appliances

Out with the Old…In with the New

After over 11 years, our faithful old Whirlpool dishwasher finally died. It started showing signs of its demise on Christmas Eve, and last Friday (Ryan’s Birthday Eve), it gave up the ghost. Fortunately, I was in the kitchen when it happened, or we would have had a major flood on our hands! I can’t even imagine how much work it saved me over the years…around holidays, it wasn’t unheard of for me to run it twice, and occasionally even three times a day! I always enjoy playing “dishwasher Tetris” trying to get as many dishes in as possible before starting a load, but when you’re talking Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner for as many as nine people, those dishes pile up fast!

It was, of course, very exciting to see our new Bosch dishwasher delivered today, and figure out what all it can do! It has three racks! And it’s SO QUIET!!! I can’t even believe it’s running, because I have to put my ear right up to it to hear it!

We’ve now replaced all of our kitchen appliances, plus our washer and dryer. I guess that’s to be expected, after 11 years in this house, and I’ve enjoyed seeing what new things each new appliance can do!

Old and New

I have to admit, I was kind of sad to see these guys leave the house today:

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In the nine years we’ve had them, I’ve done countless loads of laundry. Seriously, thousands of loads. I average about 7-10 loads a week, so that really adds up fast! They were the first laundry machines that were really ours, the first time I didn’t have to lug all of our laundry into a basement or to a laundromat, the first time I didn’t need quarters to do the wash. When we first moved into this house nine years ago, they were one of my favorite things about our new abode, and they were my faithful companions through babies’ mountains of laundry, and the towels and sheets that always need to be washed when there’s sickness in the house, and wardrobe changes from season to season.

As sad as I was to see them go, I was also excited to welcome a new pair into our home:

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Even though these are one of the most basic washer/dryer pairs available now, compared to the old set, they are fancy! I’m not even sure what all of the settings are for, or if I’ll ever need to figure them all out.

And while the washer sounds much different from our old one, it is much quieter overall, which will be nice during school, as the laundry room is right next to the school room. I’m even hoping we may see a (small) drop in our energy and water usage!

I’m counting on these new appliances to live up to the legacy of the original pair, and be my faithful workhorses for the next decade!