Stop appliance genocide

[Countryford]

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin
Those units made in the 60s-early70s were the biggest energy hogs and, just like the cars, got WORSE in the later 70s.

Yes but I would rather have something OLDER that is made better than this newer garbage made from 2000 on!!

While refrigerators from the 60's and 70's are energy hogs(the frost free ones). The refrigerators from the 50's and prior (the manuel defrost refrigerators) use about the same if not less energy than the refrigerators that are currently on the market.

[Jon A.]

Manual defrost refrigerators were made after the 50s, that much I know. The apartment I was in from '88 to '95 had a manual defrost fridge, and if the date on the phone box in the basement was any indicator of the building's age it was built in '64.

[atomicomatic]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

At some point, some weird people are going to totally rave over Avocado Green and Harvest Gold. Look at all that "mid-century modern" stuff that sells for high prices now. I thought most of it was ugly in the 1960s and 1970s (when it was aging and left over from the 1950s), and I still do.

I was going to chime in on this thread, so I thought I should reply to this post first.

Whether something is "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder. There are plenty of people who wouldn't touch anything in this thread with a 10 foot pole. I saved most of my furniture like I saved most of my appliances. People look at you funny when you go "I don't use new things."- and I don't. I iron my clothes with a 1961 Sunbeam, watch TV occasionally on multiple pre-1970 TV sets, and live around Jetson's era furniture. I saved one of my chairs from the trash, which the guy responded "I was going to pay someone to haul that off." After shampooing the original green fabric and polishing the brass tipped tapered legs, it looks as good as when it was new in 1960. Here recently I came across an abandoned postwar flat-roofed ranch house, and am hoping to acquire it soon too. The grass is 2 feet high, and it is hidden behind masses of greenery. The original stove and fridge are also inside, complete in all their early 1960s glory.

What bothers me is once the public decides something is "cool", everyone goes crazy. When I got most of my stuff, is was disliked by anyone who cared what others thought. I got plenty of weird looks, but I knew that I was not just saving a piece of history, it was something that would easily last another lifetime. Thanks to TV shows like "Mad Men", this stuff has SKYROCKETED in value. There's a local "mid-century" store that has one chair listed at $700+. It's good in a way, more history is being saved, but disappointing at the same time, people are slaves to society. I've always made it a point to not let anyone else dictate who I am.

I'm sure some people on the forum can relate to some of the things I've said.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by atomicomatic

I was going to chime in on this thread, so I thought I should reply to this post first.

Whether something is "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder. There are plenty of people who wouldn't touch anything in this thread with a 10 foot pole. I saved most of my furniture like I saved most of my appliances. People look at you funny when you go "I don't use new things."- and I don't. I iron my clothes with a 1961 Sunbeam, watch TV occasionally on multiple pre-1970 TV sets, and live around Jetson's era furniture. I saved one of my chairs from the trash, which the guy responded "I was going to pay someone to haul that off." After shampooing the original green fabric and polishing the brass tipped tapered legs, it looks as good as when it was new in 1960. Here recently I came across an abandoned postwar flat-roofed ranch house, and am hoping to acquire it soon too. The grass is 2 feet high, and it is hidden behind masses of greenery. The original stove and fridge are also inside, complete in all their early 1960s glory.

What bothers me is once the public decides something is "cool", everyone goes crazy. When I got most of my stuff, is was disliked by anyone who cared what others thought. I got plenty of weird looks, but I knew that I was not just saving a piece of history, it was something that would easily last another lifetime. Thanks to TV shows like "Mad Men", this stuff has SKYROCKETED in value. There's a local "mid-century" store that has one chair listed at $700+. It's good in a way, more history is being saved, but disappointing at the same time, people are slaves to society. I've always made it a point to not let anyone else dictate who I am.

I'm sure some people on the forum can relate to some of the things I've said.

I sure can, biggest difference is that I live a couple of decades past that.

