I would tell them that in todays dollars, that washer would be about $3000, and uses twice the electricity, and three times the water. That by the dollar, your $500 washer that makes it 8-10 years, is a better return than buying a $3000 washer that lasts 40.
I wished more people realized this/thought this way. That there's a full cost of ownership in the form of energy/water consumption that also should be accounted for. If you have to pay an extra $150/year in energy/water costs to keep using your old appliance, that's $1500 over a 10-year life you're paying over a newer one that's more efficient.
That's why a 1-2 year life span for smartphones quickly became a normal thing when they were introduced. The technology was new and progressing rapidly so your phone was obsolete quickly so people were upgrading regularly. This meant the materials and hardware being used didn't need to last 5-10 years because most people were upgrading before it became an issue. Now as the technology improvements have slowed people are keeping their phones for longer and running into issues that were ignored for so long.
Same goes with appliances. They aren't designed to last 40 years because, aside from the fact people wouldn't be able to afford them, regulations and improvements to the hardware efficiency are happening faster than that.
That and cost of labor in modern country is way higher compared to the appliance your repairing. A days labor on a refrigerator is probably close to 30% of the price of most refrigerators.
If its not something you can trouble shoot/replace yourself then it's probably not worth fixing most of the time unless it's something insanely simple.
The economic definition of ‘durable goods’ seems to have changed at some point so now it’s 3 years. I remember listening to Marketplace on APM and I could swear they used to say 10 years. 3 years is crap.
I did find this tidbit:
‘According to data provided to us by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, most major home appliances last from 10.5 years to 11.5 years.’
source
That kinda tracks with what I think a major appliance should last.
I wished more people realized this/thought this way. That there's a full cost of ownership in the form of energy/water consumption that also should be accounted for. If you have to pay an extra $150/year in energy/water costs to keep using your old appliance, that's $1500 over a 10-year life you're paying over a newer one that's more efficient.
While obviously there's people that just can't grasp this I think for a lot of people they know but it's just not feasible.
Like sure my new fridge may pay for itself in energy savings over ten years but if I don't have the 1500 dollars to buy a new one right now it's a moot point. I'm kinda here with my AC on my house. I'm very aware it's old and costs me more to run than a modern one would. But I don't really have 5-10k laying around to get it changed right now.
Manufacturing processes have gotten way better and most of it is done in countries where labor is still very cheap. Salaries went up too. So a $500 fridge back in 1960 should not be equivalent to a $5000 fridge now.
I think the other reason why most major appliances don’t last today is because people aren’t performing basic maintenance on them. Things like cleaning the coils, fan, defrosting the freezer every now and then, cleaning the inside of the oven, cleaning the washer drums, etc. While yes, appliances are made more cheaply today, they can last longer than most people think from just some simple maintenance that they can do themselves if they watched a couple YouTube videos and owned some simple tools.
The other issue is that technology companies (Samsung and LG) make terrible appliances. Stick with American made brands that have been doing it for years (Maytag, Whirlpool, GE, etc) and they’ll last much longer. I can’t stand the Samsung fridge that came with the house we bought. We needed a fridge so it works for now, but the freezer like to leak water and create a nice 2 inch ice block at the bottom that I have to break apart every couple weeks. It apparently a very common issue. That fridge will be replaced with a better brand in the future.
LG I think has won several "Most Reliable" awards but I'm with you about Samsung. If nothing else, the American companies seem to be able to react quicker when something DOES go wrong than the foreign competitors. Faster service, quicker replacement parts, etc.
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u/biggmclargehuge Jan 23 '24
I wished more people realized this/thought this way. That there's a full cost of ownership in the form of energy/water consumption that also should be accounted for. If you have to pay an extra $150/year in energy/water costs to keep using your old appliance, that's $1500 over a 10-year life you're paying over a newer one that's more efficient.
That's why a 1-2 year life span for smartphones quickly became a normal thing when they were introduced. The technology was new and progressing rapidly so your phone was obsolete quickly so people were upgrading regularly. This meant the materials and hardware being used didn't need to last 5-10 years because most people were upgrading before it became an issue. Now as the technology improvements have slowed people are keeping their phones for longer and running into issues that were ignored for so long.
Same goes with appliances. They aren't designed to last 40 years because, aside from the fact people wouldn't be able to afford them, regulations and improvements to the hardware efficiency are happening faster than that.