Build washers and dryers, and refrigerators and stove to actually LAST more than 15 years.
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I dream of those days. My last stove lasted 11 years, but for its last 3 years it no longer had the self clean feature. Elements lasted about 2-3 years. The restraints for the top element burned thru in about 9 years and even with self clean, one spot on the bottom rusted (or maybe burned) thru in 5 years.
Don’t even get me started on washing machines. 6 years is my record over the past 18.
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Make parts available so people can repair instead of replace.
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Parts are available. A simple timer switch on a traditional washer is $240 with the labor....about $120+ just for the part. (entire machine cost around $600)
Oven elements are $35.
DH just replaced a simple thermocouple on a wall furnace. Affordable and simple, once he discovered the problem. However, the pilot on the thing is designed so an entire layer of parts (I know nothing) must be removed first and then the person doing the repair must somehow sink 6” into the floor or be a child contortionist to be able to freaking reach the pilot.
I’ve decided that engineers are just protecting their own jobs.
What brands have you owned that lasted 15 years? My Speed Queen electric dryer is on year 11 or 12 and doing fine. It has only needed one electronic part replaced, ever, and the tech was able to jury-rig it while we waited for delivery so I could use it, sort of.
(Note & caveat: I abuse washers and dryers, using them in my business in ways not imagined by the engineers. Given that, Speed Queen gets top marks.)
We have a Speed Queen washer, one of the slightly older ones before they re designed it and ruined them.
The dryer is an old Maytag that we’ve repaired a few times.
But then again, I hang my laundry out so the wear and tear on the dryer is minimal.
We have a Jenn Aire stove which I am ambivalent on and a Whirlpool fridge that just is the little energizer bunny.
We also have an older freezer in the basement that just keeps going as well.
One of the problems with repairs is that the electronic control pads are so stinking expensive to replace that people just toss the entire thing and replace it. You get a brand new stove or microwave for about the same money as replacing the computer touch pad.