[zenith2134]

The silver-coated drinking glasses they use on "Mad Men" have sure gone up in value, possibly due to the show itself. I have a large collection of them, I forget what their trade name is. But When I go to estate sales and antique shops looking for treasure, I routinely see some of them going for many times what I paid for mine in '04-'05

[wa2ise]

We had an old freezer in the basement, nameplate here:
, yes "RCA". But we turned it in, as our power company, Pubic Service Electric and Gas, has a $50 bounty on old working freezers and fridges. We figured the electric bills from the freezer cancelled out any savings on freezing food that was on sale.

[Dude111]

There is always an agenda in them giving you $$$ for old things!!

THEY KNOW THEY ARE BETTER!!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

We had an old freezer in the basement, nameplate here:
, yes "RCA". But we turned it in, as our power company, Pubic Service Electric and Gas, has a $50 bounty on old working freezers and fridges. We figured the electric bills from the freezer cancelled out any savings on freezing food that was on sale.

I plugged mine into a Watt-Watcher and left it for a month, to check the consumption.
I calculated that it costs around $1.50 a month for the convenience. The freezer is about 15 years old.
BTW, I don't think "Pubic" was a typo.

[Dude111]

YA ..... $1.50 isnt much!! (You'd rather have something reliable )

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

We had an old freezer in the basement, nameplate here:
, yes "RCA". But we turned it in, as our power company, Pubic Service Electric and Gas, has a $50 bounty on old working freezers and fridges. We figured the electric bills from the freezer cancelled out any savings on freezing food that was on sale.

I was actually going to do the same with my '48 Westinghouse fridge. Kinda tore my heart out to do so, but ones in much better shape can be had at estate sales around here for next to nothing.

I measured the exterior, it fit within their guidelines. Guy comes to pick it up and it's just shy of their interior cubic feet requirement. I thought, well, so they've developed a way to not have to pay out for refrigerators that they figure probably aren't in regular use. Well played.

No matter, I'll just keep it as a backup if I ever need it

[Jon A.]

I'm game for some ice-breaking if it means having the privilege of using an older fridge.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

I'm game for some ice-breaking if it means having the privilege of using an older fridge.

I just had to defrost my Sanyo 1.2 cu ft mini-frig, I have in my workshop. The evaporator had a coating of frost, about half inch thick. It took about 15 mins, with the door open.

[Kamakiri]

Defrosting isn't bad.....the '53 Norge in my kitchen builds it up fast in the summer due to the humidity, and it creates a huge chunk about 4" thick in the one back corner.

With the fridge emptied, I just get a hammer and thin bladed screwdriver and carefully cleave the ice like the Hope diamond. It comes out in big chunks, and I chuck it on the back grass. After wiping, cleaning, and putting the food back in, the whole process takes about a half an hour 2-3 times per year. Not terrible.

[Jon A.]

Much faster and easier than the hair dryer method I used most recently. Used it too long, first taking out the power outlets in the store's kitchen, then running extension cords all the way to the UPS that was connected to the pricing machine, eventually crashing it. Hey, it was the closest working outlet. I may have wiped out their numbers for the day, and if I did at least I now know that they deserved it.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Defrosting isn't bad.....the '53 Norge in my kitchen builds it up fast in the summer due to the humidity, and it creates a huge chunk about 4" thick in the one back corner.

With the fridge emptied, I just get a hammer and thin bladed screwdriver and carefully cleave the ice like the Hope diamond. It comes out in big chunks, and I chuck it on the back grass. After wiping, cleaning, and putting the food back in, the whole process takes about a half an hour 2-3 times per year. Not terrible.

I've seen plenty of people that poked holes in the evaporator with that method. Then you might as well scrap the old thing.
I've used hot water in a bowl and changed it every 15 minutes or so. I also have a heater, intended to be used as a defroster. It takes a little longer, but, it's a little safer, then some of the other methods.