Saving electricity

[Oaktree]

It is surprising that more people don't use these (clothesline). That saves a bundle right there. Doesn't really take much longer where I live, especially this time of year.

Yeah, that's all I've ever used. When we moved to where we do now (7 years ago) I "never got around" to hooking up the dryer. Other than long rainy spells, we don't even miss it.

Not so much an issue in the country, but many/most new housing developments ban clotheslines. Somehow they "reduce property values'.

 

[dmccarty]

Dan - You READ THE MANUAL ! What kind of crazy talk is that ? :laughing:

Makes sense though.... have the appliance handle the Convection offset - should work for the intended items.

Proper power panels ! Why aren't you and Larry fans of the Chevy Chase - Christmas Vacation style of wiring ? :confused2:

Rgds, D.

I know, I just lost my TBN Man Card. But danged it, the way to push the buttons to get the large oven to work are different than the smaller oven. My mom and I spent a good hour one holiday "cooking" dinner but the oven was doing NOTHING! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

We thought it was on.

I had to RTFM or we would starve. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[jmurray01]

I found out about the new fridges not working in cold temperatures the hard way, I lost a freezer full of stuff, because I had the fridge in the garage in the winter.

BTW, when you all "save" electricity, where do you keep it?

Somewhere it won't be disturbed - My cerebrum...

 

[jmurray01]

I know, I just lost my TBN Man Card. But danged it, the way to push the buttons to get the large oven to work are different than the smaller oven. My mom and I spent a good hour one holiday "cooking" dinner but the oven was doing NOTHING! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

We thought it was on.

I had to RTFM or we would starve. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

I'd rather starve :laughing:

 

[clemsonfor]

Its funny the fads. Its stainless everything now and about the last 10 years. Stainless is horrible, it shows every spot or handprint. Some of those newer ones are better than are not actually stainless but look like it and dont show the prints. NOw the new thing is those crazy bottom fridge things that you can see what you have and have to bend over while rumaging? Oh and the Gas thing yall all talk about. Folks like my sister n law HAD to have gas. She cant cook a thing if its not written down or not on a book. But they have gas because it "cooks" so much better??? Why so you can spend 3 grand on a special cooktop??


Yea none of the appliances last any amout of time. Of dishwasher we bought when we bought my house tore up this last fall. It was 3 years-ish old. I called the company, frigidare, and complained about it and wanted to see if they would give a partial vouchure toward a new model, or else i would never buy a new frigidare product again (like the call girl cared??). Answer was no its out of warrenty and they only are suppose to last 3-5 years!! We bought a Kitchen aid dish washer from the local appliance store (actually $100 cheaper than lowes) and that girl said that (now we bought a cheap frigidare model like second from bottom of line) they only last about 3-5 years as well and a kitchen aid will last 6-8 years and most likely more, but still!!! Said fridges only last 6-8 years on average now!!! This is crazy, at the price to fix them its almost cheaper to buy new ones?

 

[Bird]

Yea none of the appliances last any amout of time. Of dishwasher we bought when we bought my house tore up this last fall. It was 3 years-ish old. I called the company, frigidare, and complained about it and wanted to see if they would give a partial vouchure toward a new model, or else i would never buy a new frigidare product again (like the call girl cared??). Answer was no its out of warrenty and they only are suppose to last 3-5 years!! We bought a Kitchen aid dish washer from the local appliance store (actually $100 cheaper than lowes) and that girl said that (now we bought a cheap frigidare model like second from bottom of line) they only last about 3-5 years as well and a kitchen aid will last 6-8 years and most likely more, but still!!! Said fridges only last 6-8 years on average now!!! This is crazy, at the price to fix them its almost cheaper to buy new ones?

Sure hope you're wrong about the expected lifespan. I'm sure I've posted this before, but we bought this place 6 years ago last Sept. (2005). The KitchenAid range and dishwasher, and the Kenmore microwave all 3 looked new and unused (last 2 owners had been single men), but there were no manuals for them. With model and serial numbers, I obtained manuals and learned these appliances were all made in 1999. And of course we've been using all 3 now for more than 6 years.

 

[ultrarunner]

I did Mom's kitchen in 1977 with GE and Amana... so far, no problems and she cooks 3 times a day...

Here circa 1980 Kenmore Washer/Dryer pair keep chugging along as does her made in America Zenith Console TV bought more than 30 years ago.

It does kind of give me a laugh when her neighbors have redone their home appliances 2 or even 3 times in the last 35 years...

