About 10 years ago, my husband and I attended a local home show here in our city and stopped by the Kirby vacuum booth. I wanted to see if there was much different from what I remembered growing up. Basically the same model, built like a tank and more bells/whistles. The salesmen were trying to 'interest' me in their great product, built to last a lifetime. "I already know it'll last a lifetime - my mother's still using hers". He asked me how long she'd had her machine. "Since 1950, I said, almost 50 years". LOL! I thought they were both going to fall down in shock.

wekick - I grew up with the same refrigerator! Loved how those doors rotated. My parents finally replaced it abut 5 years ago. A fantastic design!

Maybe the telling part of this is that there are no current ones being mentioned.
Then again, I guess you can't really know until you hve had it for years.
I actually have the kenmore calypso washing machine and really love it. I know there was lots of grief but mine has been wonderful.

I have a Calypso (two, actually). They're perfectly fine machines when used correctly.

My 1992 KitchenAid dishwasher was/is impressive to me. It's only up to 15 years now, but is still going strong at my sister's house. My parents had a 1975 KA that ran for 30 years.

Remodeling our small cottage in 1989, we filled it with Sears Kenmore appliances. We're a starter neighborhood so upscale brands have no payback here.

I learned the Kenmore DW is a rebadged GE, built during a period when GE made mediocre DWs.

Wouldn't you know it, the DW may be a noisy water hog by today's standards, but it continues to work faithfully without a single problem!

My Frigidaire smoothtop ($450) put my $6000 Viking to shame... Water boiled in under 10 minutes, the heat was consistant, and the "simmer select" feature lets you fine tune the low-heat setting. Great for melting chocolate or making hollandaise...

Also have a Frigidaire Affinity FL washer, a Maytag dishwasher and fridge(both of which HAVE given me trouble), Whirlpool dryer and Kenmore chest freezer, which is over 20yrs old. Terribly inefficient of course, but they don't make 'em like that anymore--LOL.

I'd have to say none of the expensive new ones I bought for my new kitchen. They're fine but I can't say any of them exceed my expectations. Some like the dishwasher don't even meet my expectations. In thinking back on any I've ever had, I guess so far my Whirlpool made HE frontload washer/dryer are probably exceeding my expectations. They work really well and other than the first dryer that failed right out of the box and had to be replaced, I haven't had all the problems I was expecting after reading the laundry forum here. Guess that says alot about today's appliances.

In retrospect, the more I think back on the appliances I had in my old kitchen (inexpensive Whirlpool, Litton, Maytag) they exceed my current expectations for appliances. They were a great value - cheap and performed flawlessly for ten years - some are still going strong three years later at my lake place.

OK maybe this isn't a true appliance, but a mini - the zojirushi NH VBC 18 rice cooker. It is amazing - perfect rice every time - holds it as long as you want - never overcooked - set it in the morning for rice at night. I love it!!

My Miele Washer and Dryer have exceeded my expectations. They actually make me enjoy (well, almost) doing laundry. I really hesitated over their exhorbitant price, and the special wiring I had to install (240), but now I feel they were worth every penny.

Since we are talking in this thread about older appliances, I remember an old cheap rental apartment I lived in which had the best oven I have ever used. It was the gas kind you had to light with a match to get it started (no electronic ignitors to break!). The heat was perfectly even and my cakes and cookies have never come out as perfectly as with that oven. And broiling steaks meant a crispy restaurant-style crust with juicy insides due to the real flame of the broiler that was almost like grilling outside. Also, you could still use it in a blackout, while almost all of today's ovens you can't due to needing electronic ignitors.

I have to say my induction cooktop exceeded my expectations. It's just changed the way I cook. I love it.

