• NoneYa@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    I told a friend how I thought it was so weird to be this age and getting excited about buying a new toilet for my home.

    If 10 or even 16 year old me saw me, they’d be so disappointed.

    Granted, I still have fun and still play my games. But man, getting stuff to help you keep the house orderly and it being new is a feeling I only started experiencing.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Appliance repairman here. New appliances are aggressively overpriced for very little reward. Aside from looking nice they offer nothing new. And worse of all older appliances from the late 90s early 2000s are significantly better than anything coming out right now.

    It is a pleasure working on those old appliances when they pop up.

    • the_third@feddit.de
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      2 years ago

      Aside from looking nice they offer nothing new.

      My new dishwasher opens itself after it’s done. TBH, that was absolutely worth getting a new one.

      And my new washing machine has a hot water connector and thus can use water from my heatpump, my solar heater or my wood stove. That was worth the switch as well.

      And my new stove uses induction, I’m never going back.

      And my new clothes dryer uses a third of the energy of the old one because, heatpump.

      Eh, I’d say new appliances can do some things better than old ones, but only if you don’t buy the basic models.

      • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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        2 years ago

        What’s the advantage of the dishwasher opening itself when it’s done?

          • fidodo@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            Does it close itself again after it’s dry? I don’t necessarily want the door open for hours

            • the_third@feddit.de
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              2 years ago

              No, it doesn’t. I wouldn’t want it closed, there is a wet pump sump in there. A closed dishwasher is moist af inside.

            • Sadbutdru@sopuli.xyz
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              2 years ago

              I think we’re only talking about the dishwasher door, not the door of your house/flat. If the air inside is that dirty I think you have bigger problems. Or, I just realised, is this to do with having pets?

      • Syd@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        They’re not built to last nearly as long though, especially refrigerators.

        Also, does that mean your old washer was cold water only?

        • TwanHE@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Probably internal heater. Warm water connection probably saves having to connect up the gas.

          • the_third@feddit.de
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            2 years ago

            Warm water connection probably saves having to connect up the gas.

            Oh come on, don’t tell me that US washing machines are filled up with gas. That would be hilariously stereotypical XD

            • TwanHE@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              I don’t mean petrol if that’s what you think. But the actual gas people use to heat their homes and water anyways.

              • the_third@feddit.de
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                2 years ago

                Oh, okay, the non-liquid gas, I see. Still: The washing machines contain a little burner and exhaust and all that and heat their water with gas? Never seen that here, always just an electric heater in there.

                • TwanHE@lemmy.world
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                  2 years ago

                  Our 40+ year old washer and dryer both run on gas, they indeed have an exhaust out the roof which they share with our boiler.

                  Electric replacements and heatpump are coming soon tho.

        • the_third@feddit.de
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          2 years ago

          Also, does that mean your old washer was cold water only?

          Yes - well, that was just a normal washing machine that used cold water from the tap and heated it in the drum using electricity. That’s basically what all washing machines on the market do, the hot water connector is a extra thing in the more expensive product lines. Directly heating cold water is more inefficient compared to my other hot water sources.

          • Raxiel@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            When I was a lot younger, pretty much every washing machine (here in the UK) had both hot and cold fill. It went away for three reasons.

            1. Machines got more water efficient.
            2. Direct hot water from a combi gas boiler became the standard (replacing big jacketed tanks in most houses).
            3. New detergents led to a campaign to encourage washing at 30°C rather than 40-60°C
              It’s more cost effective to heat a small amount of water directly at100% efficiency in the machine than drawing cold water out of the pipework and either heating it then rest of the way directly or pouring it down the drain until it ran hot from the 80% efficient gas appliance.
              Interesting to hear it might be making a comeback. I can see the logic if there’s a source of hot water from a heat pump, provided losses can be minimised.
              Personally I have PV so (weather permitting) electric is preferable to gas other than for space heating and bathing. That could change though. As it is, the heat pump drier, efficient as it is, still accounts for the majority of the energy used for laundry, even with the washer doing an extra spin cycle.
            • the_third@feddit.de
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              2 years ago

              When I was a lot younger, pretty much every washing machine (here in the UK) had both hot and cold fill.

              Huh, and I always thought that was a new and shiny thing, never saw it on older (40 yrs+) washing machines when I helped cleaning out houses or something like that. Different countries, different appliances!

              than drawing cold water out of the pipework

              Yes, that would be inefficient, right. New houses here usually have a hot water ring system with hot water always circulating, so only a meter or so is actual cold water in the pipe, where the connector diverts from that ring. In winter the heat loss from the ring doesn’t matter, you’re heating the house either way and in summer it doesn’t matter because PV and solar thermal bring in so much energy, you can’t use it all anyhow anyway.

              Personally I have PV so (weather permitting) electric is preferable to gas other than for space heating and bathing.

              Same here, PV, battery, heat pump, solar thermal, dynamic pricing electricity and for emergency situations, wood burning water heater and two pumps that runs the whole heating system off the car or a generator using a few watts. When we built the house I opted out of a gas connection, so far that seems like the right direction.

              New detergents led to a campaign to encourage washing at 30°C rather than 40-60°C

              I’ve found that some things require a good 75°C from time to time to not start smelling over time. Dog blankets, e.g. - but then again, from April to October hot water is practically free to me, so the temps don’t really matter.

              • SkippingRelax@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                Nah quite the opposite, same experience as the other guy, looking at washing machines in Italy and Australia, they used to have hot and cold intake but moving to cold only and leaving it to the appliance to heat up a small amount of water.

                My newish washing machine is a bosch, the model is prolly from 5 years ago though i bought it more recently, and it’s got cold water intake only (unliken the ancient LG that was sold to someone who needed a cheap one)

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      I would assume newer appliances have just as many increases to efficiency, as they do corners cut to reduce the cost.

      I’d say the smart features are something new, but it’s almost always locked behind information stealing applications that you need to have, just to check if your laundry is done yet.

      9 times out of 10 you can get better smart integration with some alligator clips and a raspberry Pi or esp32.

      • wim@lemmy.sdf.org
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        2 years ago

        I recently was in the market for a new dishwasher.

        I compared the EU eco labels (which are based on water and energy use).

        Buying the worst possible eco label currently on the market, and comparing it against the best two:

        • A label dishwashers cost almost twice as much (up to €400 more)
        • ombined energy and water costs saved over the lifetime of the device (which I optimistically set for 10 years at three cycles a week) is less than €100 euros
        • If you’re not into money, but more concerned about the planet, think about it this way: how much damage could €100 in energy and water spread over 10y really be causing our planet?
        • These savings are only achieved if you use the most ecological program, which fails at it’s primary job, which is cleaning dishes.

        If I could find a decent 90s model for which parts were still widely available, I’d buy that instead. I truly doubt that burning through these poorly made newer devices are sufficiently more ecological than just using a old machine for a longer time.

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      2 years ago

      Seriously! Now that I have one as an adult I appreciate it every day and drink a bunch of delicious filtered icy water every day.

    • Druid@lemmy.zip
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      2 years ago

      We had one of those growing up. It was always the highlight when friends came over

  • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I’ve always enjoyed the allure of a new device, especially appliances. I constantly delight at having my own kitchenaide stand mixer. I was even more delighted when I was gifted an attachment to make pasta dough with it!

  • NotSteve_@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    I was so excited to get a new vacuum cleaner for Christmas. My old one was barely clinging to life even with all the 3D printed parts I shoved into it

    I just wanna live without cat hair and dirt everywhere