please empty your brain below
Gas boiler?

Johnny C | 14.08.21 - 7:46 a.m. | #

Microwaves are really annoying as the floor rusts away before anything else goes wrong. Printers are rarely worth having the ink replaced. NAD hi-fi still excellent after 40 years.

kev | 14.08.21 - 8:00 a.m. | #

Our current microwave was bought second hand as a stop gap for ten quid when the previous one broke as we were in the process of moving house. That was five years ago.

My previous laptop saw daily use for ten years (so much so that I'd worn though three keyboards) and was still going strong when I replaced it earlier this year. I chose the same brand and product line for its replacement.

On the other hand, we had a couple of LG washing machines that both only lasted about 18 months before breaking - the second a warranty replacement for the first. The Miele that replaced them is about 9 years old.

Ian | 14.08.21 - 8:12 a.m. | #

I always get a cheap electric kettle from a supermarket for around £9 they last well.
You might consider getting a new DAB radio as your existing radios will not let you hear many new stations which are using the DAB+ system.

John | 14.08.21 - 8:15 a.m. | #

No mention of a toaster.
They used to be an annual "consumable" in our house until we invested in a Dualit at the cost of about 8 or 9 basic machines. Still going strong after 22 years (one set of elements replaced) and making at least one slice of toast every day.

Rob Gullen | 14.08.21 - 8:19 a.m. | #

Why not boil the water in the microwave.

Still Anon | 14.08.21 - 8:24 a.m. | #

Perhaps consider buying products with longer warranty (e.g. Aldi usually has 3 years on electric devices).

MK | 14.08.21 - 8:26 a.m. | #

We’re in the throes of replacing a washing machine and dishwasher.
Washing machine 30 months old, so 6 months out if guarantee; the rubber seal fell to bits, and the repair cost is more than half of the replacement cost.
Dishwasher five and a half years old. Heating element dead, and am fed up with having to dry everything that comes out of it.
Am a fan of supermarket kettles.

Liz | 14.08.21 - 8:31 a.m. | #

My coffee machine (a filter type) is 30 years old this year and still going strong…

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 14.08.21 - 8:35 a.m. | #

Pleased to report my De Longhi toaster now has the vote, having reached 18.5 years.

cau1khead | 14.08.21 - 8:48 a.m. | #

Microwave used daily is 25 years old, in full working order except the light; washing machine is used once a week and is 11 years old. Toaster is 27 years old. Forty year old iron was replaced with a steam iron 5 years ago.

David Cook | 14.08.21 - 8:58 a.m. | #

I have a Braun digital radio-controlled alarm clock which I bought in the mid-80s and I was using it until late last year when I finally replaced it with a Lenovo smart clock. It never ever failed to wake me in 35 years!

David | 14.08.21 - 9:29 a.m. | #

If we are going to compare longevity of domestic equipment, I have a c1935 Ferranti radio over 80 years old which still works on MW an LW bands

John Leach | 14.08.21 - 9:32 a.m. | #

There's a Right to Repair Law coming in to try to combat built in obsolescence which in theory should make getting replacement parts easier.

We pull our 9 year old non-frost fridge freezer apart annually to clear the ice build-up around the fan as it's easy to tell when it needs doing and easy to do, but I wonder how many would just call in a repair person, or after it happened a few times, replace it altogether!

Of the appliances that the previous owner left us (washing machine, fridge, dishwasher & oven, only the oven is still going strong and we moved in 9 years ago. I'd estimate it is between 15-20 years old, and getting too expensive to repair each time the heating element goes now!

Cornish Cockney | 14.08.21 - 9:39 a.m. | #

As MK has already stated ALDI gives a 3 year warranty on electric items, plus the quality of the items are great considering the price.

Michael | 14.08.21 - 9:59 a.m. | #

Electric kettles are rubbish, buy a solid stainless steel stove kettle - no moving parts means it will last forever.

whoopdedoo | 14.08.21 - 10:03 a.m. | #

Absolutely invest in a good, expensive kettle. I was getting through one or two a year because I was buying them from the supermarket for £10-£15 and treating them as disposable. Finally bought a Dualit kettle which seemed expensive but is entering its sixth year of use so it's paid for itself.

Scott | Homepage | 14.08.21 - 10:24 a.m. | #

Old Dualit toasters are pretty hefty. The new ones are consumer goods, not industrial, and not worth the price at all.

We bought this house 10 years ago, so we're at the point where all the appliances will probably start failing. I've already replaced a front panel on the fridge (cost £40) when it started beeping randomly in the middle of the night.

