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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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You can’t keep the profits rolling in if you make things that last.
Kinda like “a cured patient is a lost customer.”
Too bad we can’t have racketeering laws.
When my wife helped move her mom out of her house 6 years ago, the fridge her parents had purchased when she was working at Montgomery Ward back in the late 70s, was still there and still working. When my mom moved out of her home, the 1970s fridge was still there and working (mom’s did require a new compressor in the mid 80s as I recall). Our Samsung french door fridge (we only got the french door model because we wanted more fridge space and less freezer and that is the only way these days), we threw out after 8 years and replacement of pretty much everything in the fridge “cooling” area other than the coils. Indeed, what they make today is complete and total shit.
Keep you coming back for more. Unfortunately there seems to be no real answer for this problem with our current corporate structure.
And costs $3000.
If you ask an engineer about planned obsolescence they will most likely tell you there is no such thing. In other words it is just plain good engineering. So it goes for the 1980’s frig. So it goes for our country as well. The ass-hats, that we have elected and placed in charge, have engineered it to the point that everything is equal to the weakest link in the chain. Now we get to start over, right? (sar’c)
There is always a cost/benefit tradeoff. You can deny “planned obsolescence” all you want, but in the end, doing things RIGHT typically costs more money (likely never that much more), and marketing and sales want more profit, want to keep the price point lower, are facing inflationary pressures and stock market pressures, and know that nobody else is making any quality products either, so nobody cares. Additionally, far too many folks now LEAVE their appliances behind when they move rather than taking them, and home turnover is much higher than in the past. We always figured that we would move our POS Samsung (at least when we bought it and we didn’t know it was a POS), but now its replacement, a Maytag side-by-side likely won’t be coming with us because it has so many design negatives that are really annoying us (but it will likely keep working far longer than a french door style would).
I’m not a wealthy man, I can’t afford to buy cheap shit.
Marketing was never cheaper than doing it right. The costs were just redistributed.
I bought a fridge at Sears in 1975 for $175 (slightly damaged door handle discount) that I had ever since until a few years ago when I sold it cheap, but it WAS a work horse as they say. Yeah it was a single door and needed de-frosting every year or more, but it outlived about 3-4 fridges since and was in every move I ever made. It got ugly so I wrapped it in festive contact paper to look like a Christmas present. Experts will say they don’t make compressors like they used to, or maybe the engineering cut it too close to be reliable. That one always worked for me.
Compressors are not made like they used to be made. Case in point: Some years ago manufactures found they could make a compressor for less money if they made it run at 3,000 or 3,600 RPM instead of 1,800 RPM. If it only lasted half the life, good for profits. End users won’t find out for years!
I have had a 1930 Model A Ford since 1957. Yup, still running fine after 92 years.
It’s amusing to me that almost all the people in the US don’t think critically or even do the most simple research ON ANYTHING. Seems to be herd mentality. Now more than ever in our great turmoil, one person askes another, “Did you do such and such or did you get such and such”, then they think, “Well problem solved, I must do that too. EASY, no thinking involved. We get what we deserve.
I have a Maytag fridge that, other than the occasional power outage, has been continuously running since 1989. I also have a Norcold (subsidiary of Stolle Corporation) mini-fridge still in use in my shop. It is the same one I used in the college dorm back in the early nineteen-eighties.
Conversely, my wife’s friend is on her second new fridge in 12 years.
Last year our 30 year old washer died so we went to Lowes and bought a new Whirlpool. It has what they call a washer plate, it’s eco friendly, computerized and DOESN’T GET MY CLOTHES CLEAN. My T shirts and skivvies got that grey, “I just came from the shelter” look to them. The washer really sucks.
Our Frigidaire upright freezer (1970) is still operating without issue
and yes, it is avocado green just like the 1970 Frigidaire “Custom Imperial” stove.
Image search the stove’s name for some lolz.
Parents had the avocado green washer/dryer set from the 70s. Main bearing needed replacement in the washer, and I remember as a kid replacing the rubber roller that turned the drum on the dryer (one side went “flat” somehow – what a racket), but that was it and they too worked until mom moved out 5 years ago.
