Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

mstdn.social

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 531 posts

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#321

Post by ozim »

quartz wrote: post #25

Wait is this actually better? It's well presented in the ad but: - that removable veggie holder in the door looks crazy heavy and super awkward to put back in place (lining up at a sharp angle while gripping likely slick sides) - you have to open the refrigerator door to get at the freezer - the door compartments are narrow and probably can't handle odd sized containers - the shelves have holes in them so anything th…

Imagine how much hassle it is to wash that veggie container in sink.

How much gunk can get into shelves rails.

I clean fridge twice a year and would like not to do it more often.

Modern fridges are optimized for easy cleaning.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#322

Post by jasonlotito »

lopis wrote: post #249
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #34

70 years ago a fridge would cost $250-$400 - about a months salary, that's about $4k in todays money. If you pay $4k for a fridge instead of $400 today you can get one with a fair amount of gadgets too.

But that's the thing. We don't want today's gadgets. We don't need internet connected fridges, apps and other breakable IoTs. We just want more usable fridges.

I can quickly go out and buy a fridge that is far cheaper than a month's salary, and that has the same effective features. I was honestly waiting for the feature that I couldn't do on a normal, non-internet-connected fridge these days.

So, really I don't understand what this post is referencing. The fridges from today are vastly better than that thing, especially when you consider things like temperature control, power usage, space, and usability.

Can you buy worse fridges? Sure. You can spend substantially less and get something more barebones.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#323

Post by lotsofpulp »

troupe wrote: post #310
lotsofpulp wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do not even have to use commercial units. Go to Costco.com or HomeDepot.com or Lowes.com or BestBuy.com and you can filter for fridges without unnecessary frills and see many options. There are at least 7 different simple top freezers at Costco, and at least 3 French door freezers without even water dispensers. Not sure what else people want, other than to complain.

The thing that usually breaks on my refrigerators is the plastic shelves. They just don't seem designed to last more than 4 or 5 years at the most. I'm not sure how to filter for "has shelves that don't decompose when kept cool."

I have never seen or heard of that happening. Are they being overloaded?

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#324

Post by secabeen »

dublin wrote: post #320
jancsika wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best low-end Frigidaire you can get today is around $750. For $5k you could buy 6.7 of them. Lowe's extended warranty appears to be 5 years, so I'm guessing these things are designed to last 6 years. 6 * 6.7 = 40.2 years. My own estimation is that a $5k fridge today will last perhaps 10. And most of that money is going toward smart features that add complexity, which adds to the risk of having to pay for repairs.…

Not as much as you think - the people selling them want you to think the old ones were awful and need replacing, but they were designed for both reasonable efficiency and decades-long life. (You really need to factor in a literal 6-10x lifespan difference into efficiency and environmental impact figures, too...) I have a large 60s/70s vintage chest freezer I bought on Craigslist a few years ago. I worried that it was…

Chest freezers are a little special, as they don't need much actual cooling power if the insulation is functional and they aren't opened. Vertical freezers and fridges lose all their cold air when opened, chests don't.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#325

Post by karaterobot »

Night_Thastus wrote: post #265
starbugs wrote: post #3

> Thing is, producing crappy, cookie-cutter, uninspired, overpriced junk that falls apart within 5 years (generously speaking) pays more to the shareholders. That's how we got from there to here. This summarizes it quite well for me.

I get a little tired of repeating this, but there are some good reasons why fridges (and most appliances) are the way they are now: * Strong regulation on energy use by appliances (modern fridges are much, much more efficient than ones from 70 years ago) * Extreme competition from companies all over the world * Consumers who care more about convenience and cost above all else, and reliability basically not at all The…

> The other problem is really with consumers.

Nobody ever wants to admit that they make bad choices, but this is the most important explanation for why a lot of stuff sucks. If people were willing to pay more for a reliable refrigerator, that's what would get made. In empirical fact, their actual priority is cheapness, so that's what they get.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#326

Post by sokoloff »

maccard wrote: post #166
trwired wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is fine by me. I need a fridge to cool things down, oven to heat them up and TV to show moving pictures, all without access to wifi and other bells and whistles modern appliances come with. Just the basic stuff that those appliances could handle 20 years ago. More doesn't always translate to better.

