of owning it. We got it fairly discounted due to a dent in the side.
Our $150 fridge from Sears is still in the garage, and still runs perfectly after owning it for 13 years. Looks pretty much like the one in the pic.
Smart fridges will die faster because it has much more tech that can go wrong.
Mine wasn't a smart fridge, but yeah I agree.
Plus built-in obsolescence and surveillance capitalism.
I just save money and have a 40 year old fridge in my kitchen. What I would save in electric cost does not make buying a new one worth it.
I'd look very carefully at those numbers.
A kilowatt-hour is about 10 US cents where I live and a new fridge of a similar size is about $800
A 40 years old fridge can easily average 200W more than a new one. Depends on the details of how well it's conserved and how good it was to begin with. That would be some $15 a month more.
You always have to evaluate those things.
All the plastic shelves they all have now break anyway, as well as the shitty plastic drawers. The drawers on mine all broke, and the jazz board died twice. Waste of money. I'd rather buy an old one on Marketplace.
You refrigerate your jazz?
You don't!? How else do you get cool jazz?
I refrigerate my cabbage, does jazz cabbage need to be refrigerated?
I don't think so.
As long as it doesn't emit toxic gases, I'm all for it. So many old kitchen appliances are borderline unbreakable
When my wife and I bought our house almost 30 years ago, it didn't have a fridge or a washer and dryer. It had a dishwasher and a range. We bought the fridge and washer and dryer when we moved in.
We've replaced the range twice and the dishwasher, washer, and dryer three times each.
The fridge is coming apart at the seams, but it still keeps food cold. Most of the door shelves are gone. Both crispers have broken and been put back together with epoxy. The deli drawer is cracked such that it falls out of its track and has to be carefully put back. We want to replace it, but every time we get ready to, another large appliance bites the dust and its replacement gets postponed again.
I'm afraid to even talk to my wife about replacing it at this point because it feels like if I mention it, the washer and dryer will go.
Do you have landfills or junk yards in you area? You might be able to scrounge up parts for that fridge.
Not OP, my landfills won't allow people to scrounge for parts. They sell appliances that refuse to scrappers.
And my junkyards only do cars.
Hell, you can't even find pc recyclers in the mid-Atlantic US.
I am sorry to hear that. My local landfill has no fucks to give. You pay to drop off, and if you head over to the appliances section, you can grab what you need. Last time I was there I saw that a builder had dumped a tankless gass water heater with all the lines still attached. I grabbed all the copper and flex water lines and used them to plumb my new electric tankless water heater. Total cost? $2 for the recycling dump I had just made.
OMG that would be awesome.
Mine has a stack of CRT's that have been sitting there for years, it kills me. I keep seeing new ones added to the stack. There's no scrap value in those; they're semi-biohazard.
All my drawers broke too, as well as the jazz board, twice. Pieces of shit.
Sure I'll just get rid of my Lamborghinis for some space in my garaaage.
Don't cheap out on your Lamborghinis, just build a second garage for them or your refrigerator!
Fun fact, that "guy in his garage" was Tai Lopez. He and a partner later bought the RadioShack and Pier 1 brands, and as of September, are facing charges for defrauding investors in a ponzi scheme.
gotta keep some of your Knowledge in the fridge too. Cuz that's the most valuable thing
Hear me out: cover it in foil tape, like the kind used for HVAC. instant "modern" fridge
They actually do sell peel and stick "stainless steel" covers which should work well on a fridge since it has no parts that get hot in the front and sides.
The sides get 'hot' for me.
Modern fridges use the sides to increase heat transfer surface and improve overall efficiency.
It's supposed to be a meme, but it's solid advice for any appliance. They used to have lifetime guarantees. Now they upload AI garbage and lock features behind paywalls. Then, they'll randomly break down one week after the one year warranty.
I wish people would stop buying the "smart" appliances. You can still get normal ones that last, but they're getting harder to find, and more expensive
I got a new Whirlpool fridge, not a smart one, when I moved into my house less than a year ago. The water filter has already demanded it be changed.
Thankfully these filters aren't RFID tagged like some, so I could just reset the timer.
Funny and all, but interesting, the life span of appliences has remained fairly steady: https://studyfinds.org/appliances-made-to-last/
The study (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/EWYZVBTQDFJXHTV9PPUQ?target=10.1111%2Fjiec.13608) found that most appliances last a similar number of years, and that the number of cycles each appliance lasts has increased (ie we use them more often). notable exception was a stove.
Basically, survivorship bias.
Microsoft just basically tried to force most everyone using a Windows 10 system to purchase a new system, ostensibly over a flaw/shortcoming in the TPM module.
Samsung just started pushing advertisements into their fridge's Android displays.
Apple and the mobile ISPs have been pushing a 'replace every two years' agenda for well over a decade.
I think the 'short life span' here has more to do with the 'modern CPU fridge controller' "failing" due to planned obsolescence, and not as such the mechanics of the refrigerant systems themselves.
I mean, sure? but pretty much everyone of your examples is about general computing, and while i HATE the samsung fridge thing... it doesnt mean it will die any earlier.
Yes, but these new smart fridges are just classic fridges with a general purpose computer attached. Do you think Samsung is going to offer a replacement/upgrade kit for the embedded tablet, or do you think they'll use it as leverage to sell you a new fridge?
Still doesn't change when the physical components are likely to die.
You are telling me I'm going to have to replace my car because it's infotainment unit is out of date.
If the infotainment system doubles as the gearshift as a deliberate way to marry the two, yes! Try driving a Tesla (well don't because of bad corporate ownership; but still, as example):
If they can make a vroom vroom box dependent on a computer, why do you think a chill box is exempt?
You think CEOs aren't just itching to pull crap like this? What use is it if the motor technically operates, if the controls simply refuse to turn it on?
