In a way yes...in a way, perhaps a good thing. Too soon to tell. Having Haier and now Hisense in the US major appliance market at very least provides alternative choices to Samsung and LG...both of which make generally garbage appliances. TVs, phones, tablets....they lead the way. Appliances, not so much.
<shrug> Everything is getting designed & manufactured to last just past warranty. After that, replacement parts are significant revenue streams, if not outright replacement. Build something to last forever? End of revenue.
Now I'll weave in my opinion on big box stores.... Buying inexpensive appliances from a big box store is a double whammy. I think some folks have forgotten about the the locally owned appliance stores. I am blessed to have one just down the street. People who have years of experience with home appliances and will share their "wisdom". I distinctly remember buying our washer dryer there about 5 years ago. Looking at the latest front loader washers and the guy says "Yeah, they look cool, but there isn't one model that we don't have issues with. You'll save $300 bucks and be a lot happier with the old top loader". So, we saved money, and have had zero issues with that washer in 5 years.
This is far more than home appliances. I first ran across this with printers, when you simply could not find the equivalent product outside of the big box store: "Sorry, that's a different product number, we will not price match." The box contents may differ by only an extra CD, the main part of the product may be completely identical. Price match, cheaper components, there's a whole raft of reasons that a vendor may want a specific SKU to sell. Lawn equipment is the same way, the John Deere lawn tractor you get from Home Depot will not be the same that I can get from the dealership down the road. It's done because it pays.
Yeah...no. I'm not believing that manufacturers use inferior materials on the same model lines and model numbers that are sold by various retailers. I'm sure they make models specifically for certain big box retailers but they'll be different model numbers...mostly TVs.
When we bought our house in 1990 we bought the appliances from a local big box discount store (American TV, for those of you in southern WI). We did save money (very important at the time) and the appliances lasted us for a number of years, but all of our subsequent appliances save one have come from the local store. Delivery, setup and removal (if applicable) are all included in the price and their schedule flexibility can't be beat; at least once they've delivered to us after supper.
I remember seeing this story on a news/current affairs program like "60 Minutes" or "20/20" back then.
I've read that story about Snapper Lawnmowers before. They no longer exist as the company in the story. They are Briggs&Stratton now. While it's an interesting, folksy kind of story, it's quite a stretch to say the underlying theme categorically applies to all or any major appliance manufacturers and certainly does not prove the products sold at big box retailers are inferior to identical products sold at smaller stores.
What you just said exceeds my scientific knowledge. Do you know if a car releases moisture out the tailpipe as well as drips of liquid water or white vapor?
I don't want to disagree with any of this, but with a bit of effort you can take it home with you from the box store at 9:45pm, plug it in, and be back to scrambling eggs the very next day for breakfast. Granted some people's cars/expertise/home layout vary, but for me having instant repair was huge.Now I'll weave in my opinion on big box stores.... Buying inexpensive appliances from a big box store is a double whammy. I think some folks have forgotten about the the locally owned appliance stores. I am blessed to have one just down the street. People who have years of experience with home appliances and will share their "wisdom". I distinctly remember buying our washer dryer there about 5 years ago. Looking at the latest front loader washers and the guy says "Yeah, they look cool, but there isn't one model that we don't have issues with. You'll save $300 bucks and be a lot happier with the old top loader". So, we saved money, and have had zero issues with that washer in 5 years.
A lot of folks can't afford the higher end heavy duty stuff built like a battleship, and need the affordable appliance price. This generally turns out OK, but buying from a locally owned retailer who can help you avoid the known bad selections and then SERVICE what they sell is KEY. Lowes, Home Depot, and Menards are all great places to go by commodity use up/throw away items but I'll never buy a durable good (such as a home appliance) from those places until the little stores take more than two hours to drive to. I feel the same way about bbq grills.
Thank god we still have some regulation in the home appliance market that requires UL or CE listing..... could you imagine if that was up to private industry? We'd have to quadruple fire department budgets across the whole country! If anyone reading this is in the market for a major home appliance, do yourself a favor, don't hit the easy button and go to a big box store. Look a little bit harder and find a family owned appliance store. There is no guarantee of a great experience, but I'm pretty sure of what you'll get at the Big Box*
Finally - there was the the day I learned that appliance manufacturers make special sku's which are "Value Engineered" for the big box stores. Thinner metal on stoves, different processors in TV's, etc... I heard this from a Sam's Club employee who was a former owner of a TV repair shop..... They sell as the same model # and everything but it's a different UPC code on the box. Manufacturers compete with other manufacturers for shelf space at the big box stores and want to give the big box guys a better price than the family owned joints.
Sorry if this is off putting to any big box store fans, or members who may work at these stores. It's just the way things are these days and I don't want offend anyone. I have on about 1 in 10 trips to a big box store received good advice from a store employee. There are some folks who shop there often enough to know the store like the back of their hand and better than most employees, and become "Fans" of the big box. If you're own of those folks.... please help me next time I'm there
The byproducts of perfect combustion are heat and water. That would be hydrogen plus oxygen to give heat and water. When you add carbon, you get heat + carbon dioxide (or monoxide) + water. Other elements added will give different end products. Water can be in the form as solid, liquid or gas. So the answer is yes.
I've bought plenty of millwork and moldings from Home Depot. Have painted many rooms with Behr paints and stained our deck with Behr deck stain this past summer. Although my go to stain is usually Olympic Maximum.