I don't like our new appliances. The dishwasher has a large, stainless steel, flat front which is very stylish, I suppose. A normal wash cycle takes hours. I suspect it is supposed to be more energy efficient. It might be, but I can't tell. The door is larger, because the interior is taller. This doesn't do us any good, probably because we have been conditioned by our old dishwashers size. It might be large enough to accommodate baking trays, but I haven't tried it. The wire used to construct the racks seems flimsier than the old rack. It's probably just as strong, improved steel and all, but it's not as good as the old one. If you push it in the center, it slides / rolls right in, but if your push is off-center, it will jam. Didn't happen with the old one. The worst part about the bigger doors is it comes closer to the island when it is open. Used to be you could walk by the open door of the old one without any problem. Now it's difficult. This is kind of weird because the door can't be more than a couple of inches bigger.
It has a couple of cute features, like rubber catches that will snap around the stems of your stemware and hold them in place. Might be useful if we used stemware more than once a year. The silverware basket has little doors that close over the top, I suppose to keep small stuff from jumping out. However, there are large holes in the sides of the basket and if you are not careful when putting the silverware in, it can slip right through the hole and then you've got to fiddle around recovering it.
One of the big problems is that it doesn't dry plastic anything. Open it up when it completes and the ceramic dishes and glassware are dry, but the plastic and the silverware are still all wet. I've taken to dumping out the silverware onto a towel spread on the counter. The towel soaks up the water and I don't have to fish the silverware out of the baskets.
The biggest problem is that it is darn near silent. It doesn't help that we are running the furnace fan continuously and it sounds like a jet engine, but without super senses you cannot tell if it is running. When it is finished, it shines a spot of green light on the floor right under the door, but that's the only indicator. Today I got in trouble because I stuck a dirty dish in the dishwasher when it had just finished washing a load of dishes. The old dishwasher had a manual latch that need to be closed in order to run it. Now it just has a snap latch. Stupid dishwasher.
The refrigerator isn't much better. It's one of these French door things with the freezer on the bottom. We liked the ice dispenser we had on our old side-by-side fridge, but putting the ice maker in the freezer would make it very awkward to access, so it's in the fridge. It works, but sometimes food sitting near it freezes. Plus it just seems like a very bad idea. The freezer is kind of fucked up as well. The freezer door is attached to a big drawer. The drawer opens when you pull the door open. There is also another tray above the drawer that you can slide out after you open the door-drawer. The stuff in the tray is relatively easy to reach, the stuff in the drawer is down near the floor so you have to bend over farther to reach it. But getting stuff out of the tray means you have to open the drawer and then perform the second step of opening the tray. Bah, double bah and humbug.
Some of our old appliances are getting a little cranky. Our microwave will sometimes flake out, turn off and display jumbled messages. The toaster will sometimes popup prematurely. The microwave came with the house, so it's like 25 years old, which is pretty good. It would probably run for another 25 years if the control panel hadn't flaked out. The toaster is ancient as well. We've definitely gotten our money's worth out of these two. Seems a shame that the electronics flaked out while the bulk of the machine is still working.
Planned redundancy these days .
ReplyDeleteCheck to see if your dishwasher requires a drying agent. New ones do. It’s a blue colored liquid that you pour into a reservoir in the door and it helps the dishes dry. Energy efficiency requires sacrifices.
ReplyDeleteI had a 25 year old Sharp microwave die, so I took out the round glass tray and the motor mechanism that turned it. Put stuff on the plate I want to spray paint (rattle can) and it will turn slowly. Less paint runs by moving.
ReplyDeleteCouple weeks ago I had to replace the 42" plasma TV in the bedroom. Everything I saw advertised from the biggest/expensive down to the smallest/cheapest touted the smart TV capability to stream services and had Siri and Alexa at your service (listening all the time), they had everything I could possibly not want.
Finally Consumers Union pointed to a Best Buy house brand dumb TV. 42" LED, beautiful picture, better sound then the old one, on sale for $150. I was a happy camper.
It took me a few months to grow accustomed to my new, taller dishwasher (April 2020). I removed the perforated top from the flatware tray (replacing it on one section with a top from our old machine - from which I had saved a bunch of pieces). What I hated at first but really learned to like is the top rack that accepts cups/glasses/large utility spoons (laid flat). The middle rack can be moved upward a couple of inches to clear tall things in the bottom rack when required. I love that it is even quieter than our previous machine (I had insulation installed in the cabinet wall between the kitchen and breakfast room when we built the house.) I generally run it last thing of an evening, awaking to clean dishes the next morning.
ReplyDeleteDo you use heat while drying? I don't and, like you, have wet plasticware with which to deal; but I'm thinking that letting the heating element help with drying might solve that issue?
Good luck with your appliances. The next time you replace them you may realize that you had learned to like them ; )