The kettle pre-dates the house, however. It's going on 13 years old. I mocked the outrageous price the mrs paid for it back then, but it's held up its end of the bargain at least. Fancy insulated Bosch thing that does different temperatures for your green tea, hot choc, etc.

The only device I can complain about is the tumble dryer. Previous one lasted 5 years before it started melting whatever it was plugged into, and the new 6 year-old one doesn't auto-sense as well as it should (though works well otherwise - I think heat pumps don't have as heavy a duty cycle as the resistor dryers).

Tech-wise, I keep wanting to replace the TV for a fancy OLED model, but can't justify it until the 2010-era one dies. Android is 3 years old, but I've just replaced the battery and it's back to a 3-day life so it's going to hang on for a while. Old NAS hung in for 10 years until I wanted to run fancier software and needed something Intel-powered. Laser printer lasts forever. Computer is the usual tech-worker Frankenstein - some bits are over 10 years old, most not. (I hate laptops)

The car turned 10 this year, as well. But it continues to run flawlessly - as it should, given we only do about 3k miles a year.

Chz | 14.08.21 - 10:29 a.m. | #

My new kettle died last year after just 6 weeks but I couldn’t find the receipt for it.

So I went and bought the same model kettle from the same shop, waited two weeks and took back original dead kettle with the receipt from my second kettle - got my money back just fine.

Second purchased kettle still going strong. (10 months).

Geiofftech | 14.08.21 - 10:38 a.m. | #

My (non expensive) electric kettles have lasted fine, I've had 2 in 25 years.

I've just replaced my filter coffee machine after the old one died (after getting very slow even after descaling), but then it and its predecessor must have lasted 10-12 years, which is acceptable.

Mikey C | 14.08.21 - 10:38 a.m. | #

Don't want to tempt fate but my iPhone 6 has just passed the six-year mark. And the iPad2 that my mother gave me in 2011 is still doing sterling service(for someone else) ten years on. Having initially been put off by the high cost, these have turned out to be some of the best value electronics I've ever had.

I think my kettle will last a lot longer up in Yorkshire than it would with London or south coast water.

Sarah | Homepage | 14.08.21 - 10:47 a.m. | #

Our last kettle was a Kenwood.
It worked well until I put it on a gas burner which was fatal for an electric kettle.

Dee | 14.08.21 - 11:00 a.m. | #

I bought a new midi hi fi 2015 but never liked it's sound. After 4 years got the 2004 vintage unit out of the box again, as it was also louder, and still in use today. Looking back surprised at the number of video machines I have had over the years as the technology improved.
Computers went from first desktop in Dec 85, to laptops that lasted about 8 years on average apart from the last one that was replaced at the grand old age of 12 this spring

scrumpy | 14.08.21 - 11:18 a.m. | #

Blimey, your watch is older than mine (bought 1998). I assume it's had multiple straps like mine, though?

dg writes: never assume.

Klepsie | 14.08.21 - 11:20 a.m. | #

kev - always dry your microwave after using it (which I do simply by leaving the door open for an hour). You'll find your rusty woes evaporate!

I am rigorous in keeping details of warranties on most things, including scanned receipts etc! Has served me well in the past.

Tim W. | 14.08.21 - 11:43 a.m. | #

The trouble with a hob kettle is that it doesn't switch itself off. I cannot calculate the amount of energy I would waste over the years by forgetting a hob kettle until next passing the hob, but I am sure it would be quite significant.

I too wasted one electric kettle by putting it on a gas stove. In someone else's house. My excuse was that it was a pretty conical affair which didn't look electric, and I was tired after a long journey.

Malcolm of Kent | 14.08.21 - 12:17 p.m. | #

The lifespan of kettles seems to exponentially be shorter the harder the water is in the area.

I've lived in soft water (kettle lasted entire decades), ultra high (kettles lasted on average 9-12 months) and in a medium high area (kettle lasted 3 years before going pop - after suffering similar lid based issues first like DGs)

Even descaling them often, it seems to make the elements work that little bit too much.

R2 | 14.08.21 - 1:33 p.m. | #

I have a Binatone LED clock radio that has been working since 1976. Red LED and a wood effect casing, pleasingly retro !

Gary | 14.08.21 - 2:55 p.m. | #

When my electric kettle started giving problems I bought a Breville HotCup water dispenser. It's brilliant as you are only heating enough water for the one cup you need. Admittedly if you need 2-3 cups in quick succession it's not so clever but as I live on my own it's not a problem.

