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Everything's broken and nobody's upset

hanselman.com

301–310 of 418 posts

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#301
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To qualify for 'Energy Star' in the US, you have to use 10% less energy/resources (water) as last year. No standard; no other goal. Result: clothes washers that don't wash (my washer at least has a button to override Energy Star, obliquely named Extra Rinse or Heavy Duty), dishwashers that don't get dishes clean; water heaters that deliver luke-warm water. The goal cannot have been "Use less energy, even if it means…

You larger point may hold, but I'm pretty sure Energy Star has fixed standards. It's not simply that your product most do better than its 2011 version.

The rating (energystar.gov) changes as the federal specification changes, and I cannot quickly find the history of that spec. They do state that its recalculated when a 50% market share of EnergyStar rated products exists.

So it is likely to change over time.

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#302
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dishwasher does not require any rinsing. It has a built-in grinder for larger food particles that get washed off.

My dishwasher also cleans beautifully with no rinsing (thought I usually rinse the big particles). Now drying is another thing all together. I usually have to hand dry dishes (especially plastic) when I take them out before putting them away.

We get around that by opening the dishwasher a few inches as soon as it's finished its cycle. That way the steam escapes, and the heat in the unit finishes drying the dishes. Most of the water you see on the contents is steam that has re-condensed onto everything.

Hope this helps. IIRC I saw an article on Popular Mechanics about this a few years ago and tried it and it works.

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What clothes washer are you talking about? Do you have a top-load washer? Those are notorious water wasters that probably can't wash well without huge amounts of water. As a counter point, I have a front-load 2011 Samsung washer and dryer. I even got some money from the Big Evil Government water district for the washer and IIRC from the Big Evil Power Company for the dryer. I am 200% satisfied with the wash and dryin…

Ok, I won't spend effort trying to convince you. Good luck with that washer; not sure if it was Energy Star since you didn't mention it (1 of 3 2011 Samsung frontloaders was EnergyStar). The guy at the applicance store was completely sympathetic; he hears it all the time. The washers are a widespread disappointment.

Yes, Energy Star rated. I literally got money from the water and power company for buying it.

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#304
post #302
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dishwasher also cleans beautifully with no rinsing (thought I usually rinse the big particles). Now drying is another thing all together. I usually have to hand dry dishes (especially plastic) when I take them out before putting them away.

We get around that by opening the dishwasher a few inches as soon as it's finished its cycle. That way the steam escapes, and the heat in the unit finishes drying the dishes. Most of the water you see on the contents is steam that has re-condensed onto everything. Hope this helps. IIRC I saw an article on Popular Mechanics about this a few years ago and tried it and it works.

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#305

I've thought for a while of having a general 'bug tracker' that's centralized around me , not a particular company. I'd have one place where I file all my bugs/issues, etc, and companies could subscribe to it, or sync it in to their existing issue systems. I'm tired of having to create yet another jira/etc username/password, navigate yet another UI for reporting something, having it not work, having someone not get b…

This would be awesome. One common interface for reporting all the bugs that affect me and my life. Add in a nice easy way to upvote/clone bugs from other people's repositories (or otherwise say "me too!"). Make it all public and pressure the vendors into fixing their stuff.

I think one of the results of having company and software specific bug trackers, a lot of them private, is that people don't really know how buggy a piece of software actually is until they pay for it. And by then, it's too late.

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I just don't like dishwashers. They don't seem to save any work - I still basically have to clean the dishes in order to precondition them for the dishwasher, and now they create this monumental chore (put everyone's dishes away) that all the dishwasher users are constantly trying to avoid and foist off on the other dishwasher users. No, thank you.

My dishwasher does not require any rinsing. It has a built-in grinder for larger food particles that get washed off.

How about giving the brand and model a plug then?

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#309
Patience. As the rate of technological change accelerates, patience is slipping away. How long can you wait for the next improved version with new features? From a technical point of view, it's all possible, so why isn't it available yet? I'd say that both consumers and investors can't wait very long, so businesses push out features (sometimes prematurely) to meet the demands, which fuels the impatience for new features. Vicious cycle started.

Re: Everything's broken and nobody's upset

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly some of these are life choices, and important ones which almost certainly make sense to you, but one thing; No dishwasher? I don't really understand this. My dishwasher has a single wheel and a switch. The switch is "heated dry" [ON|OFF] and the wheel sets to one of three positions ("light wash", "normal wash", "medium wash"). If you're only washing dishes for one then I guess this makes sense, but I fail to…

Personally, I just don't like dishwashers. They don't seem to save any work - I still basically have to clean the dishes in order to precondition them for the dishwasher, and now they create this monumental chore (put everyone's dishes away) that all the dishwasher users are constantly trying to avoid and foist off on the other dishwasher users. No, thank you.

I never pre-clean dishes for the dishwasher. Just scrape the food off the plate into the rubbish bin and stick it in the dishwasher. No need to pre-clean anything. I don't get people who do. If you have to do that, then your dishwasher is worthless or you are using the wrong detergent.

After you eat, you should save what food is worth saving, and scrape the rest of the stuff off into the trash (using your knife, fork, whatever) and immediately place the dish in the dishwasher. Don't stack up your dishes and let them dry out so that you have to soak them and scrub them, just scrape and shove. If you can't do that, then you need to make it a habit to put away all your dishes before you cook dinner. Having less dishes helps.

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