I used to work for a communications company, servicing intercom, telephone,and paging systems. We got a call for service from a manufacturing company who said they had some of our equipment. We had never heard of them and thought it was a mistake, but I went out to check it out. Sure enough they had equipment manufactured by out company. It was an old tube type amplifier that was installed in 1945. It hadn’t been touched (the accumulated dust on the cover was good evidence) until I opened it up in 1992. I replaced a tube and we never heard from them again.

I say use it till it wears out. Too much stuff gets trashed unnecessarily.

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[...] When to Replace Common Household Items ? Get Rich Slowly How long should common household items (consumables, small appliances, and major systems) be expected to last? (tags: appliances household replacement home reference lifespan) [...]

3M’s Filtrate series is a top quality filter. It is also relatively expensive compared to other disposable filters.

That’s actually incorrect. The washable electrostatic filters will not compare in filtration/efficiency to a quality disposable filter like 3M’s Filtrete series.

Prevention’s The Busy Woman’s Guide to Clean says to replace a plastic or vinyl shower curtain liner every 6 months or buy a nylon liner and wash it every 3-4 months.

They also talk about how often to clean household items, a related issue. For example, I’ve heard people to say to replace your kitchen sponge or your toothbrush pretty often, but if it’s just to get rid of germs, you can do that by cleaning them. (Microwave your sponge for at least a minute or throw it in the dishwasher every day; boil your toothbrush for a while periodically.)

There is a real value to this. The frugal person puts a real premium on trading fixed expenses for reductions in operating costs (that will surely rise) because it makes planning work, and frugal people need to plan more than wastrels.

This is all aside from the powerful environmental benefits, which also redound to your benefit through lower environmental remediation costs later. (Those are shared with the wasters though, but are real anyway.)

It surprises me how we (I’m using an “all-inclusive” we here, I realize many are more prudent than this) accept replacing gizmos that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars every few years (cell phones, iPods, computers, etc..) but complain if our major appliances last less than a couple decades.

If your MARR is 10% (approx. the return from the S&P 500 since 1990), and you were going yo be buying a $500 refrigerator, then you actually are not saving any money. Always consider the time-value of money when making derisions. Calculations made with an interest rate of 0 are deceiving.

While gas water heaters are listed as lasting nine years, I think it is prudent to point out that tankless water heaters last around 15 years. So in addition to saving significant in the cost to heat water (the second most expensive utility use in your home) it lasts longer.

My running shoes tend to only last about 300 miles. Nonetheless, a running shoe is worn out BEFORE it appears tattered and worn. But when the running shoe has worn out, it becomes a great disposable shoe or walking shoe. On the other hand, if you have a good running form, such as the form taught in the Pose method of running or the Chi method of running, then your shoes will last thousands of miles. Interesting.

While computers are listed as lasting four years, the federal tax tables list the life as 5 years on the desperation table. If you use semiannual desperation calculations, then it actually is desperation over six years.

Yes, you should! Read this from the Energy Star site:

“While the exact energy use depends on your particular model number, on average refrigerators manufactured before 1993 cost over $50 more per year to operate than new ENERGY STAR qualified models. Refrigerators manufactured before 1980 cost about $150 more per year!”

Energy Star even has an online calculator that helps you figure out how much money you could save by retiring your old fridge.

A plastic shower curtain can be washed in the clothes washer with a cup of white vinegar to get the scum off.

But I just like buying new running shoes. Even if I just buy the newest version of Brooks’ Adrenalines!

Interestingly, energy considerations do not come to my mind when it comes to replacing things (I should start thinking in those terms more often).

@ computers…we are using a 1993 computer that runs Windows 3.X version and has that huge 5″ floppy drive. But, it’s still sort of a breadwinner for our laboratory.

As for shoes, you can tell when shoes are worn out. The tread on the soles wears away, and they noticably lose their cushioning effect.