Caroline | 14.08.21 - 7:16 p.m. | #

Zanussi dishwasher--3 years until heating element needed to be replaced (which I was able to do myself, but it was a bit of a mission to figure out how to disassemble).

Microwaves--my last two died after about 10 years with worn door latches (which triggers a safety shutoff of popping internal fuses). Generally can't get new door latches (and fiddly to repair even if you can).

Kettle--Russell hobs, 8 years (one replacement scale mesh during that time then the switch started to fail)

Single cup boiler--some (ambiano) don't get hot enough for tea (but are perfect for coffee)

MilesT | 15.08.21 - 12:04 a.m. | #

I have an iron (not steam, a dry iron), an electric kettle and a fan heater, all of which have been in use for getting on fifty years - all given to me by Mum (and Dad) as second hand items when I moved out of the family home. Friends either don't believe me or are openly scornful and will replace such things even when they don't break, for something more "stylish".

Gripper | 15.08.21 - 1:39 a.m. | #

I bought the cheapest (beko) dishwasher on the market in 2010. Still works brilliantly. Ditto washing machine (whirlpool) although that might be starting to complain a bit.

The cost / brand is irrelevant really, some things last a long time, others do not.

E | 15.08.21 - 9:34 a.m. | #

I occasionally use a camera dating from 1930 - I put a 35mm film through it only the other weekend.

Alan S | 15.08.21 - 9:41 a.m. | #

Another vote here for moving to a soft water area (Manchester, for me - hey weren't you going to Rochdale? :-) ). I got 20 years out of a cheap washing machine, and my kettle was ancient when I took it from a pile of unwanted stuff at the end of a house-share 30 years ago. I nearly fixed our dead oven earlier this year, but was glad I didn't when I pulled it out and found the rusty holes in the base had caused it to leak enough heat to char the shelf it sits on!

'Cassette no longer works' problems are usually rubber belts which turn to goo. With a bit of care you can open them up, clean the goo off with acetone, and new belts in all sorts of sizes and cross-sections can be found on ebay.

mark addy | 15.08.21 - 10:00 a.m. | #

We've just retired our 35 year old Zanussi washing machine. Sadly the shop where we bought the replacement basically guaranteed we wouldn't be so lucky second time round.

ap | 15.08.21 - 11:26 a.m. | #

I know landline use is falling these days, but I'm still getting regular use out of a 41 year old GPO Trimphone which is still in perfect working order and, thanks to it being a tone dialling model, is 100% compatible with our VoIP service.

Him Over There | 15.08.21 - 12:42 p.m. | #

ALDI gives a 3 year warranty on electric items"

Indeed, and on many items, and it used to be really good, no-fuss replacements/refunds.

Just don't ever try claiming on that guarantee these days though.

They have new 'procedures' (because there are new Directors, I suspect with a brief to reduce costs) which involve the customer negotiating by email with the (largely German, in Germany) suppliers, then, if the manufacturer agree the issue (after 10 or so photos are submitted, and many emails back and forwards, asking for ever more 'proof' of fault), the customer then has to go back to Aldi, who will pass you round 3 different departments, each of which has to agree, and each of which will call you back about a week after the last one has rung you. There are just 8 people who work in the warranty department, and fewer who work in accounts issuing refunds (which they will only make to your bank account, even if you paid by credit card, and which take 3 weeks to appear).

Just spent 10 weeks arguing with them... got money back eventually, but we reckon it took over 15 hours of our time. Just not worth it. Better to do a S75 claim from your credit card company if it cost over £100.

Argos extended guarantees though... will immediately replace the failed product when you take it back to the store. When last I tried it anyway...

Blue Witch | Homepage | 15.08.21 - 12:45 p.m. | #

"The cost / brand is irrelevant really, some things last a long time, others do not."

There are a few things out there that are either unmitigated crap, or completely awesome. But the above fits for the vast majority of household items, in my experience. Mieles fail days outside of warranty sometimes, and Hotpoints can last 12 years. I've seen an Apple product die three times inside warranty before they gave up and replaced it with new on more than one occasion. It's rarely worth paying extra just for the name's reputation, unless an extended warranty comes with that name.

Chz | 15.08.21 - 5:33 p.m. | #

I have a Russell Hobbs kettle which trips the boil dry protection if I pour it out immediately after boiling. It remains tripped until reset by removing and replacing it onto the base several times.

buz | 16.08.21 - 8:48 a.m. | #











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