My stuff is all 2 years old so has limited track record, but the Bosch Axxis under-counter front loader washer and dryer have been the best acquisition. My utility bills went down immediately, my clothes are just as clean using 10% of the water. The 160 degree sterilizing cycle is fantastic for getting out stains and fabric softener residue. It actually took red dye out of one of my white Brooks Brothers shirts that had transfered in from a first-washing of a red tee. I thought I'd have to throw the shirt away!
Next most-enjoyed is the GE monogram range. The burners go from 17000 btu to a perfect rice-steaming simmer.
I recommend the Jenn-air fridges as trouble-free, quiet, and efficient.
The bosch dishwasher is quiet and a very strong scrubber.
Lest I forget, I put in a mid-priced insinkerator 555 at my prep sink- it is so powerful and quiet. Maybe all these appliances aren't quiet, maybe my hearing is going. Hmmmm?
Casey

I have a Krups pump-driven espresso machine I purchased in 1993... still going strong. It doesn't get used quite as much as it used to, but I'm willing to bet I've pulled well over 1,000 shots with it.

Though our renovation has only been done for 4 months, so far I absolutely love my Elextrolux Icon 48" DF Range. Beautiful, incredibly well built, a joy to use.

My Maytag washer and dryer are both 23+ years old. Bought in a scratch and dent store. Washer has never had service. Dryer has had belt (twice) and drum bearings (once) replaced, as well as the actual heater element. All repairs totaled under $200.

Our old Maytag SxS refrig we purchased as a scratch & dent was still going strong at 15 years when we sold the house 3 years ago.

Our present washer & dryer we purchased from Sears 18 years ago are still going strong. Only repair was the timer/ selector unit on the washer and that was about 8 years ago for about a hundred bucks.

Enjoy the journey.
eal51 in western CT

Great old appliances are almost a curse. That 58 year old refrigerator is costing the owner a small fortune. Most new appliances are way better than their predecessors in terms of performance and efficiency

Shanks5, you may be right, but why can't new energy-efficient appliances also be well made? Throw away appliances are just as energy inefficient as are appliances that use a lot of energy, because it takes energy to built and ship them. Neither approach is really sustainable.

We want well-made, long-lasting appliances that use energy as efficiently as possible. You cannot convince me that the two are mutually exclusive.

Rosefolly

I have a 20 year old Cuisinart food processor that still works like a charm. I thought I killed it last New Year's Eve making dough, but it still whizzes through everything!

shanks5, can you show us figures between the appliances from yesteryear and today in the amount of enery they consume?

If it is like buying a motorcycle to get to work to save gas, no thanks. My husband cannot convince me a Harley is worth it. : )

Thanks. Jane

shnks

My Miele Dishwasher. Never saw clean like what I'm seeing coming out of that machine.

When I was searching for Energy Star information on the web I saw a few longitudinal studies and articles that seemed to be written by government mandatees and other objective observers.

About fifteen years ago there was a combined industry-government effort to raise standards simultaneously. They gave out awards, prizes, recognition and money. So, fridges 10 years ago were hugely more efficient than fridges from 30 years ago. And now they are even better again.

The Energy Star ratings help keep them motivated to keep improving and not to backtrack.

--- For a long term idea, how's this: put a $500 deposit on each fridge sold and get that money plus non-taxed interest back when the fridge is turned in to a recycling center in a far distant future year. Do the same for all products large enough to be trackable. Then, nationwide reclaim+recycle chains will be built.

David

Before my new (as of last week!) OTR microwave, I had the same Sharp Carousel II I purchased for college back in 1989. Never had one issue although in later years I had to double the cooking time listed on any package!

Electrical good retailers in Europe are now required by law to accept old refrigerators back for recycling.

We have a way to go to catch up.

I have a 3 year old

It's not the prettiest thing out there, but functionally, I just love it! I usually only cook for one or two, so I use the small top oven 95% of the time. It preheats very quickly, and saves energy due to the size. When I have a family dinner, I can cook a roast or turkey in the bottom oven, and 2 - 3 side dishes in the top.