Along with my older frig, my upright freezer is a 1987 and still works great!
Our 1980 fridge lasted without a single service event til 2019. We had the custom decorator panels installed back in the day which cost almost as much as the damn fridge so it never really looked too dated as time passed.
It was replaced with the french door platinum stainless model that has the appearance of the refrigerator version of a airstream trailer. This technological marvel with it’s bright LED lighting and fancy schmancy features ran properly for two and a half years. Computerization of cars and refrigerators has been a failure IMO. I am too cheap to buy the $6000 high end appliance that has real longevity and I am too old to worry about getting a product that will last for another 30 years.
Don’t show Elon Musk as he may want to shoot it to the moon and back……
Musket- Elon can have the crazy thing as a test rocket, it’s shiney and impressive but it’s NOT a 1980 fridge, our old faithful. They may have used a lot of juice and are ugly as sin but they worked like a mofo.
Sorry to break it to you. High end is just higher priced. I know the appliance business.
As a general rule of thumb, the “guts” of the machines are all the same within the brand. Motors, pumps, sensors, fans, etc. No matter if you pay $500 or $5000, the stuff that actually runs is all the same. The only exception is the computer – it has to change as they add more “features.”
Father in law stood in line in late 1946 to buy a GE refrigerator . In 1989 I repaired a wire connection on the compressor it finally gave up in 2012 .
We are on our 3rd refrigerator in our home of 42 years . The montgomery ward model bite it after 15 years but it’s last 5 were on the deck under cover at the families shore home get away salt air did it in , the Amana was a great unit for 25 years had to replace it with a Samsung , ice maker died 1 year out of warranty and the replacement is a pos too so we have been using ice trays old school . Highest number of failures on record just past the warranty . Everything else works but the rating ends with stating Samsung should stick to TV’s
I thought I had an ice maker issue and it was a plumbing issue. I actually got the ice maker working first by buying cheaper after market manifold and then maker that were actually higher quality than the OEM and could handle the lower pressure. This is a Frigidaire. It came with the house and I won’t miss it.
We had a late 40’s generation fridge that my in-laws had. we put it in our cottage in 1971 as it still worked. It was in the cottage until 2010. A Frigidaire.
I’ve been using this alarm clock since I was in 7th grade – 1974. Still works perfectly.
I have a similar one by Sony…a Dream Machine…9 second snooze; radio or beeper alarm.
It’s a tank. Had it for 25 years. Never runs faster or slower.
Only time it needs attention is when there’s been a power sag or loss, and she blinks like the
old VCR displays that nobody gave a damn about.
If you want reliability, look for one in a 2nd hand store / Salvation Army resale outlet for $3.
Other stories…
At a church rummage sale about 10 years ago, for 5 bucks, I picked up (with some effort) one of those square 24″ x 24″ window fans…another tank. Heavy as hell, but, 3 speeds forward, 3 speeds reverse, a built in thermostat…the only attention she needed was when the blade rotation pattern oscillated a little bit and it was clipping one of the fan guard lips. She’s a beaut.
Also have an old hand held, ray-gun style hair dryer from the 50’s…in the box, maybe been used 6 times. Quality of product is incredible. The heating element is almost as robust at those from a toaster from the same era…50’s, 60’s.
Weight is a tell tale sign. Same goes for electric power tools.
Light = plastic, and parts that wear out easy.
Heavy = heavy duty, typically.
Last but not least, when this topic came up last time on the flaming forum, the chief from down under pooh-poohed all of us who recognized the older tanks over the modern garbage.
His logic: Energy costs on the new stuff made it more economical to just buy a replacement when the Energy Star model takes a dump anytime from 2-5 years in service. Debatable opinion?
Bout the only bitch I have w/ them old fridge / freezers is the frost build up in the freezer compartment that was a once / year maintenance routine if you were smart enough to do it.
Left undone, the ice pack grew so large to cause some serious space / confinement problems.
