4 ms·

I would hazard a guess and say this was probably expensive by today's standards.

forgetfreeman 3y ago
Sure, but you'd buy once and that fridge problem was sorted for a few decades. Over the long term you paid significantly less because you weren't replacing a broken fridge every few years. If problems did crop up appliance repair was a cost effective long term fix. Ain't designed obsolescence a wonder?
- DSMan195276 3y ago
  I think the point is more that you can buy expensive fridges today that could last that long - people don't because they care more about spending less on a fridge.
  - js8 3y ago
    > people don't because they care more about spending less on a fridge I don't think so. First of all, there are lots of quality improvements that could make life longer, at almost zero additional cost per unit. Also, repairability could be improved. Second, there is an ecconomic problem with information asymetry - while I know the pricetag, I have no idea what the life expectancy is. So you get https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons ; that's not the customer's preference. The latter could be possible to fix if we mandated producers to publish "expected usage per lifetime" (MTBF) numbers and also show price/usage ratio to customers.
    - DSMan195276 3y ago
      > I don't think so. First of all, there are lots of quality improvements that could make life longer, at almost zero additional cost per unit. Also, repairability could be improved. I don't entirely disagree, but there's always going to be a weakest link when you're targeting a low price point. It doesn't seem to take a whole lot of research to find that better fridges with those issues fixed _are_ available if you're willing to spend a bit more, people commenting on this article even linked to some. > The latter could be possible to fix if we mandated producers to publish "expected usage per lifetime" (MTBF) numbers and also show price/usage ratio to customers. I support this idea, but I'd also say the numbers presumably would not be significantly different from the warranty already offered on these things. I feel like it's not much of a secret that the warranty is intended to last the minimum lifetime of the product and not more. If they were confident in their product lasting longer, they'd sell you a longer warranty. I think there's also an unmentioned detail here, which is that many people probably won't own the same fridge for 20 or 30 years anyway - when you move, you commonly leave your fridge behind. There's not a huge incentive to buy an expensive fridge that could last a long time if you think it's likely you'll move before then anyway.
  - forgetfreeman 3y ago
    But you can't buy expensive fridges that last that long, they just come with more stainless steel, wifi, and a larger price tag. The internals are all commodity components that are manufactured in the same plants from the same materials as lesser models, all with the same incentives to have households replace their fridge as frequently as possible without actually tanking the brand.
    - chollida1 3y ago
      Sure you can. We spent about $12,000 on our fridge 15 years ago when we first renod our house and its still going just fine. Never once has it had to be serviced.
      - forgetfreeman 3y ago
        Yeah and I've got a $400 lab fridge (no freezer, no nothing) of similar vintage that I've yet to have an issue with. Flukes happen. I think it's hysterical that refrigerators that have similar price tags to cars I've owned exist in the world. Nice racket for someone I suppose. Some people's kids...
        chollida1 3y ago
        > Yeah and I've got a $400 lab fridge (no freezer, no nothing) of similar vintage that I've yet to have an issue with. Flukes happen. I think it's hysterical that refrigerators that have similar price tags to cars I've owned exist in the world. Nice racket for someone I suppose. Some people's kids... :) Well I guess today is the day you learn that everyone has different interests and tastes. We like to cook and a fridge the size of the one we have means we can hold a few weeks worth of food that we prepare. it also means we can stock up on fridge food so we don't need to buy it every day and the large freezer means we can keep food for longer. You could also consider that we just may have alot more money than you and us spending $14,000 on a fridge is the equivalent amount of our income or net worth as you spending $400 on a fridge.
        3y ago
- abenga 3y ago
  I haven't seen any durability issues with my modern fridge. I've had the same cheap (about $250) one for 10 years. It has worked without a hiccup all that time, and I live in a country with a relatively unstable power grid.
ljf 3y ago
Similar (or actually not as good) fridge was $330 - so let's say $350 for a better one: https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html $350 in 1950 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,431.04 today. My last Samsung fridge freezer was £250 and had a 10 year warranty. Was plenty big enough and did everything I wanted it to (keep food cold and fresh). This idea that 50s devices lasted decades seems odd to someone that grew up in the 70/80s, and everyone seemed to have new devices then (or 10 year old at best). But hey if I spend $4k on a device you bet I'll be fixing it if it breaks!
- sdflhasjd 3y ago
  Definitely not as good, doesn't have all the fancy door bits and slick shelves. I would say the OP fridge would have been more than twice as expensive, so maybe $8K for a fridge. I've still got the fridge I bought after I moved out of Uni halls >10 years ago for £120, so price wise it's probably cheaper to buy fridges every ten years, but terrible for the waste.
  - ljf 3y ago
    Yeah it is a hard trade off - waste vs efficiency. Sad to see waste generated but efficiency is increasing still, so the energy saving of replacing a device can be large. I brew beer and a lot of people make keezer or kegerators (fridges or freezers to serve kegged beer from). So often someone will find an old fridge or freezer and want to use that 'as it is basically free' - ignoring the fact that even a 10 year old fridge can use more than £150 a year in electricity (maybe more at current rates?). I got a brand new chest freezer for £179 and when run as a fridge is uses £35 a year at current prices - so I'm saving money after the first year.

