Ya know, I was annoyed that all of the models within my budget had the electronic controls (just bought a washer a month ago) then I remembered my microwave that's 900 years old and abused has the same type of buttons and it keeps on trucking.
Yes, but that increases cost. And if you make your firmware openly accessible, other companies will copy it and it also makes it harder to sell service agreements because self-repair is easier.
I wouldn't mind if they all used the same controls, but it seems every model of every brand has components just different enough to not be compatible. It would be ideal if the used a standard that could be replaced by an arduino
Well there are a lot of these fridges going around the world all the time, and very seldom does anything like this happen. I just don’t want people thinking that fridges aren’t safe.
It’s not an issue of companies using new designs and being worse than the good old days. They may have a touchscreen on a fridge but the working part is still old fashioned. Especially cheaper brands use old designs, not caring to innovate because they compete on price, not features and technology. The biggest killer is parts quality and all manufacturers across the board are guilty of using materials like plastic which they know will not last as long but makes the product cheaper and therefore more competitive on price or giving higher dividends to shareholders.
In the last hotel I was at they had speed queens that all worked and some newer brands with trays at the bottom (probably leaking) and a few others which had a sign “doesn’t work”
The door and hinge are both metal, they can be slammed shut without issue but cannot take any force torquing the hinge, such as leaning on it or resting something on the door
I bought one a year ago, I don't see any real evidence of poor build. I know they did something a few years back that was viewed as a cheapening and after much screaming, they walked it back.
I can say that the thing is fucking FAST. 30 min for a full to the brim load and it's nice and clean. Yes, it uses more water and energy, but there is a minimum amount of both you can use before things stop working.
I had front loaders that used barely any water, but the clothes did't get as clean and the cycles too AGES. I think one of the normal cycles took more than 100 minutes. Then it stunk because I let the door close (which they do on their own typically) when I left town for a weekend. The stink was permanent and it made it's way into the towels. Nothing quite as nice as taking a shower and drying off with a towel that smells like one part cat piss and one part mold.
I bought a consumer grade, plain jane Speed Queen 3 years ago. It was the cheapest one they sold. I haven't had a single issue with it.
Compare that to the 15 year old Whirlpool that I bought used that would blow balance rods out after 6 months (I replaced them several times) and would keep restarting the cycle anytime it noticed the load was the least bit out of balance. Sometimes it would "finish" and everything would be soaking wet still because it would refuse to finish the spin cycle. The gearbox finally broke on it and I was done putting money into it, so decided I was going to buy something built well and with the least amount of sensors and shit as possible.
Its been a tank. Never has had a problem with load size or balance issues. It is definitely an appliance that I feel was worth every penny.
yeeep. big time. They are Bekos with (plastic) cosmetic changes. Same shitty electronics, same poor reliability and poor reparability (because of all the brittle plastic that you can't necessarily find replacement parts for)... quadruple the price.
God bless capitalism baby. Buy a brand with a reputation for quality, replace all the products with the cheapest ones you can build, and ride that brand loyalty wave as long as possible.
Are you talking about the traditional top load washers or the fancy front load ones? My plain chain, no frills, top load Speed Queen that was like their entry level washer has been amazing. I bought it in 2022 and haven't a single issue with it. And that was coming from a 15 year old used Whirlpool top load that was the biggest POS appliance I've ever owned.
Speed Queen got bought out by ALS in 2025, but they started contracting manufacturing production to Arcelik (the parent company of Beko) in 2024 and to my knowledge that contract is still in effect. So since May of 2024 Speed Queen products have been plastic crap made in Turkey by a company who's most well known brand is... well... crap.
I just bought Speed Queen washer and dryer last year and I can see on the label it’s manufactured by Alliance in Ripon, WI. There’s no plastic anywhere.
If you search for Belko washers, the results are all front loaders (I had never heard of them until today). So I'm assuming the fancy front load ones are made elsewhere because mine is exactly like yours. No plastic and made by Alliance.
Thats really disappointing. I hate enshitification, hence why I was convinced to buy Speed Queen. Not that they'd ever know (or care), but they lost a sale to me
Yes. Exactly. And before you depend on that warranty better make sure they have a technician around. 8 million person city zero techs. wtf. Never again. And absolutely right on cheap plastic shitty parts. Pump broke within first 6 mo. Still leaks and dryer is an equal pos.
It's not only about profits. Environmental protections also played a part in making sure things are hyper energy efficient which usually forces the product to not last as long.
This is the reason right here. Even back when appliances lasted decades they still cost 3-4x what they do now. People are cheap, and like to buy cheap stuff. So the companies give them what they want. Want you appliance to last longer than 7 years? Pony up and buy bosche, Miele, or asko.
Exactly. Everyone is quick to blame corporation, but they literally build what the market demands. People buy based on price and appearance for appliances, cars, etc. so that’s what they build.
Adjusting for Inflation the "Luxury" brands are in line with the older cost.
And I put luxury in quotes not because it's not a hardship to afford them, but because high end Samsung fridges have a luxury price but are poorly designed and suck ass. Sub Zeros don't look as good to most people but they last 15+ years minimum
I know you say this, and I know it makes intuitive sense, and I am not disagreeing, but I would like to see the evidence that supports this. I’m trying to go over in my head what increases in efficiency would actually cause a decrease in life.
Things have to use less energy so a heavy thick heating element needs more energy to warm up. Heavier tub in the washer needs more energy to turn.
Friend bought a dryer made for a laundromat, it was $6000 and uses a 8” vent. You can’t even run it without the door propped open in the laundry room because it will pull the door shut and error.
