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Goodbye non-KISS appliances

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Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#371

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

thsksbd wrote: post #364
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could move to my small village in New Mexico and join the water board. There's about 70 of us on the water system, and we could use more people to help provide oversight. The well itself is about 500 yards from my front door, and the water tank and pump house are right up the hill, I go by them on most morning walks.

No thanx. Spanish cartographers were very clear about the suitability of the Southwest to sustain human life: Ari-zona. Zona Arida.

> McClintock concluded that the name probably derived from a native place name that sounded like Aleh-zon or Ali-Shonak, which meant “small spring” or “place of the small spring.”

https://azlibrary.gov/collections/dazl/arizona-almanac/meani...

Humans have documented remains close to this village going back 4000 years, and likely were here much longer than that. The creek has (so far, even in the worst drought in 1200 years) never stopped flowing.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#372

Post by ongytenes »

I have a Whirldpool that quits cooling about every three years. I've fixed it each time. The problem is a inverter/frequency shifter keeps burning out. The compressor, an Embraco, is a 230 vac, 3 phase requires a inverter to convert 120VAC single phase to three phase 230VAC. The inverter does double duty as a frequency shifter to control the speed of the compressor while keeping the voltage constant. After the third time it burned out I plugged the refrigerator into a large surge protector. It has since died again. The other refrigerator from the early 90s is still working without any problems. The amount of energy the three phase compressor saved was more than canceled out by the cost of the parts to repair it

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#373

Post by redsoundbanner »

killthebuddha wrote: post #368

Related, thinking out loud: Why is the following timeline counterfactual (as far as I know) for basically all household appliances: 1. it was invented 2. it was commercialized 3. some decades of varying modes of specialization, advancement, innovation 4. reach technological maturity/saturation 5. open source designs with idiot-proof manuals emerge 6. everyone uses the open source versions 7. maybe a freelancer market…

[flagged]

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#374

Post by jader201 »

mlrtime wrote: post #367
dreamcompiler wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Subzero became a "status" brand in the US 25 years ago. It's common to find them in US kitchens that are designed to impress rather than to cook in. (Just like Viking ranges.) Subzero might in fact be a decent-quality fridge--I have no idea because I refuse to pay a status tax on appliances.

"I have no idea" but I have strong negative opinions. Designed to impress who? You can't tell a SZ fridge by looking at it, there are usually no labels. I know of a few professional chefs who buy these fridges, does that mean they are just buying them to impress?

I’d say if you’re a professional chef, that’s a little more understandable — it’s your livelihood.

But this discussion is more around what average people are looking for (e.g. smart vs. dumb appliances), and not so much about commercial appliances that most people aren’t the target consumer for.

Re: impressing people and the lack of labels, just looking at images of SZ refrigerators, these are clearly distinguishable from consumer grade refrigerators. They clearly have the appearance of belonging in a commercial chef’s kitchen.

Out of curiosity, though, you said you’ve had multiple SZ refrigerators — why did you choose those over, e.g. a $1k-$2 LG/GE/Samsung refrigerator? Did you not think it would last more than a few years?

You said:

> I've had multiple Subzero basic commodity or commercial refrigerators last 15-20 years with only minor parts replacements which are easily found.

I could replace “Subzero” with any of the above brands, and say the same thing. So just trying to figure out what you’re willing to pay 10x for.