I'm sorry, but I'm talking about the real world, where things actually happen.
I already shared you the study on lifespan of appliances over the decades, and how the old ones we still working are usually due to survivorship bias, I'm not sure what more you want.
I'm just not interested in arguing made up hypotheticals.
Excuse me. I was a few days early … now can we discuss this?
https://apnews.com/article/ces-worst-show-ai-0ce7fbc5aff68e8ff6d7b8e6fb7b007d
silly naive lemmy user. Garages are for renting out at $1000/mo
On the subject of devices lasting a long time, does anybody remember when Ikea used to have displays in their stores where you could see a machine testing a piece of furniture over and over? Like, they had one that simulated someone sitting down in a chair over and over again, or one that simulated a drawer being opened over and over again.
Those machines were great. They should bring them back.
What decade we talkin' cause I do not remember but would have never left the store if there was a punishment robot there
Here's a video from 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s_gyzshNPQ
And another one from 2012 testing cupboards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW6RsT4w2hY
Ooh, here's ine from 2018 where a machine hit 9,999,999 tests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbMB-qG_x8o
"What is my purpose?"
"You open and close drawers."
"Oh my God."
Somewhat relevant: when I first searched for those videos I searched for "robot that tests Ikea chairs by sitting on them" or something. I got lots of results, but every one of them was about robots that were building furniture, not testing it. To actually get the results I wanted I needed to say "furniture testing machine".
So, I guess the Internet doesn't think those are actually robots, so they don't worry about their purpose.
I 'member them from early 90s till late 2ks.
Survivorship bias. Most 40-year-old fridges are not working anymore.
Bunch of lazy fuckers, taking up retirement
Bet they would be if people put a little effort into fixing them. Now people throw them out at the slightest issue, or just to get another for aesthetic value. Only reason I tossed my old fridge, which was newish, was that I could no longer fight the 4-5 separate issues it had.
You can also use it as a backup for when your new fridge plays a two-minute ad before you can open it.
grabs shotgun "play one more fucking ad, I dare you"
This is kind of what my parents have done in my childhood home. But our real fridge never broke. We just have this older fridge/freezer in the garage to hold extra food in, and it is a genius idea for a family to have the extra space
It is nice to have two fridges for a few reasons!
One can be used for stuff like drinks like beer/soda and food that doesn't go bad quickly.
The other is that if neither one is packed full, it means space is available to put things in when making food for groups. Keep that beer/soda fridge half full and you can put trays of food in it while finishing up the cooking. You still want both to be like half full for the thermal mass instead of leaving one empty, but it is really nice to have aome extra fridge space once in a while and if they are both energy efficient then it doesn't even cost much as a rarely opened fridge doesn't fail as much as one that is constantly opened and closed. Constantly being opened and closed wears out the seals and cooling components faster from wear and tear.
If you don't look into electricity costs, it is a great idea. I had an old 100L fridge, when I looked into it, it consumed more power then my new 360L one. I sold it for some beer money. If I ever need a second fridge it will literally be cheaper to buy a new one after 5 years of power bills.
Wtf, that thing is probably on like wifi3
My husband bought this house from the 1940s that we currently live in about 11 years ago, and it came with a fridge from the 90s. Its not pretty, but it worked then and it still works now, so we just never bought a new fridge.
Never really made sense to us to drop hundreds (thousands?) of dollars on a new fridge just for the aesthetics, so we didn't. Even tho we'll get some comments from our moms about it every now and then...
Make sure you clean the dust off the coils (usually on the back) once in a while and make sure it's not too close to the wall. It helps the compressor not run as much, increasing its life.
Appreciate the tips! I've never bothered to look at maintenance (other than changing water filter). Gonna check that out tomorrow.
Crap. Haven't looked at mine in some time. Welp, fixing the door on it tonight, guess that's my time to check. Thanks for the reminder!
I have a refrigerator that's been here since we moved in a decade ago... my parents were too frugal to replace it and sometimes icecream would melt...
Also the bathtub area in the 2nd floor is sometimes leaking downstairs and its still not fully fixed.
Also the heater is kinda broken every year and my dad has to use a temporty fix that eould often stop working a few times through the winter.
Also I had a window AC in the living room that didn't work for like 8 years until it got replaced recently. So it was hot as hell downstairs, so sometimes I ate in my room where the AC worked lol.
Also walls and celings have cracks.
And this is not even the worst place I lived in. I've been to worse
Yeah, good luck given the prices of garages these days.
I hope my twenty-five-year-old fridge keeps going. No problems so far, apart from the icemaker, which I don't need anyway. The icemaker was nice to have, and I bought a replacement that looked identical to the old one, but it only lasted two years, so I just use trays now.
Another tip, as long as you don't tild it. You can use it straight away. And if you leave the door open, it can be stored sheltered outside!
I think i've read something about it. What with the nozzle wands in the compressor needing to be thinner (more fragile) for the efficiency requirements.
Maybe we are beyound the sweet spot? Beause creating a new fridge all 2 years isn't efficient either.
We actually had two fridges in the apartment - one is a Samsung fridge that we use for most stuff, and one is an old Whirlpool fridge that's used for freezing and other stuff. I'm pretty sure Mom got the Samsung fridge a while ago.
Best of luck with the Samsung, they're notoriously unreliable. Good thing you have a backup in case the main kicks the bucket :)
The Samsung's still working
Fair enough, they don't fail instantly. Be sure to act on warranty if anything starts misbehaving though.
Get out of my fucking head! Had to do this last week... still waiting on the fucking warranty repair...
You mean, when it's in perfectly good condition and there is no reason it shouldn't be able to work, but you didn't pay your [insert brand here] subscription, so it gets shut down remotely