[deleted]
Goodbye non-KISS appliances
331–340 of 499 posts
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
buy the simplest devices you can. I believe whirlpool still makes some models in the USA. Evidently (according to reddit) never buy a Samsung or LG kitchen appliance. Whateve r you do get online (reddit and other places) and look for the specific model you're looking at, never buy on a whim, do research. You can eat out for a couple nights if the fridge goes.
Samsung fridge, oven, microwave, and washer-dryer user here. Only the washer dryer was able to get online, and it's the only appliance that had to be replaced after 4 years, but not because of that. The build quality was so-so, it had problems drying and repair was considered unreasonable (leaky hot air ducts, fast wear on the bearing). The microwave spontaneously loses screws in the door though
> The build quality was so-so […] and repair was considered unreasonable
Par for the course for Samsung, in my experience.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#333One of the happier things I’ve done for myself lately, at the advice of this forum, was to get a rock-solid, dumb, black-and-white Brother laser printer. It sits there and just does its job and I never have to think about it. Does anyone have any tips as to the white-goods equivalents? Fridge, freezer, laundry machines, that kind of thing?
Speedqueen washers and dryers are simple and made in the US. Built like tanks. Double the cost of the cheap imports though.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#334When we upgraded our appliances, the "smart" or "wifi-enabled" ones were specifically avoided like the plague. "Dumb" appliances - especially fridges, for some reason - are becoming hard to come by, but they do exist. Electrolux, KitchenAid, even LG all make some no-frills models that can save both money and frustration. Hopefully those companies continue serving the "luddite techie" market.
Yes, I agree. I'm not a luddite per se - heck, I make a living out of making stuff talk to one another on a network. But I don't get the appeal, from a customer standpoint, of having all physical objects talk to you or to the Internet. Like, why? I get it when it comes to alarm systems. Being able to get a notification when someone breaks in is nice, because the alarm system is mostly doing its job when you're not at…
The lights make some sense in that you may not want to walk to another corner of your house, or up and down stairs to be able to turn them on or off. Similar functions, like smart locks or blinds or ovens also let you have some peace of mind to make sure you’ve got everything in the On/Off state you need it to be in.
Though personally I think we’re barking up the wrong tree by trying to smarten up every appliance. The objective of having remote control/sensing of all your stuff would be better achieved by having a single robot “butler” that can check on state and interface with everything, but the appliances themselves should be simple and easily controllable. As long as there’s a universal communications standard for all devices to be able to communicate with the “butler” the mechanical interfacing could basically be designed in as accessibility features. That way the software and smart capabilities are all in one package that can be upgraded or modified instead of scattered across a bunch of individual things that are expensive to replace or repair.
I’m basically imagining a drone that runs around the house along a rail track on the ceiling and has a little dongle it can plug into devices to control them like Star Wars droids. Bonus points if the method of control is purely mechanical without needing much computing power in the appliance at all.
The reason this will never happen, of course, is obvious. You’ll never get everyone to retrofit their houses for a robo-rail.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#335Let me add my gripe to over-automation.
Ceiling fans that can only be controlled using a remote. No way to wire at switch.
I am very much into local home automation, that is where no internet connection is required or allowed (HomeAssistant anyone?).
One thing I always watch out for is the automation must allow manual interaction. These fans have no pull chains, or switches when the remote breaks or more likely get lost.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#336Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lower population density and bad zoning means the trip to the grocery store is farther, so you only want to go once every week or two. So, you get a bigger car, to fit more groceries and a bigger fridge for the same reason. Then, some stupid person fills their car completely with groceries, can’t see out the back window, and backs into you. So, you get a still bigger car, so they can’t possibly help but see you, and…
> you only want to go once every week or two How are y'all getting decent bread and milk?
A friend nearby got into making bread during the pandemic. Before that, I’d have decent bread for a day or two after shopping and then sandwich bread.
American milk is very pasteurized and might last a month before being opened. But I think I’m mildly lactose intolerant anyway, can’t stand the stuff.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#337When we upgraded our appliances, the "smart" or "wifi-enabled" ones were specifically avoided like the plague. "Dumb" appliances - especially fridges, for some reason - are becoming hard to come by, but they do exist. Electrolux, KitchenAid, even LG all make some no-frills models that can save both money and frustration. Hopefully those companies continue serving the "luddite techie" market.
I'm a little confused about these fridge posts. There are refrigerators that do not have any tech that will last [most likely] longer than you stay in your home. I've had multiple Subzero basic commodity or commercial refrigerators last 15-20 years with only minor parts replacements which are easily found. Of course these are not cheap, but isn't that what everyone here is asking for? Something made well that lasts a…
I've never seen these anywhere- where do you get them from?
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#338Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wouldn't. Cost to make a device "smart" is much less than $1 in parts, app and infrastructure are not rocket science and even with no evil intentions you get very valuable data on usage, what breaks first, environment, location etc. Seems like a no-brainer. Those will soon also not require you to connect them to your wifi, NB-IoT both chips and plans cost for businesses are already very good.
Where are you shopping that you can find a 20" touch screen for under a dollar?
Sure, touchscreen is expensive, but if you just have notification on your phone that the door is not closed properly that's already considered "smart". Basically anything connecting to your home network is advertised as such.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#339the more this goes on the more i think i should buy home goods at restaurant suppliers. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/avantco-a-23r-hc-29-solid-d... looks great!
Probably noisy.
...and power inefficient. The metrics are just not the same as those for home use.
Also, like military hardware, industrial appliances rely on a long chain of logistics to keep going. They generally will however degrade more gracefully and be easier to maintain - because they're designed to be maintained.
Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
> how often does a fridge door open on its own? No, it's for when the kids leave the door open or just don't close it properly - which is VERY frequent. The door alarm goes off once per week here, at least.
Yeah but kids can do all kinds of stuff. If your kids start drawing on the wall, do you have an alarm for that? Or for when they break a glass?
My dog is my alarm for when the kid starts drawing on the walls or breaks something. He barks to let me know. It’s very convenient and I’m glad to have him. If it was practical to make a computer to do this I’m sure people would find it useful.