Carry on…
Everything has fallen apart since the advent of household internet and computers. Society as a whole, family units, appliances, cars ,mental health/health. The quality of everything and everybody has faltered. Like I said on TBP many years ago, with all of this ever increasing technology, why are we becoming dumber?
Just a rip at the EPA, someone, it might have been the General Accounting Office, had a gas powered alarm clock get Energy Star approval.
I used to have a Luke Skywalker action figure hanging upside-down in the freezer of my vintage GE fridge…
We have one too! I want a more modern looking one, but yeah right.
I bought a wind up alarm clock a few years ago…thinking about living without electricity. The old fashioned clock built in the era of uber modernity down in a mere few months.
With out electricity, sun up, sun down, becomes your timepiece.
I have a dehumidifier that’s approaching 40 years and still works great.
Then there’s our freezer bought in 1989 that still keeps stuff frozen.
Dittos on the freezer ours is 40 years old.
We moved into our current house in 1997. We’re on our sixth dishwasher! Dishwasher 5 was an expensive Bosch, which were supposedly reliable. It broke just before the year warranty was up; Bosch fixed it but we had to argue with the bastards. Six months later it broke again. The estimate to fix it was so high we threw it out. Bought the cheapest machine at Costco to replace it, thinking we might as well spend as little as possible since we’ll have to replace it soon regardless.
In 1990, when we lived in Berkeley, my studies were almost complete, and we were soon to move home to Ontario, so we bought all our appliances (and a bunch of other things including 2 new cars since prices were much lower in the US than in Canada). The appliances all lasted over 20 years. Our Maytag washer and drier were still working fine when we got rid of them around 2015, because they were inefficient with power and water. So we bought new Samsung machines. We’ve had each fixed already, and we’ve replaced the washer.
Our old Maytags, which we gave away, are probably still humming.
No Shit!! I have a frig from 1986 and it still works fine. It’s in my kitchenette off the family room in the basement. I I am on my 3rd one in the primary kitchen and it is about to fail soon. Compressor noises.
PS: I’m still using power tools my grandfather had. I’m 68 and he died in ’63. 3 yrs ago my craftsman chopsaw finally died after 32 yrs. My my next one (2017) lasted 13 months, just out of warranty. So far so good on my 3rd one.
My physician father always asked me why I spent so much money on my tools.
“You can get a drill or a saw at K Mart for $16”
“Dad”, I said, “I’m not rich, so I can’t afford to buy cheap shit.”
My mom still has the refrigerator she bought in the 70’s.
When we bought this place, the little home was, um, furnished. There was/is an International Harvester refrigerator in that little house with all sorts of ancient containers in it we simply bagged and tossed. The purchase agreement was on the top of it, as all good 1965 refrigerator owners would have on top of their refrigerator.
I cleaned it and plugged it in. Ran like a champ while the log home was built. Electric bills were high, but that was also due to the house having to be heated with electric heaters for that first winter. We have moved it to the barn for use there.
It will be there with a cold one for the Lord Jesus when he returns.
Electric Bill be damned.
Look up on YouTube, “the light bulb conspiracy”.
It is the story of planned obsolescence.
The Billionaires can not remain Billionaires if you do not replace what breaks in a short time.
I read a long time ago that by NOT putting a third layer of varnish on the compressor windings, the service life was cut in half.
I live within a modest drive from The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. We used to go on school field trips and I get there every once in a while. They had an Edison incandescent bulb that has been on for ~100 years. Per your point, though I haven’t seen the videos, is that if you evacuate the bulb as much as possible lifetime of use. A little less, half the life, and so on. It is a short series of experiments to get to a 200 hr bulb.
My dad just got rid of a 1950’s vintage frig he had in his basement for beer. Still works. General Electric.
One key to keeping a fridge running: keep the coils clean of dust. Bottle brush / shop vac. Every 6 months. Keeps operating temperatures down, which translates into lower compressor discharge pressures and less compressor strain.
I’ll bet that that process will also work on grandma too!
Three things:
1) current fridges cost about $200 a year LESS to run than a 1980s fridge
2) current fridges cost about 1/3 the price of the 1980s fridge in constant dollars
3) on energy savings alone you can buy a new fridge every few years.
