On Wednesday we noticed that the temperature in our refrigerator, both the freezer and regular sections, was beginning to rise. We put in a call for service which was scheduled for today. On Thursday I ran out to Abt, bought a small freezer, hauled it into the basement, set it up, and moved most things from our now-just-slightly below freezing freezer compartment to the new freezer. Yesterday we saw that the refrigerator had more or less returned to normal cooling. Despite that my wife and I went to Abt, looked at new refrigerators, and picked the one that best suited our needs.
Today the temperature of the old refrigerator had risen again to just below room temperature. The service man arrived early, examined the refrigerator, and, essentially, pronounced it dead—it would cost nearly as much to repair as it would to replace. We called Abt and scheduled the delivery of our new refrigerator. Despite being in stock (somewhat to our surprise), it will still take several weeks before we can fit into Abt’s delivery schedule.
Now I face a situation which would have been familiar to those with refrigerators a century ago. We have a the new freezer and a small refrigerator upstairs. That’s our entire capacity. Fortunately, I’m a clever cook. Otherwise our situation would be even more difficult than it will be.
Most refrigerator models are out of stock because most are made somewhere else. Although the new refrigerator we’ve selected is, indeed, made in the U. S., it’s actually just assembled here. Most of the parts come from China, Japan, or South Korea. There is little reason other than mercantilist subsidies and lack of environmental regulations that steel, aluminum, etc. should be made cheaper elsewhere than here but that’s the world we live in.
It’s a strange time to be alive but I guess that beats the alternative.
The shortage of appliances may have less to do with lack of domestic production then an extreme surge in demand.
New home sales look like they are up around 25% yoy; which is close to unheard of.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thestreet.com/.amp-mishtalk/mishtalk/economics/new-home-sales-crush-forecasts-in-surge-to-14-year-high
Those new homes must be part of it. Based on data and anecdotes; home remodeling is up a lot too.
Demand for autos is up a lot; despite auto production almost back to normal. The imbalance between demand and supply is so high that used car prices are rising.
Other long stagnant sectors which are having supply problems due to demand — PC / notebooks; home printers.
It is a strange recession; where demand for housing and cars are up significantly.
It’s occurred to me that since March, people who are pensioners or have not lost their jobs have saved a lot of money by not patronizing the venues closed down due to Covid.
It’s possible that they have learned something and will not quickly become profligate again.
And yes, refrigerators are disposable rather than repairable and autos are headed that way.
CuriousOnlooker:
It would be interesting to see where the houses are being purchased. Just as one hypothesis people who leave city centers for suburbs must purchase homes and automobiles.
CO’s post has merit as to the difficulty of getting appliances in a timely manner – especially more high end appliances. For instance, last week a small-sized apartment refrigerator died. We were able to order and have delivered a new box in 2 days. However, we were told had we needed a more expensive bigger cu ft box, it would have been much more arduous, because of the current new home and remodel demands for these items.
You’re lucky you were able to find a freezer. We’ve been looking to get a chest freezer for a while and they’ve been completely unavailable locally almost all summer. Stores told us that it was due to a spike in demand along with delivery & supply chain issues.
I don’t think most Americans realize just how much our modern society is dependent on supply chains and reliable transportation.
What we got was very small. I’m told that larger freezers are in shorter supply.
‘I don’t think most Americans realize just how much our modern society is dependent on supply chains and reliable transportation.’
As an ex parts guy, I became keenly aware of that many years ago. Nothing spurs a man into ensuring timely delivery of needed items like having his a** chewed out because required gizmo did not come in on time, forcing production to shift to work on another vehicle or in some cases completely stopping production in that bay, which equals $ lost. When it’s a profit-sharing firm like mine was, everybody’s p**sed.
Our 5.5′ tall upstairs fridge (a basic model, no frills at all) with freezing compartment is pushing 40 YO. We have a chest freezer in the basement probably more like 50 YO. Both still going strong although we have to constantly defrost the upstairs freezer. Good (or bad) to know how far out we would be should either break down.