2020 appliances: *break within 2 years*
1970s refrigerator: i will outlive u and everyone u love. i am eternal. i am time itself
— tatum (@50FirstTates) November 24, 2020
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It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
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Our 1962 fridge was finally replaced in 1994. Sounded like an alien space craft but worked great.
Could have powered a ship to Alpha Centauri on the electricity it used.
Exaggeration. But you get the picture.
I still use a 1953 model Okeefe & Merritt stove and until 2016 used a 1946 General Electric refrigerator. The refrigerator after all those years was getting slightly low on freon and nobody wanted to do touch it. A conversion to newer refrigerant would have been $2000 plus according to the place in North Carolina that does it.
I am still using a 1938 General Motors refrigerator purchased by my Grandparents for $150 (new) when they first married.
You still have to turn it off to defrost the ice box section every month, but it keeps beer as cold as any other.
We are on our second refrigerator since we moved to the farm and half of the containers/shelving is either broken or cracked and will have to be replaced in the not too distant future. Last one we bought cost approximately $1,000.
That is what real quality is all about. In late 2018, we finally had to dispose of the 1947 Hotpoint refrigerator that my parents bought the year before I was born. It was an ugly little thing of about eight cubic feet, but had all the same characteristics you mentioned about the one your parents bought. Simple, worked in a hot environment and kept on kicking. We got it from my parents in 1976 because my Mother wanted a bigger refrigerator. They went through about five refrigerators in the next 22 years until my Father passed away.
My grandmother’s 1928 Westinghouse refer was still running strong when my mom and her siblings sold the house in 1987. I so much wanted my.mom to keep it for me. It never had a recharge.
It’s by design.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
All the world is a scam.
Current refrigerators cost around $60 a year in electricity. A 1970s refrigerator costs around $300 a year in electricity. If a new one lasts 4 or 5 years, you are ahead of the game financially.
The 1940s fridge did not use much energy, but they were small, generally. The modern fridge is vastly more efficient per square foot, though.
Modern fridges are disposable, yes. But they cost less per year to own based on current energy prices, especially given they are much larger than they were. On a per square foot basis, they are much, much cheaper to own.
Truth.
Cubic foot meant to say.
A new refrigerator should last around 13 years. A thousand dollar fridge costs $140 a year to run including depreciation. Versus $250 or $300 a year in electricity for an older, and almost certainly smaller refrigerator.
I used to run a whitegoods factory. Things are not always as they appear.
“…whitegoods…”
-Llpoh
Auntie also remembers when linen marketers and department stores (recall those manifestations of better days) called the big push in January “a White sale.”
In any case Whites are good.
Have you figured in the costs of production of 10 times as many energy efficient refrigerators to replace the lifespan of 1? Or the cost of disposal and the space at a landfill?
Energy use is only one component in comparison.
I showed it above. The cost of running an old refrigerator far exceeds the cost of buying and running a new refrigerator. Over a ten year lifespan, the total financial outlay – capital plus running – for a modern fridge would be around 1/2 the cost of electricity of running an old one. It may be as little as 1/3 or 1/4 on a like for like size basis.
People running old fridges from the 70s are paying a lot for the privilege. They would be around $1000 to $2000 better off with a new one every 10 years. The real old ones like you have are better, but still cannot compete if measured on size vs size basis. I do not know what landfill would be, but some of the fridge can be recycled. But it would not be near $1000 to $2000. New fridges are vastly more efficient. If electricity prices are very low, the equation changes. But that is not likely to happen.
Kinda like the scam of these damn “efficient” electric cars. Tesla my ass!!!!
A current fridge uses about the same energy as a 100 watt bulb – some a lot less. And they are huge relative to old ones.
I have a portable fridge/freezer for camping. It runs off the smell of an oily rag. The damn thing once at temperature needs some tiny amount to run, something like 10 watts an hour or somesuch. It is heavily insulated but still, that is insane.