Our almond color Kenmore SXS refrigerator is going on 20 years. Alas we had to bade goodbye to it because of the remodeled kitchen stainless steel look. Sold it on Craig list for $85. I sincerely hope it will serve the new owner many more good years. We replaced it with a KitchenAid, and from the info on this forum I hope it is as good as our old one.

As far as a mini that FAR exceeded expectations, hubby gave me a Kitchen Aid stand mixer 18 years ago. I had been burning up hand mixers at the rate of every 6 months (I like to cook). That mixer is still going strong through cookies, bread, everything I can throw at it. Never a problem.

For big appliances- we remodeled the kitchen 7 years ago and installed a Monogram 48" gas cooktop, 6 burners and a grill. Love, love, love it!! Gets heavy use (did I mention I like to cook?) and the only service call was for burners that refused to light. I thought it was the dreaded igniter problem that you all have mentioned on some stoves. Turns out we had done a serious boil over and clogged all the little holes around the burner (whoops). Repair guy showed me how to unplug the holes with a toothpick and all was well, except for the service call fee. Expensive lesson learned.

I'd say my expectations for my appliances are fairly high(although not unreasonable). Anyway, I guess the only time I have really been almost in disbelief is with my old Miele Dishwasher(my new Miele Dishwasher will not be installed until after my whole house renovation in the spring 09). Anyway, I found it amazing to hold a glass that has come out of the unit, and hold it up to the light and not even see one single water mark on it. It is as though the glass had been not only hand washed, but hand polished.

I have my Mom's Maytag washer and dryer they are 29 yrs old and have never been serviced. I also have her Sharp Carousel Microwave from the 70's....I have the sales reciept but not upstairs LOL. I also have 3 of the original Cuisinarts from 1978. I have Mom's and MIL's and mine all bought at the same time. I let my DIL and DD each use 1 of them...but they can't keep them. I use mine every day pretty much and had the motor rebuilt about 10 yrs ago.

For new stuff I wouldn't take anything for the Miele double ovens and deep fryer and the Bosch DW and the Caldera...so far after 2 yrs they are wonderful. I hope I can say the same in 20 yrs. C

My Grandma has an old GE fridge from the 1940's that is sill going strong today. A few years ago I used a meter (from the power company) to measure its energy consumption. Over a month it used ~30% more than her new (early 2000's) Frigidaire. Granted when running it drew more amps than the new one, but due to 5" thick walls and doors the thing hardly ever ran if you did not open it. Not enough savings to toss it and buy a new one.

As for newer appliances I am thrilled with my Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart washing machine. Granted I have only owned it a year, but this thing was done over 600 wash loads- it reminds you to do a clean cycle every 100 loads- and never complained. There were some days (like when my sisters Duet Sport died) that it was in use for over 10 hours. Simply amazing product and company.

Just wanted to say that my DCS Dual Fuel Range 30" 5 burner is very nice to cook with. Love the gas stove and the electric range. Nice all look and very functional. I love cooking in the center burner because it saves clean up afterwards. I use to clean the stovetop, backsplash, both side countertops and the floor when I got through cooking the meal. Now it just the stove top. Save me around 25 minutes each time I cook!

I know there's a separate laundry forum, but my Bosch Nexxt washer and dryer are fantastic-- much better than the KA washer/dryer I had at our other house. No mildew smell, super-clean clothes, very efficient. LOVE IT.

KIRBY vacuum -- bought it in 1996 and 12 years later never had a problem and beats all others for power. It is heavy, but I know I am getting the job done.
Also, have a 24 year-old G.E. slide-in electric range and it has never been any touble, other than having to replace the plastic knobs because the piece inside cracked, but got replacements at HDepot.

Another Maytag Gemini fan here. Love the ovens! I was even completely satisfied with the cooktop until I tried the:

Sunpentown Mr. Induction 120v hob (thanks to learning about it here).

