What is it with appliances these days?

KiotiKowboy · Mar 17, 2015

Does Kioti make appliances? :thumbsup:

Alright, I'm getting ready to build and will be buying all new appliances in the next few months. Does anyone here actually subscribe to Consumer Reports? If so, what brand(s) do they rate the highest for the home?

davesl708 · Mar 17, 2015

My microwave is 15yrs old and coffee maker is 10,
When I had bids for a new HVAC in my house three years ago all three of the bidders for nat gas and heat pump systems told me I was replacing a 30yr old Coleman system and could not expect more than ten years on the new stuff. I went with Waterfurnace ground loop geothermal. It comes with a 10yr warranty on the inside unit and 50yrs on the ground loop.

chad22 · Apr 13, 2015

RedNeckGeek said:
Maybe if you put it on one of those wall timers and only let it run for a few hours twice a day it'll keep everything from freezing?

I was going to do that. I finally got the thing to turn down tonight. I had broke the knob off a few years ago and was turning it by a pair of needle nose pliers and got it stuck on the highest setting and then it wouldn't move with the pliers. But I took the knobs off my little window ac to clean it and get it ready for summer and it looked like the knob was the same knob for that thermostat on the fridge. And it was.

I put the knob on it and worked it back and forth and the thermostat finally turned and now I got it turned back down and it's not freezing things anymore.

I love the window acs with just the old knobs. The remotes are nice but forget to remove the control board from the ac before cleaning it and you just have to pray it's gonna work again.

I washed my parents window ac out one day "the kind with the remote" and forgot to remove the control board. It took 2 days to dry out enough for it to work again.

I have it now as my parents have central ac in their new mobile home. "Well new to them" I don't like the window acs with remotes but will use it until it conks out on me.

And I may have no choice one day. lol

Hopefully they'll still make the ones with just the knobs. I see a few in stores that way. Maybe cheaper models but I prefer them.

Tollster · Apr 14, 2015

I am still using my Grandmothers Maytag washer and dryer, been through a few belts, and a set of drum bushings this year (regreasing lasted about 1 month before the squeak was back), still the original element though...
They may not look like the newest models, but time after time, still get the job done, and very easy to work on.. And parts are readily available and reasonable.. I paid 22.00 for the two drum bushings last summer, and that was the closest local retainer, online would have likely been cheaper, 8.00 belt.

I want to say mid 1970's models or slightly earlier.

Paddy · Apr 15, 2015

We just had our GE Profile induction cook top fizzle out. We rarely do it but we got the 5 year warranty for $150 on what today cost $1900 unit. Normally I'd say they are a waste of money. But if we keep buying throw away appliances, might not be so bad.

One thing to keep in mind on these warranties; They have the right to repair, replace or refund your money. So if you bought it for a super good price, that's what you are insuring! The appliance store mgr told us of a guy who bought a scratch and dent with warranty. When it pooped out, he just got what he paid for it. He wanted it fixed, too bad, read the fine print

So as you can imagine, we bought all our appliances at one time. My wife is a pretty keen shopper and we paid about $400 less than they cost today. So our refund was way short of actually replacing our un-repairable cooktop. We were lucky the store mgr sold the replacement at what they said was "their cost".

chad22 · May 30, 2015

chad22 said:
I'm not sure how much more life it has in it. But I have a Sears Mini Fridge that was 10 years old when a guy gave it to me when he moved. It's now 13 years old.

The fridge is older than I thought. "17 years old" instead of 13. I read the coding wrong. I looked it up again after I found some more numbers when I pressure washed it today to remove some dust that settled on and around it during the remodeling of the house.

Turns out it was made in 1998. It has some cracks in the plastic on the shelves of the door and some rust but works okay and is working great now that I got the thermostat unstuck.

If it lasts me a few more years I'll be happy. I'll be surprised if it makes it another 10 years. We'll see.

MacLawn · May 30, 2015

I forgot, but about 25 years ago, I bought a rubber mat with a drain hole in the center that is designed to go under a dishwasher for WHEN it leaks! I cut a hole in subfloor and attached the drain, but later moved dishwasher and now use the mat as pictured here, to catch condensate drain from a/c unit that's leaking on floor! I wonder if they still make these mats? It's a great idea. You can see the lip facing up, but I put the drain pipe upside down for this use:

aczlan · May 30, 2015

They make a plastic version, I have one installed under our washing machine with a drain to the outside.

Aaron Z

buckeyefarmer · May 30, 2015

I just had to fix a 1 yr old dryer. My fridge is 18 yrs old and will need to be replaced soon, the compressor makes a lot of noise sometimes.But the old old freezer keeps working.

chad22 · Jun 21, 2015

I found an old 1970's Sears Coldspot mini fridge in the dumpster yesterday.

I was gonna scrap it. But thought before I did I'd check and see if it still works.

I plugged the fridge in to an extension cord outside and within a few minutes the freezer part was getting cold.

I then put the door on and it's still getting ice cold inside.

I have it sitting on my dining room table right now with a jug of tea in it and it's getting the tea ice cold.

Think I'll make some kind of top hinge for it and keep it.

The door was bent a bit and I straightened it out enough to get it to seal.

Here's a few pics I took without the door on it.