Excellent point because therein lay the true debate regarding China’s production of rare earth. Used to create the “super”magnets in motors so less windings are necessary. The mining of this material reveals we’re subsidizing the destruction of that side, well both sides, of the planet.
.
American made with less electronics than today. Destroyed by the unions and the mission was stolen by the Asians….
And if you don’t think so then see how far Kitchen Aide has fallen…..and can’t get up.
I’m wondering if a people’s, unionized or otherwise, could compete with another country’s people that’s used to walking around in their own feces while selling their sister.
A sorry bunch of excuses have been offered up in the last few decades that I don’t buy anymore in regards to why manufacturing abandoned the U.S.
One of the biggest reasons for the collapse of motorized appliances has to do with copper vs aluminum windings in the motors.
Did you know, the original motors running the locks in the Panama Canal are GE with copper? And still working. Another example is the Fox theatre in Atlanta still using the same A/C equipment from the 40s. Compressors included. (one evaporator has been replaced due to rust) That ceiling fan above your head that’s noisy is a POS due to aluminum windings, at least.
My former wife recently had to replace the electric range … an old GE that was original to the house when it was built in 1969.
After countless hours searching and reading, literally, hundreds of reviews, she finally settled for a new electric range without the old-fashioned coil burners — instead it has a glass top with the heating elements below (or embedded in?) the glass.
So … the original range lasted 51 years — and the oven heated very close to set temperature until the very end — but the new range is expected (as per numerous sources) to last maybe 6-8 years before it’s no longer usable.
Like automobiles — too many electronic components that aren’t as reliable as old-fashioned mechanical and/or electro-mechanical ones … and when they’re shot they’re way too expensive to repair or replace.
Progre$$ … just another way to spell bullshit (funny — progressive also is another word for bullshit …)
Granny’s yellow, barrel-chested, Kelvinator fridge was built like a Russian tank and was nearing the half century mark of never-fail service when she passed and the freaking stupid children thought it better to dispose of it rather than use it as the garage/patio reefer. Dumbshits.
Same with her circa 1930s chain-drive front loader washer, oil-powered water heater and Kirby vacuum.
Sadly none of these things are made in the USSA and the cheap plastic shite that passes as consumer durables is a fucking cynical joke on hardworking ‘Merkins.
Go ahead and buy that Bosch or Viking unit for $5,000 or $10,000. You’ll feel the satifaction of having an appliance that will require a live-in mechanic named Fritz.
https://www.build.com/product/summary/1196968?uid=2878042&source=msn-pa_2878042!c402051460!a1275434123616062!kexpensive%20refrigerators!me!dc!no&cvosrc=pla.bing.2878042&cvo_cid=402051460&cvo_crid=79714724932248&cvo_adgroup=1275434123616062&matchtype=e&cvo_uniqueid=2878042&utm_source=pla&utm_medium=bing&utm_term=2878042&gclid=844a4bc586b917ad38ad1404aa0a4a4d&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=844a4bc586b917ad38ad1404aa0a4a4d
Aunti – you should really stop spreading lies. If you are too lazy to search out US made goods, that is on you. But claiming no refrigerators or washing machines are made in the US is false.
Here are five brands of fridge still made in the US:
Here are five brands of washing machines made in the US: https://www.bizvibe.com/blog/home-products-and-supplies/top-5-washing-machines-made-in-usa-2018
Here are 11 vacuum cleaners made in the US, including Kirby: https://www.vacuumsguide.com/us-made-vacuum-cleaners/
Here are 7 hot water heaters made in the US: https://usamadeproducts.biz/appliances-home-appliances-water-heaters.html
Chaps my ass when people say this stuff is no longer made in the US. The simplest bit of research will show that to be false.
Buy US made goods. The USA made products website lists almost anything you could ever want.
And stop spreading the damn lie that US made goods are not available. All that does is encourage people not to look for US made.
Both are true statements.