That relatively-low-powered mostly-plastic portable unit cooks so well that I've been gradually replacing my pots while waiting for a double-oven range with an induction cooktop.

Crosley refrigerator 1948 still running, Whirlpool dishwasher 1992 never disappoints Waring Blender 1968 still doing its job

livingthedream: Rangemaster makes double oven induction ranges. They can be imported to the U.S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link For U.K. Import of Range Cookers

My Maytag washer and electric dryer were wedding gifts and the dryer is now 30 years old and has done the laundry for our family of 4 sons all grown now. Washer got a small drip about 3 years ago and Maytag refused to repair it or look at it because it was too old so I had to replace it. Other than that it was going strong. Never had a repair on either there's a load going in the old dryer now! They tried to talk me into getting a new one with the washer, but I'm not messing with success!!

Whirlpool full size electric double ovens... no repairs are 23 years old.

1 HP insinkerator is the only way to go with a disposal.

Subzero fridge bought as a floor model 16 years ago... have had a couple of minor repairs, but a great fridge.

1. Bosch dishwasher -Quiet and cleans great

2. Meile vacuum - ALSO VERRRRY QUIET and works great. Bought used on ebay.

3. My ancient Hobart n50mixer. Must be 60 years old. I think my mom got it used. POWERFUL but noisy.

4. Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. 2 years old GREAT!

My Thermador (made by Bosch) DW is extremely quiet and dishes almost always come out pristine-clean. My old DW (Maytag mid-1990s) usually had about 3 to 5 "clean" dishes/silverware items needing re-washing, scrubbing, soaking per load. With the Thermador it's down to about one dish/silverware item every 20 loads, i.e., very, very rarely.

My Miele 1918 washer and matching stacked dryer absolutely number 1! (note my "name".)
Close 2nd - my 1954 36" RCA Estate range. When we bought this house ten years ago my hubby promised that as soon as it died he'd buy me a fancy gas range. At the time I was excited, but I've grown to love my RCA and so have my two daughters. The oven is starting to lose high heat, and I'm panicking I might not be able to resuscitate it!
As for small appliances - my 10 cup Zojirushi rice cooker. Everytime I use it I'm thankful for having great tools to prepare meals with.

My Osterizer blender (20 years old), Kitchen-Aid stand mixer (50 years old) made by Hobart I believe (Mom now has it back at her house), Whirlpool washer and dryer (20 years old and was still going strong but replaced it with a new set of Whirlpool Duet W/D 6 years ago, never a problem (knock knock), and Bosch Integra Dishwasher (6 years old, never a problem). Amana range STINKS!!! Would use more fowl language but I will refrain. Electronic control panel replaced 7 times in 5 years @ $500 per repair (initially covered under warranty. now part alone is almost $200 and range is broken and out of warranty).

In my office I have an early-80s Sharp Carousel MW: still working. How many home mws have DH and I replaced in the last 20 years? Of course, it's so weakly powered it takes twice as long to heat something...
In the mid-70s I had a tiny (24 in?) Royal Rose gas range in my first apartment. Best oven ever! Fabulous croissants (and how did I make them without any countertop at all?)

My appliances are coming up 10 years now, we have the 30" wide Amana fridge, its still running good, no repairs. Our stackable Miele Washer and Dryer, running great. My Miele intergrated Dishwasher, running great too, Jenn-Air Gas cook top, with a built in down draft, so I don't need a hood fan. We just got a new stainless steel panasonic microwave a few days ago, it went on the wall above the wall oven which is being replaced with my new Miele Wall Oven next week, I can hardly wait. My Osterizer blendar finally died on me, we had it for 32 years, we got it for a wedding present, I got the Breville blendar,wow does that ever work good, I love making smoothies, I set smoothie, and it does a wonderful job.

