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The main thing preventing appliances from becoming future proofed is crappy parts(mostly the mechanical parts). For example, in the past a washing machine had
by ippisl 15y ago
The main thing preventing appliances from becoming future proofed is crappy parts(mostly the mechanical parts). For example, in the past a washing machine had lasted 20 years. today it's 3-4 years.
There are high end brands who have a guarantee of more than 10 years, but they're expensive and the cost per year comes about the same as the cheap ones.
- jespern 15y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
- Groxx 15y agoAnd after those 3-4 years, you can probably get one that washes better, quieter, and uses less water and energy (all of the above perhaps only marginally), for the same yearly price. It's not really that bad of a trade-off.
- yardie 15y agosI'm not so sure. I think it's perfectly reasonable to replace an appliance after 10 years. I've lived in some apartments that had appliances from the 80s; mechanically, they were still sound but the colors were off, rust was forming and each felt like it took longer and was a little bit less effective. One particular case was the refrigerator. No matter how much we cleaned it it smelled like mildew. As it turned out not only were the door seals bad, the internal liner was breaking down and the foam insulation had degraded. Replacing it with an A+++ rated model was the best thing to happen to us. Not only was it quieter, it only runs 1-2x per day, has more internal storage, and it cut the electric bill by 20%. This thing will pay for itself in 2 years with the electric bill savings only. There are many things to be said about making old devices work again but sometimes you have to ask if it's really worth it. I'm pretty certain that old refrigerator pump would have ran for another 20 years.