truth be told, i like the opportunity to replace stuff. since we bought the house i've been trying to make it as energy efficient as possible and new appliances is a big part of that!
Replies
We vary between 130 kWh and 150 kWh per month for a two-person household. Mind you, no AC and heating is natural gas.
jun 25, 2025, 5:15 pm • 0 0 • view
To be honest, I was kinda hoping all of this new appliance talk was gonna act as a lead into your new opinion piece about consumerism in Splinter of the Mind's Eye.
jun 25, 2025, 3:57 pm • 0 0 • view
I had hopes for this too, but the 2004 (!) fridge I replaced was lower energy consumption as the one we got in November. New fridge is only about 15% bigger. Hoping I can conserve water and energy when the dishwasher goes
jun 25, 2025, 4:24 pm • 0 0 • view
The first 20 years is the most difficult
jun 25, 2025, 6:30 pm • 2 0 • view
The next 20 is the same as the first 20; rinse and repeat.
jun 25, 2025, 6:35 pm • 0 0 • view
I recently bought a Samsung fridge that is amazing! 4 doors, family hub, it does all kinds of stuff.... crazy!
jun 25, 2025, 3:57 pm • 1 0 • view
We splurged and got a bunch of new appliances last year. The fridge especially has been a game changer, with how much longer stuff has been lasting.
jun 25, 2025, 3:51 pm • 2 0 • view
The new washer is a close second, auto-dosing and being able to add that one item you forgot is really nice.
jun 25, 2025, 5:08 pm • 1 0 • view
Only advice is don't buy Samsung appliances. Their tvs and phones are great, but that does not transfer to their appliances.
jun 25, 2025, 3:54 pm • 5 0 • view
We've got a Samsung fridge that serves us fine besides having a layout that's not optimal and a microwave that microwaves just fine.
jun 25, 2025, 5:12 pm • 0 0 • view
I feel this too but wish some of these upgrades were more tangible. We got rid of our gas boiler and installed a heat pump instead, upgraded the attic insulation, and are getting rid of all the knob and tube wiring. All really great and important things, but I still want a new shower or something!
jun 25, 2025, 4:00 pm • 1 0 • view
Induction stovetop was definitely my most transformative appliance upgrade, no lost heat, doesn't heat up kitchen, great air quality, water boils in like a minute. I loved gas, but haven't looked back. Love the combo of old cast iron and new magic magnet stove.
jun 25, 2025, 3:56 pm • 11 0 • view
But new appliances that have to be replaced because of brownouts or surges is something I can ill afford.
jun 25, 2025, 3:51 pm • 0 0 • view
A surge protector or 2 would be a worthwhile investment!
jun 25, 2025, 4:11 pm • 1 0 • view
The problem is that all new appliances seem to have digital readouts and buttons instead of good old-fashioned manual knobs, so they will have shorter lifespans than older appliances. And who needs their phone to talk to their fridge?
jun 25, 2025, 3:52 pm • 6 0 • view
I bought a Cuisinart toaster oven/air fryer that has manual knobs. Love it - but I’m willing to use my phone’s alarm app for exact cooking times. Hoping that it lasts longer than digital ones.
jun 25, 2025, 4:09 pm • 2 0 • view
New windows were a huge energy improvement for us.
jun 25, 2025, 5:01 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm waiting for the day I can justify buying myself a tankless water heater
jun 25, 2025, 4:39 pm • 0 0 • view
An electrical utility guy told me that a refrigerator more than 20 years old is 20 percent of your electric bill
jun 25, 2025, 4:46 pm • 0 0 • view
Take advantage of the EnergyStar info while you can!
jun 25, 2025, 5:44 pm • 0 0 • view
I loved getting a new refrigerator that fit nicely in, energy efficient and plenty of space for all the treats that help keeping my grandkids walking a couple blocks to hang out.
jun 25, 2025, 4:08 pm • 2 0 • view
I do like getting new appliances, but I hate how appliance designers keep revising their standard dimensions so the new one won't fit where the old one was
jun 25, 2025, 3:51 pm • 4 0 • view
For kitchen appliances thats only true for like the fridge, for washer and dryers its more that they werent really placed in between cabinets and fixed furniture.
