DIYbanter - View Single Post

Rod Speed

wrote:
Rod Speed wrote:
Too_Many_Tools wrote:

FYI...

In reference to the suggested times

Air conditioners: 8 to 15 years
Dishwashers: 5 to 12 years
Disposals: 5 to 12 years
Dryers: 8 to 12 years
Freezers: 15 to 20 years
Furnaces: 8 to 12 years
Heat pumps: 8 to 12 years
Refrigerators: 15 to 20 years
Stoves: 15 to 20 years
Washers: 8 to 12 years
Water heaters: 8 to 12 years

Those numbers are completely meaningless.

What matters is whether the device has failed or not and what the
cost of the repair is relative to the cost of replacement and that
last
isnt constant either, obviously if you can repair it yourself and
just
pay for the parts required, its going to be viable to repair it for
longer than if you have to pay someone else to repair it etc.

I find my own experience with the most current appliances has
been...

Air conditioners: 15 years
Dishwashers: 21 years
Disposals: 31 years
Dryers: 23 years
Freezers: 23 years
Furnaces: 15 years
Heat pumps: N/A
Refrigerators: 23 years
Stoves: 31 years
Washers: 23 years
Water heaters: 31 years

And with some of those the replacement isnt just because its better
value
to replace it, it can be just because the new device is more capable
than
the old one was and you just say get sick of manually defrosting the
original manual defrost fridge etc and go for a frost free etc.

Yes. And sometimes its the other way round, an older appliance can be
more reliable, easier to use, better looking, etc. Some people still
have a few ancient appliances that it would be crazy to replace with
new, 1950s, 1920s etc.

Yeah, I do that with a Sunbeam Mixmaster that still works fine.

Picked up another identical one at a yard sale for peanuts.

Its amazing what those go for on ebay.

As you can see, many of my appliances have lasted beyond
the suggested replacement periods before needing replacement.

Just goes to show how stupid that 'suggested replacement period' idea is.

Two comments on this article.

First is when you can save substantial money with improved efficiency,
I think it is a good idea to replace the appliance. Refrigerators,
freezers, dryers, furnaces and air conditioners fall under this heading.

Thats only true when the savings outweight the replacement cost,
which is frequently not the case. When calculating savings one also
has to take into account expected lifetimes of the newer replacement,
which in some cases can be all too short. Its a mistake to assume
replacement is the way to go with many furnaces.

And since advances with particular technology arent uniform,
the idea of a specified replacement cycle is even sillier.

These are appliances that run for a long period
of time and use considerable amount of energy.

Second when you buy an appliance buy one as generic
as possible. The more fashion conscious it is, the sooner
it will be out of style and become an eyesore.

you got to live with it for 20+ years. So no lime green fridges!

I'm never ever stupid enough to replace stuff for that reason.

There is a reason why white is the most popular color of appliances.

Doesnt work with laptops and other electronic appliances.

And its unlikely that say the bare metal style will go out of
fashion any time soon anyway.

Third is always consider these types of articles with a grain of salt.

I dont even bother to read them in the first place.

With the housing market and the economy in free fall,

Its nothing like in free fall.

appliance manufacturers are desperate to get the consumer to buy
their wares. Many industry trade groups will commission a writer to
produce articles to motivate consumers under the guise of saving
money to buy their wares.

Mindless conspiracy theory. This type of article has been around forever.

(If you look you will find the car companies are doing the same thing.)

Hardly anyone bothers to read that sort of article about cars.

Before doing any purchase, do the cost analysis
to determine whether there will be a true saving.

It isnt just about savings. I replaced a working 1950s fridge
just because I got sick of manually defrosting it and because
it was too small for my approach to shopping, a major run
every 2 months or so, just because its too boring to bother with.

Comments?

I think Rod's spot on this time.

He is every time, and dont you forget it |-)

These sort of articles are just mindless junk turned out to pretend to
be useful to magazine buyers, and theyre always there to help sell
more appliances, and always have been. The mag positively reviews the
things it sells, increasing sales, so advertisers want to adv in that
mag. Same old - its just a bs game. No conspiracy, its just each party
taking actions that suit their own ends.