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Comment on Some things were better in the good old days

chris@l.roofo.cc ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

My modern fridge automatically defrost itself and has an incredibly silent compressor. More than once I forgot to close the freezer door correctly and still it’s not covered in ice on the inside. It uses so little energy into its day to day operation.

My modern drier has a heat pump built in to effeciently heat the air. It also detects how long it needs to run to get my clothes to the perfect dryness.

My modern dishwasher has a heat exchanger system to retain the heat from the dirty water to warm the fresh water. This saves energy.

Modern devices maybe have their problems. Sometimes with cheaper components or worse repairability. But don’t pretend like the only innovation we had over the years was to add wifi to your appliances.

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winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My new from store 2 year old fridge had to be replaced recently. Repair estimate was $1k which is more than the cost of the entire fridge itself

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- chris@l.roofo.cc ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  That sucks but how does that relate to my comment?
  
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  - Mesophar@pawb.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    More features, more that can go wrong. More tech, more that can fail or work improperly. Usually these are more expensive repairs, too, if they even can be replaced without replacing the whole unit.
    
    Modern appliances have a lot more features, and usually have some very nice improvements! However, they have a reputation for being unreliable and failing early.
    
    The overall sentiment of the thread is how appliance don’t last as long as they used to, before they added all the “smart” features. That the durability is the measure of “goodness”, not the number of features. You brought up a bunch of great features, someone replied to you that their new appliances didn’t last longer than two years before being replaced.
    
    That is how it relates to your comment, as a counterpoint.
    
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    chris@l.roofo.cc ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I acknowledged problems with reliability and repairability in my own post.
    
    Factoring in the lifespan of an appliance is definitely a good idea, but it’s also true that old appliances are often incredibly inefficient compared to their counterparts. As always you have to be a savvy shopper to find out what is good and what is bad. I’d never get myself a smart fridge but a modern one has features I wouldn’t want to miss.
    
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CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The refrigerator in the photo is auto defrosting, I’m almost certain.

The energy saving parts also come with cost cutting, which is how I interpret the post. My 2001 era dishwasher was recently replaced with a 2024 model (in 2025) and the old one weighs nearly twice as much. They’re comparable in the product line of their time from the same manufacturer; the new one cost more. But it’s not just mass. It’s insulation, it’s metal parts replaced with plastic, nylon-glass fibre parts replaced with ABS and it’s thinning down components to last just until the warranty expires.

It doesn’t have a heat exchanger though. What kind of dishwasher?

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- Omgpwnies@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I bought a french door fridge specifically because the design makes it so that my dog can’t get the door open. I figure the energy leaking from the door design is far less than the energy and food loss of the door being left open all day while I’m at work because my adorable idiot wanted a snack.
  
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