ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I know some people get excited about whether the CPI is understated or not, and I'm kinda on the fence. Electronics of course is tumbling, but since we are replacing some 'durable items' (stove and fridge), I figured I'd dig out my records from 18 years ago.
STOVE: We had an all-in-one oven/stove-top with a second upper oven and an attached exhaust fan. They don't make those anymore, so it's being replaced with a oven/stove-top, and an added u-Wave/Convection/fan unit. So not apples-apples, but ~ 33% more dollars (no inflation adjustment - just sticker prices). Not bad for 18 years, and the new stuff definitely has more capability. 5 burners plus a griddle versus 4. Two high power burners, one simmer burner, heavy cast iron grates, convection modes for both upper/lower ovens, plus the u-Wave (replaces our counter-top unit).
FRIDGE: This one is interesting - These are fairly comparable, but the new one has an ice maker (*see below), and 'clean steel' finish versus plain white. So I guess 'better'. And $ were just 24% more over 18 years - but here's the kicker. The new one uses about 40% of the energy of the old one. In the 'toughest' case ( assume 5% opportunity cost on the delta, and no increase in electric rates), it will be 'cheaper' in year 7. I'd say that is anti-inflationary.
I was a bit surprised (and pleased), I expected these kinds of things to have increased more. Ah, now will they last 18 years (though the fridge did need one repair, the stove a couple, and it had been acting up the past couple years...)?
Oh, and I won't be saving the planet with the energy savings from my 'green' fridge. The old one goes in the basement - beer fridge!
-ERD50
(* ice maker) - thanks to this forum, I was alerted to the warning that an ice maker can burn out the valve if left on with no water pressure. It was pretty buried in the manual, and they have you to turn the fridge on to check things out, and since I don't have water run there, I skipped the ice-maker set up part, and they ship them with the ice maker in the ON position. I got that set to OFF quickly.
STOVE: We had an all-in-one oven/stove-top with a second upper oven and an attached exhaust fan. They don't make those anymore, so it's being replaced with a oven/stove-top, and an added u-Wave/Convection/fan unit. So not apples-apples, but ~ 33% more dollars (no inflation adjustment - just sticker prices). Not bad for 18 years, and the new stuff definitely has more capability. 5 burners plus a griddle versus 4. Two high power burners, one simmer burner, heavy cast iron grates, convection modes for both upper/lower ovens, plus the u-Wave (replaces our counter-top unit).
FRIDGE: This one is interesting - These are fairly comparable, but the new one has an ice maker (*see below), and 'clean steel' finish versus plain white. So I guess 'better'. And $ were just 24% more over 18 years - but here's the kicker. The new one uses about 40% of the energy of the old one. In the 'toughest' case ( assume 5% opportunity cost on the delta, and no increase in electric rates), it will be 'cheaper' in year 7. I'd say that is anti-inflationary.
I was a bit surprised (and pleased), I expected these kinds of things to have increased more. Ah, now will they last 18 years (though the fridge did need one repair, the stove a couple, and it had been acting up the past couple years...)?
Oh, and I won't be saving the planet with the energy savings from my 'green' fridge. The old one goes in the basement - beer fridge!
-ERD50
(* ice maker) - thanks to this forum, I was alerted to the warning that an ice maker can burn out the valve if left on with no water pressure. It was pretty buried in the manual, and they have you to turn the fridge on to check things out, and since I don't have water run there, I skipped the ice-maker set up part, and they ship them with the ice maker in the ON position. I got that set to OFF quickly.