Built to last
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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.
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Front loaders suck for moisture retention. They need more care between cycles to prevent build up.
They can. The newer ones have mandatory 'drum clean' cycle every 20 washes or so that runs hot with no detergent and helps to kill and blast out any potential accumulating grime/mould.
So far so good with ours (midrange Samsung front loader). Not expecting it to match the record of of last one, which was an LG and ran for 20 years, but so far it's been great.
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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.
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- It can tell you it's done, so you notice the notification after a couple hours instead of finding musky clothes a day or two later
- It can tell you it's time to do the self-cleaning cycle
- If you're doing something unusual, like washing reusable diapers which need extra rinse cycles, you can upload a custom program for that to the washer
- Even more unusual, someone had stacked units and was too short to reach the buttons on the washer, so they liked to start it via the app instead of getting a stool
Most of this can be achieved in other ways (like a smart plug measuring the current draw and a simple monthly reminder), but non-techies want turnkey solutions.
I can't see any reason to have WiFi on your dryer, though.
Most of this can be achieved in other ways (like a smart plug measuring the current draw
Idk about other people, but this is actually harder than you'd think. I've got zigbee and zwave hubs in my house for my home automation system, but there's really not anything that uses those technologies and has the screwy power plug my washer has. I grabbed some inducement sensors (I think that's what they're called), but I can't use them near my washer since they have to be hooked to the line to have a reference and my washer is too far away from my fuse box.
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This is like that fridge post from yesterday..
The difference is that...cheap washing machines didn't exist. Good modern washing machines last a long time while not wasting money and electricity.
You can't compare the only available appliances of the 70s to the bottom-of-the-barrel now
No. That's not what's happening here.
And just for the record I am an appliance repair tech for the last 20 years.
Hands down appliances from the early 90s to about the 2010s are significantly better than new appliances today.
They are better in everyway. They were made under a different philosophy, they were made to be fixed.
When I stated my career in 2004 I would have a box of common parts that would break for each kind of appliance I would service. Fridge, washer, dryer ext. I wouldn't have to order a part for weeks. I would just drive down to the parts supplier stock up and move on to my next work order. Now all I do is order proprietary parts that are dedicated to one specific model number.
The materials and build quality of older appliances far exceeds that of new ones so much so that I am actually recommending to my clients that they try to find a used appliance rather than buy a new one because it'll probably last longer.
And I've had this argument so many times already on this platform the savings on energy are absolutely negligible. They can easily be ignored. To clarify the way they notate change in energy is by percentages so it'll appear that an appliance is saving 70% more energy but in reality that saving is stretched across 365 days which equates to maybe 25 to 30 cents of savings a day. Or it'll look like you're saving 400 kilowatt hours but again stretched across 365 days that's just over 1 kilowatt hour a day.
The only caveat is the fact that washers use less water which can actually turn into some kind of savings over the course of the year because your water heater will have to heat less water but that's about it.
Generally I fix appliances that are less than 10 years old most of those are refrigerators the extreme vast majority of those are Samsung appliances.
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Also don't get a Samsung one from what I hear. Apparently LG is okay.
Actually yes. Samsung makes pretty bad appliances although their washers and dryers in my opinion are fine.
But, in a surprise turn of events LG makes really good appliance across the board. I recommend them to my clients.
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Smeg
They make acceptable and pretty toasters and similar appliances, but avoid this brand like a plague for fridges
It's such an unfortunate name. They really need to rebrand.
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Please upvote this comment so it gets visibility. I just want people to hear this.
European brands in America are not good. They are few and far between and are very difficult to repairs when and if they break.
There are a few exceptions like Bosch dishwashers which are very prevalent in America. Don't get the others recommended in this comments thread. At the very least in America they're hard to repair hard to get parts for and are extremely expensive you are much better off sticking with American brands.
What you want to avoid is whirlpool and Samsung. Everything else is fine hands down Whirlpool makes the worst appliances they are truly terrible and should not be purchased under any circumstance. Samsung makes the worst refrigerator worse than even whirlpool. The other appliances to Samsung makes are very mediocre although I will admit their washers and dryers are not bad.
In my opinion LG makes the best appliances in America right now because I service very very little of them. If I do up the service them it can be a little difficult to find parts for them but I still recommend them me
GE is very middle of the road and generally a good option for anything that you want to get they make appliances that are absolutely not the worst but also not necessarily the best.
Stick with the major brands don't get one off European brands here in America they're not worth it.
