> Consumers don't want to spend more for appliances. They want cheap.
But there is not the consumer alone. The world, other people, the earth wants lasting appliances.
But there is not the consumer alone. The world, other people, the earth wants lasting appliances.
Where are the end to end stats that show that this is better than recycling an old appliance to replace it with a new one that is more energy and water efficient?
Where are the actual stats that show that breaking down just out of warranty with no parts available is a real issue?
Also, there are no "other people" we all are consumers of these appliances.
Fridges and Freezers are the only appliances I'm aware of where it works out like that though.
Edit: Here's a case study for those that don't believe me.
http://www.t2c.org.uk/chilling/new-case-study-of-20-yr-old-f...
I wonder whether this calculation holds once you account for the energy used to develop, construct, market and transport the new fridges that replace the older-but-working fridges. It's a genuine question - I haven't seen such calculation done. My current intuition is that the extra marginal energy used in manufacturing a new fridge dwarfs the energy savings of replacing the old one before it dies.
This [1] gives the embodied energy for a fridge as 5900 Mj which equals 1600 kwh.
So broadly speaking you new fridge 'pays' for itself in 2 years. I suspect its worse that, but even if its 5 years, my point still stands.