Comment by Glawen
1 day ago
Some people love the fact that they have old appliances still running fine. I have my grandma Siemens fridge, 30 years old, still running fine. On one hand, a more efficient fridge would cost less money on the long run, but on the other hand i'm afraid to buy a lemon. So I'm patiently waiting for my Siemens to die
> On one hand, a more efficient fridge would cost less money on the long run, but on the other hand i'm afraid to buy a lemon. So I'm patiently waiting for my Siemens to die
There's a piece of wisdom about cars and appliances that unless there's some egregious defect that turns it into infinite money sink, the least costly (and in fact the most environmentally friendly) option is to run the one you currently have until it disintegrates. Because the price of a new one is usually like your electrical bill for the current one over multiple years, adjusted for inflation and price hikes.
There are of course exceptions, but rules of thumb are never 100%.
I have a 30-year-old Frigidaire upright freezer in my basement. I'd been assuming for a while that it's wasting power due to leaked refrigerant or some such, but I borrowed a power logger from work, and whadda ya know: it's actually reasonably efficient.
The thermostat is dying, so I picked up one of those thermostat plugs with a probe on a wire. Gonna keep it as long as I can. (Plus it's the perfect size for its space, and they don't make that size any more.)
Keep the door gasket in good sealing shape (replacements are definitely available) and they will be very efficient.
(Owner of a ~90-year-old Frigidaire here.)
This is the thing, the day they stop working you wonder if you should repair them for X money or byy a new one for X / 1.5 money. Guess which wins in both time and money.
> repair them for X money
Plus (X / 1.5) * (1 - S), where S is probability of successful repair.
Plus the repair cost of the next thing to go if many parts are reaching the end of the design life (= warranty * 1.1)
Plus the cost of your time either repairing it yourself or finding someone to repair it.