You can still buy high quality, lasts a lifetime, refrigerators. We have grown accustomed to $400 refrigerators that will last five to ten years worth of doing a piss poor job (freezing some areas while not cooling others). A “buy it for life”, excellent refrigerator of equal size will run you $10k+. Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they’re 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.
And see 2k is a good price. I would spend that on a well made fridge.
The options however are piss poor cheap fridge for $400, fridge with a bunch of fancy crap but no real improvement in life/performance for $2,000, or a fridge that is high quality for north of $5,000.
Edit: nothing wrong with being rich, as long as you are not a wealth hoarding billionaire. Just admit it you are rich, and I could fully believe that you earned it through hard work. It’s not completely impossible, but extremely rare and difficult, whereas it used to be that every single person working could afford a house and a $100+ refrigerator that would last 40 years.
There it is. Probably won’t take much to hear you say “most that can’t afford it simply didn’t try as hard as me and the people I know cause hard work is all you need”.
It’s hard as hell, and I also got lucky getting a job at a dealer that actually takes care of its employees. Also lucky that this trade is in very high demand. I could leave here and have five job offers by tomorrow. That actually happened back when I was an apprentice, got laid off from the small independent shop I worked at. Had two job offers before I even got home.
I work with many people that are early 20’s that own a SFH or even a duplex or triplex. Get into the trades, there is a big demand. But not everybody can hack it. It is hard on your body.
You don’t need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.
The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.
Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don’t stay balanced well.
Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.
I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.
What’s the cause? it’s a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.
I’ve considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it’s done.
Ohh yeah, the old ones were awesome. They used to install macerators in the pump wells to grind up any debris that might bypass the filter and had motors that could go all day long.
I had a 90’s whirlpool at my old place that probably got scrapped directly after I sold it. It stopped cleaning all that well once, I took it apart and cleaned all the bits, put it back together and it kicked ass like the day I moved in, I used it almost every day for 15 years.
I mostly use the simple, freezer on top, refrigerators. In the past (maybe 15 years ago), they did a good enough job. Lately I have noticed that the cold air distribution to the refrigerator has been terrible. In some units, food places in the back of the fridge will freeze while the front remains cool rather than cold. Other units show the same issue but top versus bottom. I feel like a tiny fan to help distribute the air would fix it.
I do want a Subzero but, Jesus…they are so expensive.
I have one! a HUGE one! it sips power all year long. It also has a compressor small enough that you can run it off a really tiny UPS and go for AGES without grid.
mine works on a 1500va, haven’t tested runtime but it can def run on it for quite some time the i accidentally popped the breaker from another outlet and didn’t know it for two days, it was still running.
Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it’d be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it’s not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?
If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.
Liebherr makes fridges with 10 years of warranty for about 20% more than cheap brands. Super happy with mine. Nice features and efficiency too.
BSH is also supposed to build good appliances. Our old dishwasher from Neff was 20+ years old when we sold our apartment and you could still find manuals and replacement parts on the official website. A heat exchanger, a huge and complex part was like 100€. Fridge too: a drawer broke and we bought a replacement for around 15€.
In the US they are sold under the Bosch brand AFAIK.
This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.
The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.
And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).
FYI, your $600 Maytag did not come with a 10 year warranty. It comes with a 10 year parts only warranty, labor is not covered, only on the compressor. Labor is only covered for one year.
You don’t even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.
Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I’ve had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.
You can still buy high quality, lasts a lifetime, refrigerators. We have grown accustomed to $400 refrigerators that will last five to ten years worth of doing a piss poor job (freezing some areas while not cooling others). A “buy it for life”, excellent refrigerator of equal size will run you $10k+. Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.
Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they’re 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.
$10k is definitely hyperbolic, but the “built for life” refrigerators were about $2k in today’s dollars.
And see 2k is a good price. I would spend that on a well made fridge.
The options however are piss poor cheap fridge for $400, fridge with a bunch of fancy crap but no real improvement in life/performance for $2,000, or a fridge that is high quality for north of $5,000.
That’s ignoring all the problems created by those fridges failing at random.
Still, the GP’s ratio is wild. There’s no way a fridge that lasts a lifetime costs 30x more to make. It’s all monopoly practices.
Plus the environmental impact of replacing a fridge.
“$10k+”
Do you think that’s how much those refrigerators used to cost? They were “$100+”.
This isn’t a good comparison. No one in the working class and probably even the middle class can afford a 10k+ refrigerator.
Of course there are good quality products, but it’s not like normal people can afford them anymore.
This is not what people “opt” to buy. This is all that people can afford to buy.