jun 25, 2025, 4:43 pm • 1 0 • view
Yeah unfortunately we have a laundry closet that was built with 2010 assumptions of depth
jun 25, 2025, 4:44 pm • 0 0 • view
I love the research phase of new appliances.
jun 25, 2025, 4:07 pm • 0 0 • view
The French door style fridges are wonderful as long as the ice maker isn’t in the fridge. If it is, it’ll work for a while, but it’ll eventually freeze completely up. Horrible, horrible design. I still can’t believe I spent so much and it can’t make ice for shit. (I’ll be bitter to my grave 😂)
jun 25, 2025, 4:21 pm • 0 0 • view
We had to replace our HVAC system and ouch is it expensive! I work on the field and I was floored at how much systems are costing today versus just 5 years ago. It especially makes me upset that they clawed back all those IRA rebates. And the admin's policies will make all this stuff more expensive.
jun 25, 2025, 4:12 pm • 0 0 • view
that's the dream. own a small house or condo, make it energy efficient, ebike, and own a bunch of blu rays.
jun 25, 2025, 4:03 pm • 0 0 • view
I preemptively replaced my water heater with a heat pump and I love it. Highly recommend. 10/10.
jun 25, 2025, 3:50 pm • 4 0 • view
It’s nice when it’s an opportunity to improve. This year was new water heater to replace a 21+ year-old one that started leaking, and I needed financial aid to get it done. I planned to be here no more than five years, but I’ve been stuck here for 20 and I’m outlasting all the appliances.
jun 25, 2025, 4:11 pm • 0 0 • view
I’m for home ownership; rental is abusive. I hate that almost everyone is forced to rent. However, my house has never been a proper home to me. I’d be much less pissy about maintaining a house I liked & wanted to live in. Financially stuck here with the elderly appliances and sinking concrete pads.
jun 25, 2025, 4:14 pm • 0 0 • view
Isn’t Trump dumping energy star?
jun 25, 2025, 3:56 pm • 1 0 • view
Just one of the many travesties he’s committed.
jun 25, 2025, 4:06 pm • 0 0 • view
Hate to be a negative Nellie, but I'm pretty sure the current POTUS will be ordering troops to shoot every energy-efficient dishwasher by this time next year.
jun 25, 2025, 4:49 pm • 2 0 • view
Don't trust masked "repairmen" in unmarked vans!
jun 25, 2025, 4:58 pm • 2 0 • view
You're luckier than we are. We just found out our failing air conditioner needs to be replaced. The heat wave means we can't wait.
jun 25, 2025, 3:52 pm • 6 1 • view
So 😢! That is a big deal
jun 25, 2025, 4:19 pm • 1 0 • view
I know! We don't want to have to replace it under duress, because we were planning to upgrade our whole system to a heat pump.
jun 25, 2025, 4:21 pm • 2 0 • view
Indeed that is most efficient! Can you buy time with a portable a/c?
jun 25, 2025, 4:30 pm • 0 0 • view
Induction stove was one of the most fun upgrades.
jun 25, 2025, 3:50 pm • 19 0 • view
I can never go back to electric or even gas. Filling a big pot with cold water and having it at a rolling boil in less than 3 minutes changed my life. It’s also just so much safer, especially with kids.
jun 25, 2025, 4:17 pm • 12 0 • view
Did you have any issues with the wiring/breakers? I’ve heard induction requires more peak power than standard electric stoves
jun 25, 2025, 3:51 pm • 1 0 • view
There is a new induction stove coming on the market that is going to be a game changer, it plugs into a regular wall outlet and runs on a battery while it continues to charge, so it also avoids peak power consumption. copperhome.com/products/cha...
jun 25, 2025, 3:56 pm • 5 1 • view
You need a plug with a certain power level, but my 10-20 year old house with a gas stove had such a plug already.
jun 25, 2025, 3:57 pm • 4 0 • view
It can require more peak current - that’s spec’ed out in the manual. We have an LG induction range - never flipped the breaker. It’s running on a 50A service. IMO - the speed to heat and cool down with induction makes it a no brainer easy choice over resistive heating elements.
jun 25, 2025, 4:05 pm • 2 0 • view
I had to pay an electrician to install a 220 but it’s never tripped the breaker.