1980s is bad enough, but if you are still using a 1970 fridge or earlier, you are burning electricity like you have your own atomic power plant.
But yay! They lasted longer!
You are correct chief.
https://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/your-old-refrigerator-energy-hog
If you think I would spend $6,600 in a 10 year period on refrigerators, you’re nuts Llpoh. Nor would I save that much in electricity over powering a 1980 vintage unit. If I were going to spend in that neighborhood I would buy a high end refrigerator that has longevity.
You need to sharpen your pencil chief.
BL – you are being an idiot. It is a fact, as Admin has said, and posted, that the energy savings are $200 a year, a 1980 model vs a current one. Where you got the $6600 figure is beyond my ken.
Llpoh- Quit while you are ahead. Look on Lowes or Home Depot and tell me how much refrigerators cost, when did you last buy one 1975? You said every few years, so $2,200 times 3. You would have to pay $2,200 including tax and delivery for an average fridge Chief. That comes to $6,600 in a ten year period bud. There’s a Neanderthal in the room and it’s certainly not me . Maff is hard.
You dolt. The average cost is well below $2200. You have chosen bottom end of few. The average modern fridge lasts 14 years: https://www.mrappliance.com/blog/2016/july/what-is-the-lifespan-of-your-refrigerator-/. The equivalent modern fridge to a 1980 fridge is around $700. Don’t go full retard. Never go full retard.
The fact is that modern fridges are 1/3 the price, last 14 years, and cost 1/3 as much to run. And they are on average lots bigger.
This entire article is pushing a bullshit narrative. And you are buying in. What a surprise.
3) on energy savings alone you can buy a new fridge every few years.
You said it Llpoh, own it. I just bought a fridge a few years ago, you must buy those 2 cu ft under the counter units ya crazy injun. Are you just messin’ wit me or are you really that dumb??
There are fridges for $500, 600, 700 that are similar to 1980s fridges. So, at $200 a year savings, you recover the energy savings in a few years. Your $2200 price is for a fridge that is not comparable. Doh!
Good Lord, $500, $600 or $700 gets you a 10 cu ft unit for a trailer or camper. NOBODY buys a 10 cu ft fridge for their house. Have you been drinking heavily?
This is what they had in 1980: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-18-3-cu-ft-Top-Freezer-Refrigerator-in-White-FFTR1835VW/311743494
Guess you forget. See the pic in the article? That is what we are talking about.
AGAIN, maff is hard. There is a huge difference in a 10 cu ft fridge to a 18.3 cu ft fridge. Now, my 1980 fridge was 22 cu ft., a 10 or 12 cu ft unit is for campers, trailers ,offices or maybe a small efficiency apartment. NOBODY here buys a small fridge for their house Llpoh. That’s that….THE END.
I posted a link to an 18 cube fridge for $719 in the same configuration as the article. A 20 pr 22 can be had for around $800. 800/200 = 4 years. A few, in other words. Geez, maff is hard I guess.
Llpoh, you poor deluded soul….that link you posted is the ULTRA CHEESE MODEL of refrigeration. THAT is the go to fridge for all the people who rent a room in the 30 blocks of Philly . Every ghetto rat lurvs that model and THAT is what you get for $800 including tax and delivery. NOBODY HERE would put that in their modern kitchen, you might but I seriously doubt anyone outside a ghetto would. The fridge in Admin’s photo was the state of the art fridge in the modern kitchen of that day, right down to the color. You are full of shit bro.
Admin – yet the Neanderthals vote me down. That these asshats are unable to think is an ongoing wonder.
Everyone is wondering and it’s not about all us Neanderthals. Derp……
Classic TBP. I post a funny picture and it turns into WW3. Love it.
Ha, ha! True dat
Hey Llpoh, wouldn’t it be neat if current fridges cost $200 a year less to run, cost a 1/3 the price of a 1980s fridge in constant dollars, and also lasted more than 5 LOUSY YEARS!?!?…just sayin…
14 years is current life expectancy of a fridge. The old once could last a very long time, but they were brutally inefficient. They were small. They were heavy size vs weight. Etc.