Sure, but you'd buy once and that fridge problem was sorted for a few decades. Over the long term you paid significantly less because you weren't replacing a broken fridge every few years. If problems did crop up appliance repair was a cost effective long term fix. Ain't designed obsolescence a wonder?

DSMan195276 3y ago
I think the point is more that you can buy expensive fridges today that could last that long - people don't because they care more about spending less on a fridge.
- js8 3y ago
  > people don't because they care more about spending less on a fridge I don't think so. First of all, there are lots of quality improvements that could make life longer, at almost zero additional cost per unit. Also, repairability could be improved. Second, there is an ecconomic problem with information asymetry - while I know the pricetag, I have no idea what the life expectancy is. So you get https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons ; that's not the customer's preference. The latter could be possible to fix if we mandated producers to publish "expected usage per lifetime" (MTBF) numbers and also show price/usage ratio to customers.
  - DSMan195276 3y ago
    > I don't think so. First of all, there are lots of quality improvements that could make life longer, at almost zero additional cost per unit. Also, repairability could be improved. I don't entirely disagree, but there's always going to be a weakest link when you're targeting a low price point. It doesn't seem to take a whole lot of research to find that better fridges with those issues fixed _are_ available if you're willing to spend a bit more, people commenting on this article even linked to some. > The latter could be possible to fix if we mandated producers to publish "expected usage per lifetime" (MTBF) numbers and also show price/usage ratio to customers. I support this idea, but I'd also say the numbers presumably would not be significantly different from the warranty already offered on these things. I feel like it's not much of a secret that the warranty is intended to last the minimum lifetime of the product and not more. If they were confident in their product lasting longer, they'd sell you a longer warranty. I think there's also an unmentioned detail here, which is that many people probably won't own the same fridge for 20 or 30 years anyway - when you move, you commonly leave your fridge behind. There's not a huge incentive to buy an expensive fridge that could last a long time if you think it's likely you'll move before then anyway.
- forgetfreeman 3y ago
  But you can't buy expensive fridges that last that long, they just come with more stainless steel, wifi, and a larger price tag. The internals are all commodity components that are manufactured in the same plants from the same materials as lesser models, all with the same incentives to have households replace their fridge as frequently as possible without actually tanking the brand.
  - chollida1 3y ago
    Sure you can. We spent about $12,000 on our fridge 15 years ago when we first renod our house and its still going just fine. Never once has it had to be serviced.
    - forgetfreeman 3y ago
      Yeah and I've got a $400 lab fridge (no freezer, no nothing) of similar vintage that I've yet to have an issue with. Flukes happen. I think it's hysterical that refrigerators that have similar price tags to cars I've owned exist in the world. Nice racket for someone I suppose. Some people's kids...
      - chollida1 3y ago
        > Yeah and I've got a $400 lab fridge (no freezer, no nothing) of similar vintage that I've yet to have an issue with. Flukes happen. I think it's hysterical that refrigerators that have similar price tags to cars I've owned exist in the world. Nice racket for someone I suppose. Some people's kids... :) Well I guess today is the day you learn that everyone has different interests and tastes. We like to cook and a fridge the size of the one we have means we can hold a few weeks worth of food that we prepare. it also means we can stock up on fridge food so we don't need to buy it every day and the large freezer means we can keep food for longer. You could also consider that we just may have alot more money than you and us spending $14,000 on a fridge is the equivalent amount of our income or net worth as you spending $400 on a fridge.
        3y ago
abenga 3y ago
I haven't seen any durability issues with my modern fridge. I've had the same cheap (about $250) one for 10 years. It has worked without a hiccup all that time, and I live in a country with a relatively unstable power grid.

ljf 3y ago

Similar (or actually not as good) fridge was $330 - so let's say $350 for a better one: https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html $350 in 1950 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,431.04 today. My last Samsung fridge freezer was £250 and had a 10 year warranty. Was plenty big enough and did everything I wanted it to (keep food cold and fresh). This idea that 50s devices lasted decades seems odd to someone that grew up in the 70/80s, and everyone seemed to have new devices then (or 10 year old at best). But hey if I spend $4k on a device you bet I'll be fixing it if it breaks!

sdflhasjd 3y ago
Definitely not as good, doesn't have all the fancy door bits and slick shelves. I would say the OP fridge would have been more than twice as expensive, so maybe $8K for a fridge. I've still got the fridge I bought after I moved out of Uni halls >10 years ago for £120, so price wise it's probably cheaper to buy fridges every ten years, but terrible for the waste.
- ljf 3y ago
  Yeah it is a hard trade off - waste vs efficiency. Sad to see waste generated but efficiency is increasing still, so the energy saving of replacing a device can be large. I brew beer and a lot of people make keezer or kegerators (fridges or freezers to serve kegged beer from). So often someone will find an old fridge or freezer and want to use that 'as it is basically free' - ignoring the fact that even a 10 year old fridge can use more than £150 a year in electricity (maybe more at current rates?). I got a brand new chest freezer for £179 and when run as a fridge is uses £35 a year at current prices - so I'm saving money after the first year.