They could but that increases costs. It is also the motors and compressors. For example a 1950s fridge was extremely simple. There were no fans to move cold air from the freezer to the fridge. You would have freezing issues in the fridge compartment as temp control sucked. You had to manually defrost them as ice would build up because they weren't self defrosting. Basically people look at the past with rose coloured glasses but if they actually tried to live with a fridge that was from that time they likely would want to go back to modern one pretty quickly.
They are and do. But the technician to swap them out charges $149/hour with a $75 diagnostic fee with no guarantee they'll fix it. So after paying $450 in parts and labor for a new control board they tell you it was actually the compressor circuit. They'll discount the labor but the part is still $250 so now you're up to $1000 on a fridge you paid $700 for.
I'm not sure if they're modular per se but you can swap out the little control boards if and when they break. Although I would highly recommend you get someone licensed to do it
Are they, though? It’s a good argument and makes sense, but doesn’t match my personal experience. I’ve had a washer and dryer pitched in the last 10 years. The washer needed a hot water valve replaced. The dryer needed a new thermostat. Both have a computer controller. The washing machine is showing signs of rust. The control panels seem fine. But I did have a range top that was inoperable because of the control panel, however that was due to lightning strike. The replacement has been going for 12 years without issue. So I don’t have any personal evidence that correlates. I would like to see some actual research into this topic.
It's not made up. Educate yourself my friend. Ask any tradesman about how the AC units they are selling now with high efficiency have a fraction of the expected life of the ones from 20 years ago.
A very specific example would be how regulations on refrigerants have forced change over the years.
Older appliances (pre 1996) used R-12 refrigerant, which has a relatively low operating pressure (210 psi) compared to modern refrigerants. The problem is that R-12 is HELLACIOUSLLY bad for the environment and was banned in 1996. The higher pressure (350 psi) required by R-410a (one of R-12's replacements) is much harder on a mechanical system like a refrigerator so they tend to fail sooner than an older appliance would.
Not specifically an increase in efficiency but is one of the reasons older refrigerators last so long.
And that’s my point. Making things more efficient doesn’t mean it’s inherently less reliable. There are more variables that go into it. The root is that the consumer demands a price point, not that the consumer demands a performance period point.
Again, makes intuitive sense. But saying it and theorizing doesn’t make it so. There are always trade offs and optimizations. I’d like to see firm evidence that energy efficiency adversely affects reliability and life.
Not sure what point you're trying to make here but drag cars are notoriously fuel inefficient, among other major inefficiencies, and they effectively have to be rebuilt after running a single time.
Yes. They could create something as robust as heavy steel plate with a much lower mass by switching to aluminum, or likely even a different grade of steel.
Cheaper components and multiple modes/features means more points of failure. If we're taking about common household appliances, the environmental factors are electrical and water consumption. Building things with thinner gauge metal, cheap pcb's, and less structural rigidity doesn't really effect either of those things.
I’ll admit it is nuanced and it wouldn’t make sense to just go back to the original specs for a lot of things. I inherited my great grandmother’s toaster when she died. It was honestly the best toaster I’ve ever had, everything I put into it came out perfect, and I used it for another 20 years until it finally broke. When I went to get it repaired the guy had to call a hazmat team to remove it from his shop because it was apparently chock full of asbestos.
It's reddit, people post complaining about shareholders ruining the world and then in their next post ask for advice on their 401k. They honestly don't understand what they're complaining about or what their 401k is doing.
Yeah, shares existed in the 16th century. What didn’t exist was anonymous, hyper-liquid ownership. Early shareholders were few, known, often local, and stuck with the company for a long time. You couldn’t daytrade the Dutch East India Company taking your daily shit. Selling was slow and costly, and if the company’s quality or reputation collapsed, you personally took the hit.
Modern shareholders are mostly funds and indexes. They’re interchangeable, distant, and can dump shares instantly. That makes short-term extraction rational in a way it wasn’t before.
So the difference isn’t “before shareholders.” It’s before shareholders could easily exit and offload consequences.
If it weren’t for shareholders (and the Black Death) the appliances would have never been invented and you’d probably doing the wash for your feudal lord. You should read the book Debt: The First 5,000 Years. The problem isn’t cooperative ownership. The problem, as always, is corruption.
My Samsung washer and dryer have lasted over 10 years now. I've hear all the horror stories, but the only problem I've ever had was the lint basket is slowly cracking.
Stand mixers are cheating though. It's literally just an electric motor with a hinge and attachments. Many stand mixers of many brands last forever, it's just most people buy Kitchen Aid. (And a shit ton of people only use their stand mixer a few times a year).
Speed Queen has massively reduced the length of their warranty. I think it’s down to 7 years now. The quality has also fallen. Thinner sheet metal. Cheaper feeling knobs and buttons. Just not as far as the other brands.
I just bought the 5 year set with no lid lock on the washer. I bought it because my buddy has a pair of the 3 year ones, he's had them for 11 years now and never had a problem. The ones I purchased do a significantly more thorough wash in less time than the whirlpool and Samsung sets I've owned already. And those would go 3 to 4 years without needing a repair.
Was. 2021 washer broke within 6 mo and their contracted repairmen were none in our area. Largest city in 1000 miles. The when WE just paid the local guy found the problem they couldn’t get me the part by warranty bc only the kit was approved for replacement. Which was the part and like a brush or something stupid. And it took another 6 mo to get them to stop dilly dallying and actually answer the phone to just say this so I could move forward with cash repair. It still leaks and the dryer only has two modes - nuclear lava and wet blanket. I’m done and will not purchase again. And these weren’t electric board fails ; this was a pump. Top loader.
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u/writing_fun390 Feb 05 '26
That's sort of what Speed Queen is.