We have had the following appliances for a LONG time:

Frigidaire Electric range - 48 years. - 1 repair
Maytag washer and dryer - 38 years. - 3 repairs, total
GE microwave oven, built in - 26 years - 1 repair
Insinkerator dishwasher - 21 years
Amana refrigerator - 14 years
and:
KitchenAid mixer - 31 years
Cuisinart food processor - 29 years
GE toaster oven - 23 years - 1 repair

All are heavily used - can't complain!!

I am VERY nervous. Just bought a new GE slide-in range and a fridge. Replacing 20 year old Frigidaires that never had service. Maybe hubby was right, and I should have left it alone?? They look beautiful, but I hope I can get another 20 years too!

My 1966 Osterizer blender, the chrome inverted cone one with only two speeds: high and low. I needed a new glass pitcher for it a few years ago and took it to an old-fashioned small appliance repair shop. The guy glanced at it and said, "Don't ever give it up. It has a great motor and the new ones are terrible in comparison."

I bought a Kenmore top-of-line "Catalyst" washer and dryer in 2000 and they perform exceptionally well. The washer is fantastic and I don't know why they discontinued the Catalyst model. It's a top loader with a special pre-wash cycle that sprays water and detergent on the spinning load first, soaking and starting the cleaning process. I've never had a stain that didn't come out with this washer.

But I'm careful to keep them under a service contract as they need "something done" at least once a year.

The Kitchenaid washer and dryer that came with our house have worked like a charm. They're at least 10 years old, and we've only had one problem (some sort of switch broke a few weeks ago and caused the washer to stop draining). They're large but fairly basic models with manual knobs.

We've put low- to mid-range Frigidaire gas stoves in rental units we own and they've been very reliable.

Come to think of it, I don't think we've had any appliance that's been problematic.

We mainly have midrange brands (Kenmore, Amana, GE, Whirlpool) without a lot of bells and whistles. Our current Kenmore Elite gas range (made by Frigidaire) is probably the most "advanced" appliance we own.

There are only two of us, so it's possible that we just don't use our appliances as much as a larger family would, and therefore don't wear them out as quickly.

Our utility company in northern California has a program where they pay you $40 to cart away your old energy guzzling refrigerator. For all the moans and groans that people on the forum have had about CA building codes and kitchen remodels, our per capita energy usage is similar to Europe's and more than 30% lower than usage in the rest of the U.S.! I admit I was leery when doing our remodel last year and had to put in flourescent lights, etc -- but they are amazing and with the new appliances, our energy bill has dropped in half from what it was.

The appliances I am loving are my Miele dishwasher and double oven (wow), but my favorite is the 30" Caldera cooktop -- five burners in 30" with incredibly stable continous grates makes cooking in my small kitchen a joy!

Panasonic microwave oven model NE-7850 (700 watts) purchased in 1983 and still running.
Replaced light bulb, fuse, turntable belt (turntable belt was the most recent replacement, July 2009.)

I love the layout of the touch pads, it just has four buttons for time entry.
10 minute, 1 minute, 10 second, 1 second. So if you wanted 5 minutes and 30 seconds, you would hit the 1 minute button 5 times and the 10 second button 3 times then start.
Six power levels.
Auto Cook, Auto Defrost by weight.
Push button pull handle.
Built solid and very heavy.
Quiet.

Realizing this thing wont last forever I replaced it with a Panasoinc NN-H965B but hanging on to the old one.

The new Panasonic can't compare to overall quality of the 26 year old model.

Already I don't like the push to open button under the touch pads. Door gets all finger prints from just closing the door and it's black, not stainless.
Very noisy fan, way noisier than the old one.
Very hollow sounding when closing the door and light in weight. Closing the door pushes the whole oven back if it's not against the wall.
It has a good button layout and is not confusing but display is not as clear and looks washed out (especially when not viewing the display at eye level, this is a countertop model so you do look down at it).

I know I'll never get 20 years out of it but I'll have the old one to fall back on.

Dyson. It could vacuum up the Sahara.

Miele dishwasher—wow! It isonly 5 yo so far, but does a great job!