If we are going to go back in time to the Litton microwave oven, let me take you back even farther to the days of yore when electronics sported vacuum tubes for operation. And like those vacuum tubes, the magnetron uses a hot cathode to emit electrons. And like those vacuum tubes, the cathode slowly looses its ability to emit electrons. So, the more the microwave is used the sooner it will reach 90% power, etc., even if no other use causes damage. One can speculate that speed oven use will increase the heat load on the magnetron if it is not well isolated from the oven temperature. Higher temperatures usually degrade the lifetime of electronic components. kas

Deborah, Not sure if you are asking for a recommendation or not from your post. I have a 3 year old Speed Queen top loader. Very happy with it. Out of warranty 3 months now...fingers crossed all stays in a state of bliss for years to come. Be forewarned though, Speed Queen has two model lines of TL washers now. You would want what is being referred to as the "classic" line. The other model line swishes the clothes a little bit (my salads see more agitation than clothes in those washers), unlike a classic style SQ washer which gives a rather intense agitation through the cycle. A little too much agitation for our needs to be honest, but ranch apparel needs a beating like that. So far, my washer is built like a tank and has not had an issue to date with anything I've put in it. I do take pillows to the laundromat, but that is because pillows want to float at the top of a TL and I put them through the triple load sized Speed Queen front loaders so they get a better wash (IMO). For note, SQ does make a fine front loading washing machine if you were interested in that. I can't speak to whether it could handle your soils, but something tells me it could based on a few videos I've seen of it in action.

Our 25HNA Carrier is on its THIRD compressor (first one failed, a second died this spring) and now we have an issue with the TXV valve. At this moment the tech is attempting to recover the valve by using some special substance that has worked "wonders" he says, to a pattern of problems with the original issue of failed compressors. He says that the refrigerant systems is meant to be sealed and that once it is cut to replace a compressor or TXV valve, it ramps up the possibility that contamination can enter the system. Between issues from faulty Bristol two-stage compressors, to those Copeland units which had a lubricant that clogged the system using the R410A refrigerant, and the openings/closings of sealed coolant lines, what does one expect? Once that happens, he says, it's IMPOSSIBLE to completely reverse that. I'm being penny wise/pound foolish as I'm paying up to $700 to attempt to cure or replace the valve (he is installing some kind of additive), but the alternative to the short term gamble, is DITCHING the unit (7 years old) and getting another $8,000 unit for a home we plan on leaving in the next two years. I'm investigating at this time whether it's possible to go for small claims ($5K cap in my state) at this stage, and perhaps the attorneys would rather settle than come to court. This kind of pattern of failure is amazing, my tech says, and I'm seeing this all over the HVAC forums here. Surprising that this hasn't yet been swept up and slathered all over the mainstream media, as it seems the big companies are trying to keep it swept under the rug.

It's not the fixture itself that is inefficient, it's the bulbs in the fixtures. And if you get LED all in one fixtures if something happens to the LED then you are stuck getting a new fixture that may not match the others. Get something where you can change the bulb. I don't think generic boob fixtures have changed that much since 1999, and unless you have a decent budget to replace them with something better, I think you would be changing like for like pretty much. I don't think there is a life expectancy of a fixture per se, most of my current light fixtures are from the 1960s because I live in a 1960s house, and I am putting these in to replace generic replacements. Some of them were bought as vintage, several of them came out of my parents' house which was built in the sixties which we removed for resale.