3d ago

Built to last

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The washer and dryer at my mom's are 30 years old. She's had repairmen laugh at her for having them, but they're much better made than anything new.
- Newer machines are several times more water and energy efficient.
  Still nice that they lasted long and were easier to repair.
  
  More water and energy efficient to run, yes. If you have to replace them every couple of years the resources used to make new ones need to be included too though, and that will have a big impact on the comparison. That said, I have had a modern front load pair for at least 5 years now, no issues.
  
  there are calculations and tables on exactly this, when a machine is to be replaced. Including production and shipment of a new one etc., some should be replaced. Look it up!
  
  The resources used to make anything should always be included; called embodied energy.
  
  Of course. Those resources are just a much larger impact percentage wise on an appliance replaced every two years vs 25.
  
  In the 2008 economic slump, the U.K. had something called a “car scrappage scheme”. Shit was the most wasteful thing ever. Also saw really cool classics cubed.
  
  USA had the same thing, "Cash for Clunkers". Some of the cars we were better off getting rid of. Some of them not, whether because they were rare or classic, or old but still more fuel efficient than a truck or SUV. Sure increased the average price of a used car though.
  
  You could find driveable used cars for ~$700 before. Even accounting for inflation now, all you can find now are mechanic specials and parts only.
  
  The newer more efficient machines also give worse washing results.
  
  Efficiency does little for your wallet and the environment if you need to buy/produce a new machine every few years.
  (Not to say that we shouldn't strive for efficiency.)
  
  That's the same way i look at it. How much energy is involved in building a new washing machine? How much energy is spent scrapping it? So much waste. I recently had a run of energy-efficient washing machines that all had the same problem with the main CPU board. In 2 weeks i had 4 instances all come out of the woodwork. Only 1 opted for the repair but it cost them almost as much as a new washer. The rest got scrapped. These washers were all about 2 years old when i witnessed this phenomenon (and I ran into yet another one just a couple weeks ago)... Other techs online are sharing similar reports.
  Not only are they over-engineering the fuck out of these things for "energy efficiency" which i swear is just an umbrella they use to cover their real goals--to make appliances less user and tech friendly. They want their guys selling their overpriced junk and bespoke computers/sensors/gizmos so they can extract every last cent of value out of the product, then try to sell you another one every 3-5 years almost like leasing a car.
  Still, that doesn't mean the tech used to extract greater efficiency is a bad idea -- it's all the approach they take to get there. They're making the cheapest tech possible while trying to sell it for the most $. These digital electronics they design to handle the various functions that give them such energy efficiency are often made with design flaws that aren't worked out before release and/or they're made with the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel components and/or manufacturing standards. If they wanted to make nearly-indestructible computers and sensors and transmissions and motors they absolutely could. They could even make them extremely energy efficient as well, but it's simply not gonna happen.
  Energy efficiency is a valid goal, but if that's really what they're going for they need to make some major changes to the way they're approaching it. The engineers in these companies are too smart for this to be the best they can do.
  
  Plus these fancy new machines can’t even wash a fucking blanket (unbalanced every time, no matter what I do).
  
  I haven't had an issue with an unbalanced load since I started using a front loader. Mine washes all our blankets without issue other than the >15# weighted blankets, and that's just me not wanting to risk my washer to not go to the Laundromat.
  
  Obviously
- If repairman laugh at durable machinery they either just want your money or don't care about longevity. My father usually tells people to keep the old one if it's still working cuz the newer ones break down after a year or two and suck to repair (simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).
  
  As a repair guy that gives a shit about his customers, i encourage folks to fix their older appliances when feasible. I prefer the older stuff and find them to be easier to diagnose and repair a lot of the time.
  A couple years ago i had an elderly lady with a Kitchen Aid washer and dryer that were in pristine condition. Based on some lookups, i determined the units to be 37 years old. Until that day, neither unit had been serviced once. Dryer needed a new door switch, lol. To be fair though, i got another call on the dryer a couple years later and it had a bad motor. Almost 40 years with virtually trouble-free operation! They loved the unit and didn't want to deal with the flimsy bullshit on the market today so they opted to repair it. I overhauled the dryer in addition to replacing the motor and it's quiet as the day it was new. What a well-built machine!
  Oldest dryer i still service has to be from the 60's or something -- one of those old Maytag dryers that just has the timer in the center of the control panel and you push the timer in to start it. I swear the motors on some of those old units may never die, lol.
  
  (simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).
  Not to mention the waste it creates.. In theory it can be recycled. In practice electronic waste is not recycled at the level you'd expect...

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