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Don't forget the wifi not connecting or staying connected, keeping it from getting updates for reasons mortals aren't supposed to know.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I remember a guy actually monitoring how much data his washing machine used and it was like 6 gigs a month. Is it mining bit coin???
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Also don't get a Samsung one from what I hear. Apparently LG is okay.
LG appliances are disposable. The South Korean companies want you on the new appliance replacement schedule as your cell phone.
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Don't buy American washers, I think only speed queen still bothers with quality.
I was lucky enough to get a speed queen washer dryer set on sale because it was a floor model. We've only had one issue with it, a water pump that was making a bunch of noise but was still functioning fine, they ended up swapping it out under warranty anyways.
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Similar story for clothes dryers:
My parents' dryer had 2 knobs for temperature and run time, and a start button. Ran forever and dried clothes.
My dryer has like a dozen programmed cycles that rely on a moisture sensor that doesn't work and leaves clothes damp unless you use the manual time & temp settings, which takes several capacitive button presses on a circuit board that is likely to die before any of the actual mechanical components of the dryer. Also for some reason it has Wi-Fi.
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Don't buy American washers, I think only speed queen still bothers with quality.
Maytag has one good model too.
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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.)
Obviously
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There's no comparison between an old Maytag washer and dryer and a new/current Maytag washer and dryer. This is a case where survivorship bias does not apply, imo. Appliances were built more durable back in the day. There are plenty of older appliances working just fine today while some stuff under 5 years is already getting scrapped because it's too expensive to fix and/or parts aren't even available. It's total nonsense
Your penultimate statement is an absolutely textbook example of survivorship bias.
The average lifespan of a washer has declined a little but the frequency of use during that lifespan has increased measurably.
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It's such an unfortunate name. They really need to rebrand.
I heard the guy who founded the company was a real smeghead
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Also don't get a Samsung one from what I hear. Apparently LG is okay.
I have heard Samsung is bad so often on the internet, but my personal experience is different. I've used a Samsung washing machine for almost 10 years now and it still works and looks like the day I bought it. It's very easy to use, has a large front loader door, is quiet and power efficient (as far as that's even possible with a washing machine). Never regretted it.
My brother also has a Samsung washer and dryer, because he loved how large the door was on my washing machine, so he bought one as well. It has served him fine for about 5 years now.
But hey, maybe I'm just lucky with the one I've got.
Before this one I had a Beko washer and dryer. I was unemployed at the time and didn't have a lot of money, so I wanted a cheap model. The salesman in the store said it was bad (this was a long time ago, when they still had salesmen) and would break within a couple of years. But they did upsell an extended warranty for 5 years, which my mom paid for so I could afford to get the washer and dryer. Those units had served me very well for over 15 years. I did have to repair them a couple of times, but nothing major and some normal wear items. I sold those when I bought the Samsung as an upgrade. I switched to natural air drying instead of a dryer for environmental reasons, so I didn't buy a new dryer.
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For front loaders you should leave the door cracked at least. Also clean under that rubber seal once in a while...
this, plus what's important to not to use too much detergent and not just use them on 40°C the whole time, because thats a really good temperature for an incubator. Give them a 95°C load once in a while, that kills off whatever is trying to smell in there.
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Also don't get a Samsung one from what I hear. Apparently LG is okay.
Anecdotally, I loathe my LG and am trying to figure out what to replace it with.
I have replaced the drain pump on it 5 times, because they did a terrible job designing the strainer basket, and the impeller is very fragile. It only takes a few strands of long hair to reach 3/4" past the strainer basket to tangle and break the impeller.
It's also an all in one, but the dryer functionality was clearly designed as a bolt on afterthought. There's no lint filter so inevitably lint builds up and choked off airflow. Then the air temp gets hot enough to melt the front boot.
When we first got the unit, our 40psi water pressure ruptured two internal hoses because lg couldn't be bothered to use fiber reinforced hoses. Dealing with potential water damage so lg could save a few cents is not worth it.
I will actively avoid LG going forward.
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Similar story for clothes dryers:
My parents' dryer had 2 knobs for temperature and run time, and a start button. Ran forever and dried clothes.
My dryer has like a dozen programmed cycles that rely on a moisture sensor that doesn't work and leaves clothes damp unless you use the manual time & temp settings, which takes several capacitive button presses on a circuit board that is likely to die before any of the actual mechanical components of the dryer. Also for some reason it has Wi-Fi.
"And for some reason it has Wi-Fi ." will be the last line in humanity's epitaph.