20 years ago with fridges is a bit of a funny one because by then most had gotten rid of the nasty CFC's. But, even at that, it looks like today's fridges are _orders of magnitude_ more efficient to run than those from about 15-20 years ago. For an oven and hob, the basics haven't changed, but my previous flat had a $600 oven that was silent, leaked practically no heat, preheated in a couple of minutes and came with…

> it looks like today's fridges are _orders of magnitude_ more efficient to run than those from about 15-20 years ago

15-20 year old fridges are about 35% less energy efficient than the best modern fridges, not 100x. We just haven't made that much progress in refrigerants, compressors, nor insulation.

It looks like very efficient fridges today use about 400kWh per year. Those are the best (not the average).

In the late 90s, the overall average (not best) figure was ~850 kWh/yr and from the early 2000s (20 years ago), it was ~550kWh/yr.

A 15-20 year old average fridge is about 35% less energy efficient (550/400 - 1) than the best modern fridges.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#327

Post by FirmwareBurner »

dh2022 wrote: post #312
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean Xeet from your fridge?

(I read this as "exit from your fridge". I LOL'ed - what happened that you got inside the fridge to begin with??? :))

I read "Xeet" as "shieet"

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#328

Post by beardbound »

jdminhbg wrote: post #305
Qwertious wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>* Consumers who care more about convenience and cost above all else, and reliability basically not at all Don't blame the consumer for this. It's just The Market For Lemons at work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons If you really need someone to blame, then blame the MBAs who buy up quality brands and then sell junk until the reputation is all ground up.

> It's just The Market For Lemons at work. It's not, really. Information about brand reliability is widely available. People just value different things.

I agree that people value different things but I wouldn’t say information about brand reliability is widely available. I have a consumer reports membership for checking that kind of thing simply because all of the info out there is mostly blogspam and fake review sites.

Information from reputable sources on large appliance purchases is incredibly hard to find since most people don’t buy appliances often, so even consumers used to doing online research will be hard pressed to know which sites to trust. I know that I wouldn’t have a clue.

If there is a place besides consumer reports, which is a paid service, where you can. Heck these things I would be very interested in hearing about it.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#329

Post by SoftTalker »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #101
starbugs wrote: post #3

> Thing is, producing crappy, cookie-cutter, uninspired, overpriced junk that falls apart within 5 years (generously speaking) pays more to the shareholders. That's how we got from there to here. This summarizes it quite well for me.

I mean, in general, things we buy today are a lot more "affordable" while being lower quality. Googling says the average cost of a refrigerator in 1950 was $250 to $400 (for 10 cubic feet -- a fridge today is 20 to 30 ft^3), which would be $3K to $5K in 2023 dollars. If you pay $3K to $5K for a fridge today (for a fridge 2-3x as big as the 1950 fridge), do you get a better longer-lasting one? I'm not sure.

A basic, white, 18-20 cu ft refrigerator/freezer can still be purchased new for under $400 in 2023 dollars. In the 1950s, a TV or refrigerator was a major purchase for most families. Therefore there was more concern over quality of materials, repairability, and longevity.

Today, a TV is basically a throwaway item. Nobody really repairs them, if you have a problem under warranty you exchange it, or if it's out of warranty you replace it. Refrigerators, laundry machines, are not far behind.

If you wanted a repairable appliance built solidly enough to last a couple of decades, you'd be paying the inflation-adjusted 1950s price. Instead you're paying much less, for something that you will probably want to replace anyway due to changing standards, changing styles, better efficency, more features, etc. (Who would still be interested in using their 19" CRT television in a heavy wood console cabinet in 2023?)

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#330

Post by secabeen »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #74
ljf wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they also do entirely plain units that last well with no 'extras' - their commercial units are also great and easy to repair. But most people want to spend as little as they can so avoid the commercial units.

You do not even have to use commercial units. Go to Costco.com or HomeDepot.com or Lowes.com or BestBuy.com and you can filter for fridges without unnecessary frills and see many options. There are at least 7 different simple top freezers at Costco, and at least 3 French door freezers without even water dispensers. Not sure what else people want, other than to complain.

Yep, helped a friend buy a $700 LG yesterday. No features beyond a freezer box and fridge box. No water dispenser, ice maker, no holes through the door, nothing. Just two boxes that get differently cold. I expect it'll last 10 years+.

And without any of those features, it has the most internal space too. All that add-on crap takes up space that could be used for food.

Post reply on HN