3 ms·

Quality of power supply to your house will almost certainly be one of the bigger factors in how long things last. Combined with standard stochastic behavior, I

by taeric 3y ago

Quality of power supply to your house will almost certainly be one of the bigger factors in how long things last. Combined with standard stochastic behavior, I'd expect anecdotes of both kinds.

jwells89 3y ago
I suspect that a great many problems with electronics, lifespan related and otherwise, are rooted in power quality issues. The newer apartments and house I’ve lived in as an adult have been decent in that regard, probably because they’re closer to being up to spec electrically and have newer lines running to them thanks to being in urban areas, but one of my childhood homes out in the countryside which is now approaching a century in age had a “habit” of killing computers every so often.
- bombcar 3y ago
  A whole-home surge protector is something everyone should install, just out of general principles. And if you have appliances/computers die, you should get your electricity monitored to see if it's out of bounds. In fact, anytime an appliance dies you should do a post-mortem to try to identify if something about the house may have contributed to it (hard water, electrical spikes, etc).
photonerd 3y ago
I’ve had that kill HVAC for sure (capacitors get fried if you have power issues).
smileysteve 3y ago
Re: Power; Digital Inverters, variable compressor technology are recent in the last decade and should reduce compressor failure from invalid state; More insulation added over the last 3 decades should reduce compressor run time, further reducing failure. IMO, most "failures" are from failure to replace relays and door seals.
- taeric 3y ago
  Exactly. By most evidence, new machines should be lasting longer, all told. That so many people feel that is not happening seems to be interesting, in itself. Could be correct, I don't know. And same in experience. At large, the doors that are getting opened and closed repeatedly by my kids are far far more likely to get broken than any others. Which leads to door seals that are not up to where they should be. And will not surprise me that we run those compressors harder than we would otherwise. Which will lead to those failing.
  - Spooky23 3y ago
    A friend worked for GE Research a several years ago. They were focused on reliability engineering. Meaning have predictive reliability on a bell curve to avoid failure during the 3 year warranty period, and to have a rate of failure during the extended warranty period to preserve the margins. The impact of surprises… bad components, variances in operational conditions, etc can have a big impact. Also, the quality improvements that emissions controls had on cars didn’t happen for white goods. Cars were hit with emissions AND safety standards, which raised prices. For appliances instead they incentivize things like all electronic controls (more prone to failure with rough service or high heat), and undersizing components. Old appliances were all mechanical and easily fixed, the electronics tend to turnover quickly and are difficult or impossible to get from a 3rd party.

by taeric 3y ago

Quality of power supply to your house will almost certainly be one of the bigger factors in how long things last. Combined with standard stochastic behavior, I'd expect anecdotes of both kinds.

jwells89 3y ago

I suspect that a great many problems with electronics, lifespan related and otherwise, are rooted in power quality issues. The newer apartments and house I’ve lived in as an adult have been decent in that regard, probably because they’re closer to being up to spec electrically and have newer lines running to them thanks to being in urban areas, but one of my childhood homes out in the countryside which is now approaching a century in age had a “habit” of killing computers every so often.

bombcar 3y ago
A whole-home surge protector is something everyone should install, just out of general principles. And if you have appliances/computers die, you should get your electricity monitored to see if it's out of bounds. In fact, anytime an appliance dies you should do a post-mortem to try to identify if something about the house may have contributed to it (hard water, electrical spikes, etc).

photonerd 3y ago

I’ve had that kill HVAC for sure (capacitors get fried if you have power issues).

smileysteve 3y ago

Re: Power; Digital Inverters, variable compressor technology are recent in the last decade and should reduce compressor failure from invalid state; More insulation added over the last 3 decades should reduce compressor run time, further reducing failure. IMO, most "failures" are from failure to replace relays and door seals.

taeric 3y ago
Exactly. By most evidence, new machines should be lasting longer, all told. That so many people feel that is not happening seems to be interesting, in itself. Could be correct, I don't know. And same in experience. At large, the doors that are getting opened and closed repeatedly by my kids are far far more likely to get broken than any others. Which leads to door seals that are not up to where they should be. And will not surprise me that we run those compressors harder than we would otherwise. Which will lead to those failing.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  A friend worked for GE Research a several years ago. They were focused on reliability engineering. Meaning have predictive reliability on a bell curve to avoid failure during the 3 year warranty period, and to have a rate of failure during the extended warranty period to preserve the margins. The impact of surprises… bad components, variances in operational conditions, etc can have a big impact. Also, the quality improvements that emissions controls had on cars didn’t happen for white goods. Cars were hit with emissions AND safety standards, which raised prices. For appliances instead they incentivize things like all electronic controls (more prone to failure with rough service or high heat), and undersizing components. Old appliances were all mechanical and easily fixed, the electronics tend to turnover quickly and are difficult or impossible to get from a 3rd party.