Genuinely curious, as I feel I may be missing something.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#375

Post by steve-atx-7600 »

I am only on my first fridge from 2014. It’s a Samsung French door with freezer on bottom. I’ve replaced the mother board, the ice maker, applied silicone sealant to the ice maker housing, and installed a drain heater in the main coil compartment to augment the defrost heater (saw this on you tube to prevent ice over). After all this, it’s been working fine for a couple years. Hope I don’t have to buy another fridge for a long time.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#376

Post by ongytenes »

SoftTalker wrote: post #297
AndrewDavis wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even appliances that aren't internet connected are going down this terrible UX path. My old washing machine had nobs (dials) you turn. You put the clothes and soap in, close the door and press the button. My preference of type of wash and water temperature were all "saved" by the nob position. My current washing machine, nob is type of wash, capacitive touch buttons for everything else. Keeping the nob "on" keeps the…

I like solid-state controls for my laundry and dishwashing machines. The old mechanical gear-and-cam type of controls were troublesome in my experience. However I agree on the complexity. I deliberately buy appliance with as few optoins as possible. My dishwasher has two cycles: normal or heavy-duty, and one more option for heat or air dry. It has a single button to start/stop. If you just load it and press start, it…

From my experience, the somewhat clear plastic tubing that is often used is subject to becoming brittle and crack over time. I replaced mine with copper. Haven't had any problem since with it.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#377

Post by stateofinquiry »

saiya-jin wrote: post #344
PeterisP wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having lived on both sides of the pond, you'd tend to buy different kinds of products, in USA the grocery variety pushes you towards less fresh/spoiling products and more towards various processed products which will up a fridge for weeks. And also actually food in US does somehow seem to last for longer, as probably the manufacturers anticipate this need and optimize for that (as there's no free lunch, likely at the…

Which begs the question - what not-yet-in-the-spotlight chemical crap makes this happen? Since ingredients are the same, devices are the same yet they last longer as you mention. Maybe something about vastly different food quality standards between the sides of the pond.

There are many factors the general public is not aware of but that play a major role in food shelf life; the whole field of "food technology" is pretty amazing and under appreciated.

Chemical treatments are not the only factor- in terms of fresh commodities (fruits and vegetable) varieties grown play a big role; so too might post-harvest treatments such as irradiation (might be for phytosanitary reasons, but often can extend shelf life if the commodity can withstand it and remain high quality), nano particle coatings that reduce water loss and spoilage.. these are just a few of the things that are going on "behind the scenes" to make our food last longer and reduce food waste.

If you would like to learn more here is a good review on physical treatments specifically for cereal crops: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920410/ . There is an awful lot that goes into "food quality", and there are important trade offs with every choice.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#378

Post by ongytenes »

lelandfe wrote: post #260
arter4 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Why do I need voice activated lights My parents are getting older. Their knees appreciate being able to tell Siri to turn off the downstairs lights from upstairs.

My friends are getting old and I bought them remote control for lights this Christmas that don't require an internet connection.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#379

Post by astrostl »

Our ancient basement fridge died. We replaced it with a Best Buy Insignia SKU 6472692. It's currently $500, and we paid $550 plus a bit more to take away the old one. Its primary features include having two doors, staying cold on the bottom, and staying really cold on the top. We love it.

Re: Goodbye non-KISS appliances

#380

Post by crazygringo »

thsksbd wrote: post #281
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #254

If you want to keep it simple, don't even bother with filtered water and just drink out of the tap. It is safe in the developed world. If you are concerned about germs, which can get through the filter anyway, you should boil the water instead.

That really isn't a good assumption. The West is undergoing a bureaucratic collapse where incompetent or out right maliciously corrupt people are subverting regulators. I dont trust regulators and have a five stage reverse under the sink filter. Result? In the last five years in my little section of the midwest: - I've dodged Pb poisoning when my local water authority switched corrosion inhibitors (note, this is afte…

> The West is undergoing a bureaucratic collapse where incompetent or out right maliciously corrupt people are subverting regulators.

I don't know where you're getting this from. Generally speaking, regulations and enforcement are tighter than they've ever been. That doesn't mean they're perfect, but you're going to have to show some evidence it's getting worse.

I really don't think you want to go back to the 1970's and 1980's, or the 1940's and 1950's.

I mean, I totally believe you about your water -- I just don't know where you get the idea that it was better in the past. If anything, you as a consumer just didn't have the ability to detect it or filter.

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