jun 25, 2025, 5:22 pm • 1 0 • view
We had a range with gas burners and an electric oven. The electric oven already needed 240 VAC - so that work had been done before. Regarding induction- it’s nice to cook with the windows open and not have the breeze blowing the gas flames.
jun 25, 2025, 5:26 pm • 0 0 • view
Well yeah, but induction cost way more and likely wont last as long. (More complex electronics)
jun 25, 2025, 4:23 pm • 0 0 • view
Tankless water heaters are the holy Grail
jun 25, 2025, 4:09 pm • 2 0 • view
Just wait until the A/C goes kaput. =)
jun 25, 2025, 3:55 pm • 0 0 • view
Do you let it fully clunk out or are you upgrading? I can’t decide for myself
jun 25, 2025, 3:52 pm • 0 0 • view
I’ve been trying to get more energy efficient as well, and it looks like windows are the next natural step for us… it’s a big step, though
jun 25, 2025, 3:50 pm • 4 0 • view
That's us, except we live in Texas and have five sliding glass doors to go with all the windows we have yet to upgrade.
jun 25, 2025, 4:04 pm • 1 0 • view
Of course, why do you want efficiency? They want to gut Energy Star bc it's too sensible.
jun 25, 2025, 5:06 pm • 0 0 • view
We updated our kitchen last year. Replaced 25 year refrigerator, dishwasher and stove. That really dropped our energy usage (put in LED bulbs everywhere a while back.) Even though our house was built in 1947 - utility company says we are in the 5% of most energy efficient homes here.
jun 25, 2025, 4:02 pm • 0 0 • view
I prefer old things, that have stood the test of time, and find a lot of the claims old appliances use more energy suspect. Especially, longevity and increased resistance in wiring over time. I may be wrong overall, but of this I am certain, do not buy a fridge with a linear actuated compressor.
jun 25, 2025, 4:53 pm • 1 0 • view
I fear you are going to be disappointed in how little energy they save over their lifetime. If you factor in the energy required to manufacture the new unit and the energy required to dispose of/ recycle the old unit, the numbers will look even worse. (I'm a retired refrigeration tech) Sorry
jun 25, 2025, 5:17 pm • 0 0 • view
I have replaced nearly every appliance since I rebuilt my house 12 years ago after a fire. Now it’s the very expensive air conditioning system. Crappy capitalism does not give me pleasure.
jun 26, 2025, 11:23 am • 1 0 • view
I have replaced nearly every appliance since I rebuilt my house after a fire 13 years ago. Now it’s the very expensive air conditioning system. Crappy capitalism does not give me pleasure.
jun 26, 2025, 11:21 am • 0 0 • view
Don’t buy a GE dishwasher. Granted, their service department is great, but ours needed to be repaired 6 times in our first year of owning it
jun 25, 2025, 3:52 pm • 0 0 • view
What are you going with?
jun 25, 2025, 4:06 pm • 0 0 • view
In Germany a survey showed that exchanging appliances overall doesn't improve energy savings anymore. Newer appliances ones haven't improved that much (meaning that even older ones are quite efficient) so the energy needed for building a new one is not justified.
jun 25, 2025, 4:00 pm • 2 0 • view
That’s not my experience. We updated appliances last year and electrical usage dropped about 18% according to our utility company. Of course our refrigerator and dishwasher were 25 years old. It depends on the baseline.
jun 25, 2025, 4:08 pm • 1 0 • view
That is my thought when I see American cooking ovens with open heating spirals in YT videos, and when I have the impression they regard Miele as a luxury product (anecdotal evidence) while German customers regard it as "very solid" and for some worth the money, for others not.
jun 25, 2025, 4:15 pm • 2 0 • view
this is like the way that many countries view Mercedes-Benz as a luxury brand and Germany views it as the people to go to if you want to be confident the taxi you drive will make it to 500,000km.
jun 25, 2025, 4:27 pm • 1 0 • view
That was the other brand I wanted to give as an example, and my father as an example for it. Sadly the new 25 years ago or so McKinsey was called in to make Mercedes more profitable, and that took away the extra margin in materials that made it durable. And the CEO wants it to placed in luxury.
jun 25, 2025, 5:02 pm • 2 0 • view