Rant: Modern household appliances are of poorer quality

[Cougsfan]

So a water bottle won't freeze in the fridge if ambient temp is 0?

I have had that happen when it was well below freezing for days on end, but the refrigerators, as jyoutz says, do insulated items inside from the cold fairly decently.

 

[Oaktree]

The self defrost feature is nice although it does drive up the cost of your electric bill. It also dries your food out after a while; I've had ice cube trays emptied out in a couple of months.

I would like to have a manual defrost for the garage; it would be great for storing garden spoils.

No real love for manual defrost here. We have a chest freezer that's manual defrost. I agree they're less prone to freezer burn, but it's not hard to find things I'd rather do than to pull everything out and chip out ice with a heatgun.

I understand that after a few years of twisting that cheap plastic they break but JeezE! they only cost a couple of bucks apiece. Plus when they break those little compartments are great for putting small nuts and bolts in when you are taking something apart.

I was referring to automatic icemakers built into the fridge. Yeah, we just use the plastic ones too. Don't think we've broken one yet.

 

[mike0000]

Here’s a few pictures of my 1950’s GE “Beer Fridge”
it lives in our outdoor pavilion, currently unplugged for winter.
My great grandmother bought it new. The freezer box is not auto defrost so it will eventually turn into an almost solid block of ice. I manually defrost it a couple of times during its summer use, it tends to not cool as well if I let the ice box freeze up.

Mike

 

[wolc123]

Here’s a few pictures of my 1950’s GE “Beer Fridge”
it lives in our outdoor pavilion, currently unplugged for winter.
My great grandmother bought it new. The freezer box is not auto defrost so it will eventually turn into an almost solid block of ice. I manually defrost it a couple of times during its summer use, it tends to not cool as well if I let the ice box freeze up.

Mike

View attachment 782314View attachment 782315

I have an old GE “deer” fridge of the same era. I only use it when it’s too warm outside to age carcasses in our insulated garage. it worked perfectly last September, when I plugged it in and pressed it into service, on an early season doe.

I like my venison aged a week or so, before prosessing, vacuum-sealing and freezing, to get it past rigor mortis. The carcasses age perfectly inside that old non-frost free fridge. They would probably dry out to much inside a modern, frost-free model.

Mine has a separate freezer up top, and I stripped out all the racks and drawers down below. I rest the front on the neck and hang the hind quarters from hooks up top.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was referring to automatic icemakers built into the fridge. Yeah, we just use the plastic ones too. Don't think we've broken one yet.

I knew that. I was just stirring the pot.

 

[2manyrocks]

Those 1950s refrigerators used to come with two ice trays that unlike today's plastic multi-divided trays, were aluminum with no dividers. There was an aluminum assembly that divided the tray into sections with a lever that was used to pry the little chunks of ice apart from one another. If you over filled the tray, it would break the aluminum divider thing. I'd be surprised if any of the aluminum trays are still around in working condition.

 

[TugBarge]

Those 1950s refrigerators used to come with two ice trays that unlike today's plastic multi-divided trays, were aluminum with no dividers. There was an aluminum assembly that divided the tray into sections with a lever that was used to pry the little chunks of ice apart from one another. If you over filled the tray, it would break the aluminum divider thing. I'd be surprised if any of the aluminum trays are still around in working condition.

I actually have about ten of those trays. Haha. Old aluminum tray with the assembly linked together you can drop in. The cubes they make are pretty large!

 

[2manyrocks]

They also had wire rack shelves that didn't break unlike today's plastic and doors that actually latched. The problem with the latch was sometimes people would have a refrigerator sitting around in storage in the basement. Some kid would decide to play hide and seek inside the refrigerator, but couldn't get out in time due to the latch. That's why no more door latches today.

