Is there a twenty year fridge on the market?

[wilkinsservis]

What can a bus driver afford?

Surely a standard measurement such as number of hours say a bus driver has to work to pay for a year of service (capital cost maintenance running costs) could be established? I mean in 1960 for a bus driver employed in that year to buy and run a GE Filterflo for a year of its average life compared with a bus driver in 2011. In my limited personal experience there only seems to have been only a slight decrease in service years from appliances even though they have become more affordable by as much as more than a factor of ten in some instances.There is no doubt however there is not the expectation of repair but rather replacement (but on the plus side also not of regular maintenance).

 

[kb0nes]

Heat Rises

Certainly it would make sense from an efficiency standpoint to place the compressor/condenser where the reject heat can't find its way back into the cooled space. Above the unit or remotely would be preferable to underneath. My suspicion is that home units tend to have the condenser under the unit largely due to noise and because the who knows what will be above a home refrigerator. In a commercial kitchen there is usually lots of space above the unit. Home users like to store things on top their fridges...

The GE Monitor tops tend to run forever because they were massively overbuilt and very simple. With any new technology the initial engineering has lots of safety margin built in, there are too many unknowns at first. Its only after years of history and failure analysis that the design is streamlined to reduce cost to manufacturer. Had GE placed the condenser under the unit I think they would have run just as long, but they sure would have been harder to swap out the cooling system!

A commercial unit will likely have a longer service life compared to a residential unit, but I'm not convinced this is because they are better made. I have worked on some True units before and they were pretty crudely built. The fact that commercial units tend to just be simple and featureless just means there is a lot less stuff to fail. The other issues with a commercial unit are that they won't be as energy efficient and they will surely be noisier. If you are willing to live with those limitations then a commercial unit could give a long life at home though.

 

[travis]

GE started making some fridges with the compressor below the cabinet in 1934 I believe. They have the same compressor as the monitor top. They're just as reliable as a monitor top.

Refrigerators, like any other major appliance, started as a simple utilitarian appliance. Simple appliances that lack fancy features usually last longer. If you take the money from those additional features and stick it back into the compressor and build quality, you would have a longer lasting appliance.

The main sales pitch to replace an appliance to energy efficiency. I had a kitchen designer suggest I replace my 1950's chest freezer with an under-counter freezer. He mentioned both efficiency and noise. I asked him how much one would cost. With a $1500 cost, how long would it take for me to see a savings? I mean seriously, that new freezer would be dead within 15 years and the chest freezer will probably be fine.

We have been conditioned as a society that appliances are now a part of decor. Once we tire of the decor, the room and the appliances go to the dump. Go ahead and apply "green" or energy star and the guilt of throwing away a good appliance magically disappears.

 

[neptunebob]

From my limited experience as a food worker and refrigeration technician, you do NOT want a commercial refrigerator at home, mostly because of the noise. You don't notice it in the chaos of a commercial kitchen when one is working but I would think the noise would keep you awake at night and these units guzzle energy - in a business, that is just the cost of doing business but for a consumer the electric bill would just be too much. I agree about True, they seem to have sharp edges and just scream "cheap!" but I do think they are rather expensive.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Traulsen

Top quality commercial coolers and freezers.  Very expensive but well worth it.  Another plus is that they are owned by Hobart who has the best national service and parts network hands down.  Also Hobart still belives in quality so the product is well made.

WK78 

 

[mixguy]

Refrigerator Lifespan

My mom has 1954 Hotpoint. The only repairs done were replacing the glass shelf above the crisper drawers and changing a few broken shelf supports. It was moved 3 times since it purchased once to to be placed in storage while the house we were living was moved and kept in storage for the time when a new house was built on the same lot that we moved into in April of 1960. It was moved again in 1971 when new Armstrong Solarian was installed over the old oak plank flooring. She made it self defrosting using a Paragon defrost timer. Only problem with that is to remember to reset it when there is any power outage.

 

[arbilab]

I've lived with 30-yr compressors all my life. Except for antique/classic and high-end commercial, those simply ceased to exist roughly 15 years ago. The guts just aren't there. Current life projections are 7-10yr and customers can easily come up short even on that.

Reckoning without all the flimsy little "features" that are lucky to make it out of warranty. Some recent models the doors can't even be made to align squarely.

It is not a good time in the history of appliances. JMO.

 

[davetranter]

Bus driver

I am fairly sure that some calculations are undertaken by various Govt. departments on purchase/running costs of appliances versus wages as part of their cost-of-living / standard-of-living statistics. I have no idea how/where a digest of this information could be obtained, but it would make VERY interesting reading, Wilkinsservis.

I also despair of our 'throwaway' society, Travis... And yes, of course a working machine which has already 'paid for itself' will always be cheaper than ANY replacement, but salesmen don't get commission on those... ;-)

As to '30-year compressors', my friend (the Miele fan), when he asked (in a local electrical goods shop) about a washing machine which would 'last 20 years', was asked by the sales assistant "Why on Earth would you want that?? You'll get fed up with it!" Such is the society we live in.... :-(

All best

Dave T

 

[roger]

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE

Well we managed to get in touch with our repairman.

Told us we did the right thing completely thawing the fridge.

Since things are back to normal now, there is no real point in him coming over(and charging us $90). If there truly is something wrong with a part of the defrosting system, it will act up again within the month. Call him then.

Very humid weather, putting hot food in the fridge to cool, stuff piled in front of the inside vents, doors not properly closed all can lead to excessive ice buildup inside the walls of the fridge itself and decrease its efficiency (making it work harder and costing more electricity)and can lead to the problem we had.

