(Half of) everything old is new again
Aug. 3rd, 2025 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
christopher575Our dishwasher decided to die in a very dramatic fashion. It stopped working, but the motor wouldn't stop running. Which is to say that if you turned it off, it would turn itself back on and keep running. We had to cut the electricity to it at the breaker. I already knew because of the last time we had an issue with it that we would definitely have to get a new one. The issue then was that one of the spring/pulley combos that stops the door from falling all the way open broke, and I had to replace it on my own because the minimum charge just to have someone come over to look at it was $150. Appliance repair that's not covered by a warranty is always going to be expensive, and for something like a dishwasher, it's probably not worth it.
It sucks to live in the era when appliances just aren't made to last. We got a full set of new ones for the kitchen shortly after we moved in 11 years ago, and ten years feels like a lot for a dishwasher these days. But since we were replacing it, we decided to go ahead and get a refrigerator, too. The ice maker on the one upstairs has been broken for a while, and again, it probably wouldn't have been worth it to repair that.
The bad news is that black appliances are on the way out in terms of availability, and that's what we had. We previously refused to get stainless steel because magnets didn't stick to it, and what good is a fridge if you can't show off your magnet collection? But they've figured out how to make stainless steel appliances easier to clean and less likely to be damaged, and magnets work on them, too. It doesn't bother me too much that the stove and oven don't match now, but I'm not in a hurry to fix that. Especially since there wasn't a standard setup for the microwave to mount to. Best Buy refused to do the installation, but for some reason it was very difficult to get them to refund the installation fee. Luckily our yard guy's crew can usually do handyman stuff too, and one of them took care of that back in the day. Does he have anyone who could now? Who can say.
We also went with a local appliance company instead of Best Buy this time, and will definitely go back to them when it's time to buy more.
My least favorite thing about the new dishwasher is that it holds less. It's the same size, of course, but the prongs in the racks are further apart. My favorite part about the new refrigerator is that the inside is blue! I've never seen such a thing and I'm so in love with the color.
Meanwhile, the refrigerator in the kitchenette downstairs that's probably 30 years old is still humming along and its ice maker not only still works, but is very productive. I will say I wish the ice maker upstairs was down here. It makes actual cubes instead of that moon shape that always lines up with the curve of the inside of the glass.
It sucks to live in the era when appliances just aren't made to last. We got a full set of new ones for the kitchen shortly after we moved in 11 years ago, and ten years feels like a lot for a dishwasher these days. But since we were replacing it, we decided to go ahead and get a refrigerator, too. The ice maker on the one upstairs has been broken for a while, and again, it probably wouldn't have been worth it to repair that.
The bad news is that black appliances are on the way out in terms of availability, and that's what we had. We previously refused to get stainless steel because magnets didn't stick to it, and what good is a fridge if you can't show off your magnet collection? But they've figured out how to make stainless steel appliances easier to clean and less likely to be damaged, and magnets work on them, too. It doesn't bother me too much that the stove and oven don't match now, but I'm not in a hurry to fix that. Especially since there wasn't a standard setup for the microwave to mount to. Best Buy refused to do the installation, but for some reason it was very difficult to get them to refund the installation fee. Luckily our yard guy's crew can usually do handyman stuff too, and one of them took care of that back in the day. Does he have anyone who could now? Who can say.
We also went with a local appliance company instead of Best Buy this time, and will definitely go back to them when it's time to buy more.
My least favorite thing about the new dishwasher is that it holds less. It's the same size, of course, but the prongs in the racks are further apart. My favorite part about the new refrigerator is that the inside is blue! I've never seen such a thing and I'm so in love with the color.
Meanwhile, the refrigerator in the kitchenette downstairs that's probably 30 years old is still humming along and its ice maker not only still works, but is very productive. I will say I wish the ice maker upstairs was down here. It makes actual cubes instead of that moon shape that always lines up with the curve of the inside of the glass.
