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Recently, we needed a new dishwasher.
The appliance company crew went about removing the old unit, making adjustments in order to install the new unit, then installing the new unit. They provided a quick explanation of the controls.
After the crew left, I realized there was only a single basket for the knives, forks, spoons, etc.
Realization: I should have pulled out the multiple baskets in the old unit! Those baskets might have saved the need to find and buy some after market baskets.
if I hadn’t used them, the retained baskets could have been donated to our local ReStore for Habitat for Humanity.
This idea might apply to other appliances, and perhaps tool kits as well.
When we downsized to a CanDoMinimum we included the cost of replacing every appliance and the washer/dryer and HVAC stack in our budget.
One of our sons collects metal to sell he took the old DW and will get the cash.
Over the years I’ve salvaged wires, motors, and switches from various expired appliances. Sometimes they are reused, other times they are eventually trashed.
When the control board on our 25 year old range went out 6 months before we put our house on the market, I was able to find a replacement on eBay from a person in Oklahoma.
My example for this article is coffee pots! I have broken them before and bought new ones at the thrift store because people were kind enough to donate them when their coffee makers gave out. Chris
I have had to buy a couple new pots, which cost around $30 each. Great suggestion, Chris.
Unlike Goodwill or The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity accepts donations of electronic appliances, building materials and home furnishings. All of which is on sale at donation centers.
We just bought all new appliances including dishwasher. There is a single basket for utensils. Never had a DW with more than one and why would you need more in any case? I’m a bit confused on this post.
I most admit, I’ve never owned a DW with more than one utensil basket.
May depend on how you define “one”. Mine has one basket, but it’s divided into four sections.
Well that’s true. We have one basket that runs the full depth of the DW.
Same
I’ve salvaged from ovens, microwaves, toaster ovens, and refrigerators prior to disposal. This includes saving oven racks (to use as third racks in new ovens, and as cooling racks for baked goods), microwave plates (flat surfaces good for art projects), toaster oven pans, and refrigerator egg and ice containers. My early 1960’s KitchenAid stand mixer and late 1960’s Osterizer blender are, however, still going strong, and only recently did the 1980’s Panasonic microwave give out.
Not 100% sure but I think it’s some microwaves have something radioactive in them and it’s not advised to take that apart.
There are no radioactive materials in any microwave oven, at least not any more than everything else in your house and your house itself. The electronically generated radiation is “non-ionizing radiation”. These are electromagnetic “radio” waves at high frequencies. Just doing my part here to keep everything posted on the internet factual. And yes I do “nuke” my food!
My 30 year old Braun toaster recently expired (setting off the fire alarms in the process…). I bought Wirecutter’s top pick and have been very disappointed. Maybe it does a good job with two slices but it’s hopeless with one. I have to flip the bread half way through.
I have never cared for those egg containers in the door of the fridge. The experts recommend putting eggs in the body of the fridge where the temperature is colder and more stable. I keep them in their original container (which has the expiration date, although I do keep them a bit longer).
So funny about personal preferences: When I had to replace my refrigerator recently, I was happy that the new one had an appropriately-sized space on the door for a box of a dozen eggs (though not an actual egg tray), unlike the old one, where I had to stash them inside on a shelf. Didn’t know until now that that was the better option anyway.
When our tumble dryer first needed a repair, the engineer specifically asked us to keep the old heating element he replaced. It turns out certain parts on the element aren’t sold as separate spares. Sure enough, a few years later when the dryer broke down again, he just needed one small component from that original, faulty element I’d held onto. That simple advice saved us over $150!
Yes, it’s amazing how expensive spare parts are, if you can get them at all. In a comment some time ago, I detailed my unsuccessful attempt to get the ice maker attachment for my ten-year-old refrigerator. Not until the freezer refused to be adjusted such that I could scoop my ice cream without a jackhammer, did I cave and get a new refrigerator, complete with ice maker and space for the egg carton (see above). First World problems, right?
I don’t put eggs in the refrigerator; it messes up the timing for my perfect three-minute boiled egg. Now that’s definitely a first-world problem, lol.
After I moved to the US I learned that eggs are processed differently here and it’s not safe to leave them out of the fridge.
What do they do in the UK so they don’t have to be refrigerated?
It’s a European thing, we don’t wash eggs in detergent and sanitise with chlorine for Salmonella protection thus destroying the natural protective barrier of the egg. Instead the hens are vaccinated against salmonella as the protective mechanism, allowing storage at ambient temperature.
It’s what they don’t do. US processing strips some protection off the shells. Long discussion here.