 

[Jstpssng]

I had an upright freezer which my brother had bought when he was in college. Upon graduation my sister bought it and used it for about 15 years before giving it to me. The plastic interior was patched together with masking tape; it was rusty in places. Yet it kept things frozen. I would start filling it in July during strawberry season, but fall it would be full. I eventually did replace the door gasket, but had it for about 15 years without a problem. I only opened it about every 7 days, to move the next week's supply of groceries to the top part of the refrigerator. I guess that's why I never noticed a difference in my power bill.

I moved someplace and didn't have a secure place to store it so took the door off; losing one of the hinges. I tied the door shut with a bungie cord and kept using it without a problem... even though it set outside on my deck. Eventually I found a newer freezer and threw out the old one. That "newer" freezer was inside yet it only worked about 2 years, before it stopped getting cold.

 

[Jims1025R]

On the obverse, my parents bought the house in 1964, with a Hotpoint fridge which was built in new in 1959. I sold the house two years ago after my mom's passing - the fridge was still working. I know for certain that it had worked all those years without ever having been pulled out for maintenance!

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

At my business there was an old (50s?) GE like this. It worked perfectly but I had to defrost it a few times a year. I left it, I'm sure it wasn't efficient and needed a new door gasket.

 

[Oaktree]

Those 1950s refrigerators used to come with two ice trays that unlike today's plastic multi-divided trays, were aluminum with no dividers. There was an aluminum assembly that divided the tray into sections with a lever that was used to pry the little chunks of ice apart from one another. If you over filled the tray, it would break the aluminum divider thing. I'd be surprised if any of the aluminum trays are still around in working condition.

Had totally forgotten about those, my parents had that kind when I was a kid. By the time I was a teenager they'd been replaced with the plastic kind.

Those old 50s refrigerators never had much freezer space in them...a couple shelves for an ice tray, maybe space for a couple packages of frozen vegetables. Certainly nothing like what came along in the 60s thru today.

At my business there was an old (50s?) GE like this. It worked perfectly but I had to defrost it a few times a year. I left it, I'm sure it wasn't efficient and needed a new door gasket.

I dunno...when I bought my first house in the mid 70s it had one of those 50s vintage refrigerators in it. When I replaced it in the early 80s my electric bill went up maybe 10%. Granted, the new one was larger and had a real freezer in it but still...

I don't miss the mechanical latches those old fridges had. The modern magnetic ones are safer, and seal just as well if not better.

 

[JethroB]

I have a 7 year plain Jane GE refrigerator with top freezer in my cabin. 16 cu ft?Sometimes the cabin would go unused for several months. My power bill would consistently be 30 kWh per month. Pretty amazing.

I wonder what a 60 year old model uses. Not knocking them though. Nostalgia.

 

[mike0000]

I have a 7 year plain Jane GE refrigerator with top freezer in my cabin. 16 cu ft?Sometimes the cabin would go unused for several months. My power bill would consistently be 30 kWh per month. Pretty amazing.

I wonder what a 60 year old model uses. Not knocking them though. Nostalgia.

No idea on the efficiency of mine, Probably not great, it gets plugged in about the same time the pool gets opened. I definitely use more electricity those months, seem to drink more beer then too.

Mike

 

[MossRoad]

So a water bottle won't freeze in the fridge if ambient temp is 0?

Fridges aren't heaters, so yes, if you have the thermostat in the fridge set to 40, and your garage is 0F, the fridge will never come on, and eventually, it, and anything in it will get to 0F.

 

[MossRoad]

These things?



You can still buy them new. We see them pretty often at antique/flea markets.

 

[2manyrocks]

yes. I had no idea you could buy them new.

 

[JasperFrank]

If you take a refigerator, place it in a small insulated space, turn it on high with the doors open, that space will become warmer, not colder.

 

[MossRoad]

I hated those things!

When I was a kid, and we knew we were going to have people over, we'd have to make ice for a week, bag it, and store it. Anyone remember freezing their fingers to those things? Or pulling the lever and pinching your finger?

 

[MossRoad]

If you take a refigerator, place it in a small insulated space, turn it on high with the doors open, that space will become warmer, not colder.

If dad catches you doing that, he's not gonna be happy.