“I give you happy poopy time!”

What’s a toto toilet? Is it like the band? The dog? Totoro?

30 year old me wants to know when that starts.

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

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

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

I should have clarified I’m in America and my only interaction with appliances are from the country I live in.

Generally a heat pump is more efficient and better for many applications but here in the states they’re very uncommon. Basically everyone has hot and cold water connected to the clothing washer.

Dishwashers opening themselves is just a feature some of them have but it isn’t necessary or really useful. I’m glad you like it but ultimately it serves no real purpose.

Induction cooktops are among the worst appliances ever invented by humanity they are truly terrible. Again I’m glad that you like what you have and that’s all good for you but generally people are unhappy with induction cooktops and they are very unpopular here in the states. Also they’re hell in a handbasket to work on.

In terms of efficiency your dryer is pulling the exact same amount of power it has always pulled dryers have not become significantly more efficient over time the issue is a physics one we have to remove moisture from clothing and that requires a minimum amount of energy we’re never going to get around that. If you are experiencing less energy usage on your bill most likely that’s a placebo effect abd your dryer has nothing to do with it.

Moreover efficiency is a double edged sword for example washers use a lot less water per load but in reality they don’t they just use a small amount of water several times throughout the cycle. A washer back in the 70s had a maximum cycle of about 30 minutes that’s how long it took to wash clothes because they use a tub full of water nowadays they’ll use a quarter of a gallon four times throughout a load making the wash time almost 2 hours. Washers and abusing more electricity but a little bit less water which equals out to zero savings.

The price difference of energy costs per year on a refrigerator sold today versus refrigerator sold 20 years ago is like $10 not worth the savings definitely not worth the crappy technology they have put into those appliances.

In 20 years of appliance repair doing on average 5 orders a day I have met maybe two or three clients that used the smart features in their appliances. Otherwise they are totally useless.

I remember reading an article from GE a while ago where they were complaining that very, very few people were using the WiFi features on their washers and dryers.

No one asked for WiFi, no one needs Wi-Fi on their appliances.

That’s no way to talk about your significant other

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.

Efficiency is a double-edged sword manufacturers will manipulate how efficient their appliances are to make it look as though they’re compliant.

For example new washing machines for clothing advertise to use very little water which technically they do. The problem is that they will drain and rinse several times throughout the cycle. Which in turn makes the cycle significantly longer.

A washing machine from the '70s used about 15 to 20 gallons of water per cycle but the cycle itself lasted for about 30 minutes.

Now a washer will use 5 to 10 gallons of water per cycle but the cycle is almost 2 hours long. The savings in water compared to the usage of electricity cancel each other out gaining you absolutely no increase in inefficiency.

A refrigerator from the mid to late '90s used about 40 to $50 a year in electricity new refrigeration uses $30 a year in electricity the increase to efficiency is so small that it’s completely negligible.

And keep in mind modern appliances are nothing more than convenience. Aside from refrigerators of course, things like dishwashers clothing washers clothing dryers we don’t actually need any of those we can do all that stuff by hand.

I’ll second the cast iron recommendation. I now have many bare and enameled cast iron pots and pans. I also have a set of stainless but I don’t like those as much.

My brother will not shut up about how much he loves his carbon steel pan. He complains about 99% of things not being worth the price, but he loves that pan.

Oh man you had it made! It’s a must if I ever buy a fridge but well, renters can’t be choosers haha.

I’ll put it on my birthday wishlist, perhaps I’ll get it later this year!