As a mechanic, I had a Miele in my condo, and now have a Bosch Benchmark (both built ins with custom panels) in my new house. Both were $10k+.
Cool, you have a house and a $10k+ refrigerator.
Maybe one day when I can afford a house I will also be able to afford a $10k+ refrigerator. I’m not holding my breath though.
There are normal people that can afford them.
You are rich.
Edit: nothing wrong with being rich, as long as you are not a wealth hoarding billionaire. Just admit it you are rich, and I could fully believe that you earned it through hard work. It’s not completely impossible, but extremely rare and difficult, whereas it used to be that every single person working could afford a house and a $100+ refrigerator that would last 40 years.
Nah there’s A LOT wrong with being rich when people are starving and homeless. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be an asshole with your wealth.
I earned it.
There it is. Probably won’t take much to hear you say “most that can’t afford it simply didn’t try as hard as me and the people I know cause hard work is all you need”.
It’s hard as hell, and I also got lucky getting a job at a dealer that actually takes care of its employees. Also lucky that this trade is in very high demand. I could leave here and have five job offers by tomorrow. That actually happened back when I was an apprentice, got laid off from the small independent shop I worked at. Had two job offers before I even got home.
Good. All the boomers also earned their cheap ass houses and they were normal working or middle class people.
Doesn’t change the fact that this is no longer a reality today.
I work with many people that are early 20’s that own a SFH or even a duplex or triplex. Get into the trades, there is a big demand. But not everybody can hack it. It is hard on your body.
I am far from a boomer.
You don’t need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.
The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.
Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don’t stay balanced well.
Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.
I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.
What’s the cause? it’s a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.
I’ve considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it’s done.
I’ve had a generic dishwasher for 20 years and Ir hasn’t needed more than a filter cleaning the whole time. Crazy.
Ohh yeah, the old ones were awesome. They used to install macerators in the pump wells to grind up any debris that might bypass the filter and had motors that could go all day long.
I had a 90’s whirlpool at my old place that probably got scrapped directly after I sold it. It stopped cleaning all that well once, I took it apart and cleaned all the bits, put it back together and it kicked ass like the day I moved in, I used it almost every day for 15 years.
I mostly use the simple, freezer on top, refrigerators. In the past (maybe 15 years ago), they did a good enough job. Lately I have noticed that the cold air distribution to the refrigerator has been terrible. In some units, food places in the back of the fridge will freeze while the front remains cool rather than cold. Other units show the same issue but top versus bottom. I feel like a tiny fan to help distribute the air would fix it.
I do want a Subzero but, Jesus…they are so expensive.
I bet you could fish a small 12v pc van in there, wire running near the light or the door switch.
Freezer Chest is the most energy efficient design. That’s what you want in the garage. Even without power it will keep everything cold for days.
https://youtu.be/CGAhWgkKlHI
Shout out for TC, I watch everything he posts.
I have one! a HUGE one! it sips power all year long. It also has a compressor small enough that you can run it off a really tiny UPS and go for AGES without grid.
A UPS really? Dam going to have to check my wattage now. That is a brilliant idea.
We have hurricanes often enough that power loss is a regular issue.
mine works on a 1500va, haven’t tested runtime but it can def run on it for quite some time the i accidentally popped the breaker from another outlet and didn’t know it for two days, it was still running.
Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it’d be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it’s not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?
If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.
Liebherr makes fridges with 10 years of warranty for about 20% more than cheap brands. Super happy with mine. Nice features and efficiency too.
BSH is also supposed to build good appliances. Our old dishwasher from Neff was 20+ years old when we sold our apartment and you could still find manuals and replacement parts on the official website. A heat exchanger, a huge and complex part was like 100€. Fridge too: a drawer broke and we bought a replacement for around 15€.
In the US they are sold under the Bosch brand AFAIK.
This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.
The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.
And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).
Six years? At $8K? That’s ridiculous.
Apologies, 6yr full service warranty, 12yr system warranty.
My $600 Maytag came with a 10 year manufacturer warranty. But you’re right that a higher price point has a higher likelihood of longevity.
FYI, your $600 Maytag did not come with a 10 year warranty. It comes with a 10 year parts only warranty, labor is not covered, only on the compressor. Labor is only covered for one year.
Here’s a compressor. You figure out the rest.
Here’s the fine print:
https://www.whirlpool.com/content/dam/global/documents/202303/warranty-w11655302-revA.pdf
Apologies: 6yr full service warranty, 12yr system warranty.
You don’t even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.
Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I’ve had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.
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