The lady across the street spent over 2k on a new Neptune Washer and Dryer because her Kenmore's were getting old... (I gave those Kenmore's to a struggling family with 4 kids 9 years ago and they have not missed a beat) Anyway, the Neptunes have been problematic and she eventually had them replaced when the warranty was up.

Sometimes being frugal is more than manufacturer's claims regarding energy used... it is also longevity, mean time between failure and cost of parts!

I think it's great everyone is chasing the latest being peddled by being green or energy saving... great for the economy that is.

By the way... I got a great picture in picture stereo 32" Toshiba TV I saw a guy putting out to the curb... asked what was wrong with it and he said NOTHING... wife wanted a flat screen... saw him about a year later and he asked if I still had the Toshiba and he would take it back if I wanted to get rid of it... the flat screen had been replaced once under warranty.

 

[Alien]

Same problem here in Australia. Power is expected to increase 16% in July and that is just a start. Our quarterly bills were a regular $480+ and because we are near retirement we didn't want power bills so we bit the bullet and installed a 4 Kwh Solar system. It is grid connected so anything we don't use goes back in the grid and we get paid for it. We are shaded by trees from 2.30pm but will fix that shortly, but even so since the 16th March we have produced 722+ Kwh of electricity we don't have to pay for. Not sure how you guys fare for sunshine over there, but I would recommend solar to anyone.
I blame TVs, and light bulbs (that are left on) as being the main culprits. eg, leave five decent sized lights on and it works out the same as running a single bar heater for the evening. Fridges; well, we have to have them, but I don't find them to be as hungry as a few light bulbs.
Great to see so many concerned with their power bills. Have we become a blase' to energy usage until now? This has been a wakeup call worldwide and it has a long way to go yet before we fully utilise alternate energy, and not just in our homes.

 

[jmurray01]

Sure hope you're wrong about the expected lifespan. I'm sure I've posted this before, but we bought this place 6 years ago last Sept. (2005). The KitchenAid range and dishwasher, and the Kenmore microwave all 3 looked new and unused (last 2 owners had been single men), but there were no manuals for them. With model and serial numbers, I obtained manuals and learned these appliances were all made in 1999. And of course we've been using all 3 now for more than 6 years.

I don't believe there is any lifespan estimate that can be definitive for all appliances.

It just depends how they are used and treated.

I believe in the saying - Look after it and it'll look after you.

 

[clemsonfor]

Sure hope you're wrong about the expected lifespan. I'm sure I've posted this before, but we bought this place 6 years ago last Sept. (2005). The KitchenAid range and dishwasher, and the Kenmore microwave all 3 looked new and unused (last 2 owners had been single men), but there were no manuals for them. With model and serial numbers, I obtained manuals and learned these appliances were all made in 1999. And of course we've been using all 3 now for more than 6 years.

Im just quoting what the sales lady told us when we walked in the Local appliance store in my town. They have been around for i guess 30+ years. She did not know us as we are new to the town and it a town is about 30k people, so she was not giving us the "inside scoop" or anything. She told us think knowing we needed to buy a "good" quality appliance as we had experienced the junk out there. She gave us those ranges of years. They sell a lot of whirlpool and Kitchenaid (and jenair) all the same company. Kitchenaid is obviously the top of the line with better components. I think you have a 5 yr warrenty on Kitchenaid vs a 1 year on frigidare and wirlpool. She said you "probably" will get 10-15 out of it but the industry standard for these brands they tell us is what i quoted earlier.

That said its just cheaper components now a days my grandma sold her house and had the original kitchenaid dishwasher in it and that house was built in the late 60s i beleive. Had washer and dryer that was i guess 25-30 years old? I have torn up a second hand washer circa 2002ish, another second hand washer thats around 10 yrs old or so that has a bearing going out and roars like a train on spin, and the match to the original washer i had that i think the t-stat went out in and would get so hot you could not touch it while running!!!!


And another thing about that dishwasher that tore up, it was in for a warrenty repair at 10 months. The drain motor/wash motor was tearing up and grinding like. The repair man thought there was "trash" in the fins making that noise and the more he diagnosed he siad nope motor is going out. Glad we called when we did!! So that motor was not even the 2.5 years old the washer was it was half that. But the problem was like a timer or something it would be weak washing and would just sit there and not do anything. I did not call anyone as the fix if we had to pay for the first time i think the guy told me around $200. It was only a $300 dishwasher and never really cleaned as good as we thought it should.