Frost-free or not, he suggests thawing the fridge at least one a year as a cheap insurance policy.

 

[danemodsandy]

To Answer the Question.....

....Posed by the thread title:

They're all twenty-year fridges.

Just as long as you count the fifteen years in the landfill.

 

[spookiness]

+1 Neptunebob, re: True

You do not want a commercial unit in your house. They are noisy as hell, and not very airtight either. Worst of all, they suck up a lot of power, and produce a LOT of heat, so you'll have to run A/C constantly to overcome it. I worked in a retail food establishment with at least 4 True units. At least once every 3 or 4 months one of them needed service. They have a lot of sharp edges on them, that we had to file down or cover with duct tape because we were all getting cut just from cleaning them or using them on a daily basis. Perhaps worst of all, they create condensation that leaks everywhere if you don't have a connection to a drain. On hot humid days, the condensation drips into a pan and the water doesn't evaporate fast enough, so you have to bail them out before they start running onto the floor. The pans are dirty and disgusting.

Given the choice, I'd replace my fridge every 5 years than to have to put up with that hassle.

 

[neptunebob]

Its worse than I thought...

I was talking with my mother who says she would like a new refrigerator, a white side-by-side. Just out of curiosity I went to the Sears Outlet to look. I'm really disappointed. Frigidaire refrigerators, the top of the doors have a raw edge where the the top and front meet that can collect crud. At least it wasn't sharp but in the past this probably would have been smoooth. The plastic seemed thin too. I thought Whirlpool would be better but it was worse: The doors are crooked and that new Whirlpool logo is hideous. Home Depot has an Amana without the ugly logo but again, the doors do not line up. The bottom of the Whirlpool is ugly too with no grill. I haven't seen GE yet. What happened in just a few years? I wouldn't buy any of these. The French Door ones all felt flimsy.

Spookiness, I don't know why any restaurant owner would buy True equipment, I don't think it is cheap either (that is, to buy, definitely cheaply made).

 

[yogitunes]

I had, and still do, but now in the basement, a Kenmore(GE version) 27 cu ft, SxS, Limited, it has everything but the kitchen sink, computer controls/displays, drop down service door, textured.....worst part of giving it up for a new one, is the new one wont last as long, or come with all these features again.....I only replaced it because the lines for the water and icemaker dry rotted and cracked open, half NLA, and what was available, prices out the roof.....the line inside the freezer door was 110.00.....I bought this in 1988, it was on the back cover of the Catalog for several years....paid almost 2000.00 back then

I now have a Whirlpool 30cu ft SxS stainless.....15 months old, and the crisper drawer fronts have already snapped off.....considered cosmetic and not covered by the warranty....I actually bought it for the drawers sliding on rollers rather than a slot!...although it was a clearance from Lowes, still in the box, originally 2000.00...and got it for 1296.00....

for the most part, I did not want a new one, because I know I wont get 20 something years out of it

 

[firedome]

Tis true that True

is not up to the quality of Traulsen, as a Restaurant inspector (Sanitairian) our first 5 years out of college, monitored Traulsen units maintained temperature far more consistently, and operators told us that they overwhelmingly preferred them to True, but one might have thought that True might have improved in that time, apparently not. New commercial units have to conform to reduced energy consumption regulations, and are quieter, albeit not so much as your typical Whirlpool, but not an issue for us as a Traulsen is far better made than any domestic unit, their ability to stand up to constant use and abuse and warranty on compressors being an evident manifestation of that.

 

[circlew]

Doors not lining up-

Many times this is because the units on the showroom floor have not been properly leveled. Also, they may shift in transport, and require adjustment after installation. I helped deliver for a Frigidaire dealer in the mid 70's, and often we had to loosen the hinges and adjust the doors to properly align them.

 

[funktionalart]

Add another semi-modern fridge to the long term list!

My Jenn-Air Side by side is of 1997 manufacture. Flawless. I have only put a replacement condenser fan motor in. Seventeen years and no sign of "dying". Freezer consistently at -4/-5 and fridge at circa 35-37. Brilliant. Bought a 1963 Frigidaire Custom Imperial bottom freezer recently. Also runs fabulously...though I'm not going to use it until I replace the bad door gasket on the freezer. Would I buy anything new or within the last 10 years? Doubt it. Everything I have contains no overseas componentry and that's how I'm keeping things 'round here. But those Liebherr's are tasty....

 

[norgeway]

If you want one to last!

Buy an OLD one that is manual defrost, Not only will food keep much better, its cheaper to run and has MANY fewer things to go bad!!!

 

[funktionalart]

Sage advise, Hans!

In fact, I have been wondering if it is wise/possible to totally disable the auto-defrost system on my '63 Frigidaire (not because there ARE any problems...yet). I haven't run it enough to see what state that system is in, but have heard a boat load of stories re; early 60s frost proofs and associated issues. I'm thinking, disabling it would not only save on running costs but also the hassle of chasing replacement parts down the road. Have had many manual defrosts in the past...and doing that chore myself doesn't bug me. Just don't know if I'd be compromising the unit from an operational standpoint.

 

[carmine]

Judging by how fast my '64 Fridigdaire iced up the evaporator when a switch failed last year ($30), I don't think turning off the auto defrost is an option.

Even with this small failure, I'm pretty accustomed to fridges running 40+ years so I don't see myself buying a new one anytime soon.

 

[jkbff]

I've used liebherr equipment before, but never thought they'd make fridges...

Is this a modern day version of GM Frigidaire?