Fact is, manufacturing has come a very long way. You want a 1980s car versus a modern one? Not me. I prefer mine to start, and to not have flats, and maybe I survive a collision. There is more to the equation than how long they last. And modern fridges are better in almost every way save for longevity.
Re: Old (dependable) fridge vs new (efficient) fridge comparison
New fridge cost $2,000 and lasts 15 years
+ save $200 annually (compared to old fridge) x 15 years = $3,000
Net savings of new fridge = $1,000
Or
Old dependable fridge is paid for = $0 initial investment
So, instead, invest $2,000 and receive 5% annual average rate of return for 15 years = $2,157.86 total
I’m that scenario, the old dependable fridge just doubled the savings of a new one. 🙂
Of course, lots of variables could factor up and down – like new fridge life span, average investment rate of return, energy prices, inflation, cost of repairs, fiscal discipline of fridge owner, etc.
But an interesting thought exercise nevertheless
I understand. Always a cost benefit analysis. But a like for like fridge cost is more like $700. The $2000 fridge is vastly different to the 1980 fridge. No comparison.
Maybe so. Honestly, I haven’t priced new fridges other than looking online before posting my comment. The first prices I saw ranged between $1,700 and $2,200.
Believe it or not, this thread helped me decide to replace an older furnace rather than repair it. My final decision was based on efficiency savings and inflation.
Llpoh is not correct. He just thinks he knows what he doesn’t. Arrogance is no substitution for wisdom. Fridges now have gone through a huge variety of changes since the 80’s and the vast majority of them have reduced quality.
The reason the old fridges still run is because they were good quality. If you buy a cheap one today that looks like the old ones, you are getting an entirely different machine. One that has a variable speed compressor, that uses butane as a refrigerant, and is computer controlled.
If we are talking about saving the environment, then the water and energy use of a refrigerator, from manufacture through recycling, is much greater that that used during it life cycle. The only way to reduce that is to get longer life out of the machine, and we are going the wrong way.
As far as the link that was posted, that is all brought to you by the same people who want to “Build Back Better,” and want you to “Own nothing and be happy!” If you let them replace your stuff, you will find that the new stuff breaks easily and costs an extreme amount to do so, if you can even find repair parts.
If you think they are just generous, you have forgotten that TANSTAAFL.
As a matter of fact, Samsung does not stock replacement controls for their appliances past about 5-6 years.
In late December 1951 grandma Irma had a baby, the baby came a couple of weeks early. So they had an extra deduction and received a larger than expected tax refund, bought a refrigerator,the kind with the big round thingy on the top, she had that refrigerator until she moved out of her house in 2008.
I had a Columbia Boiler electric hot water heater from 1953 to 1998. It still worked fine, but was so clogged with sediment(nobody knew to drain it yearly to keep it clean) that it went from an 80 gallon to about 15 gallon tank, the rest was sediment. If the newer ones last 10 years you’re doing good.
When I needed to buy a washer for the first time 8 years ago I made sure to buy one at least 10 years old.
Whatever you do….don’t buy a Samsung fridge. Nobody will repair them.
OR can!!!!
Had an A.O. Smith water heater installed during April 2020. In Sept2021, I replaced the lower element. Still didn’t work, so I actually used a multimeter (Former Volvo driver), and found that the lower thermostat was also defective. I was really happy that I didn’t electrocute myself. I wonder how much I saved not calling a ‘repairman?’
The picture is of a mid-1970’s GE fridge just like the avocado model we bought in 1977. Replaced it in 2011 when we did a kitchen re-model; it was still working with the only repair needed being a small fan underneath next to the compressor-$27 for parts, $0 for labor. Wish we still had it. We moved in 2013 and left behind the JC Penney chest freezer, also bought in 1977; made by Emerson Electric, 22 cubic feet. Guessing it may still be working-again, wish we had that one also instead of the POS we bought from Sears.
I still have the GE refrigerator that my parents bought used when my mom was pregnant with me. It’s had the door-seal replaced, but that’s all. To this day, it works perfectly.
I was born in 1958.