What's your oldest domestic electrical appliance in regular use?

[Psamathe]

A 50 year old AGA. It came with the house.

Electric? Didn't realise you were that rich, if you can afford to run it on the 'lectric. Or maybe you were rich, before you started to use it...

I have an electric AGA and no worse running costs than any electric hob/oven. When I purchased the house it had an oil based AGA that I realised (before purchase) was a non-starter (cost, in summer, etc.) so on moving in traded it in (to AGA Ltd) and replaced with one of their electric ones except it isn't perpetually on but more normal electric hob/oven but designed like an AGA. No idea if they are still made but looks "right" in the kitchen but normal hob/oven operating costs.

 

[briantrumpet]

I have an electric AGA and no worse running costs than any electric hob/oven. When I purchased the house it had an oil based AGA that I realised (before purchase) was a non-starter (cost, in summer, etc.) so on moving in traded it in (to AGA Ltd) and replaced with one of their electric ones except it isn't perpetually on but more normal electric hob/oven but designed like an AGA. No idea if they are still made but looks "right" in the kitchen but normal hob/oven operating costs.

View attachment 793836

It's the whole concept of continuous running throughout the year to cook & heat which is nuts (unless you have a draughty farmhouse kitchen, and a ready supply of free firewood). Most people who have an Aga also have a traditional stove/hob & boiler, so that the house isn't 50C in the summer, so I can see why Aga would want to keep people buying Agas of some description, if that's their thing.

Anyway, maybe there needs to be an Aga thread...

 

[Drago]

When I were a wee nipper wen had a Rayburn. In the summer the outside kitchen door was perpetually open, which was fine with the simmer din.

 

[presta]

When I think how much the price of a calculator was in the 70's I nearly feint (half a weeks average wage?). At school our english teacher proudly showed us 'maths kids' the Decimo Vatman calculator he'd just bought (more expensive than the regular Decimo), his face fell when one of us realised (and demonstrated) that the % button just divided eveything by 100

Just after the first calculators appeared on the High St in the early 70s, the head of our maths department sent a letter to all the parents telling them he was setting up an after school class to teach kids how to use the mechanical ones because they were the technology of the future:

 

[Psamathe]

Can one count workshop stuff as "domestic"? My woodturning lathe is 30+ years old.

 

[Alex321]

Can one count workshop stuff as "domestic"? My woodturning lathe is 30+ years old.

Well people have been talking about electric drills and similar, so I don't see why not. Though my lathe is only about 7 years old

 

[briantrumpet]

Just after the first calculators appeared on the High St in the early 70s, the head of our maths department sent a letter to all the parents telling them he was setting up an after school class to teach kids how to use the mechanical ones because they were the technology of the future:

View attachment 793838

We had one lesson using those, but as much as anything to teach us to get an idea what kind of number it should spew out at the end, and not to believe everything a machine tells you. Still as true today, with AI & LLMs, as it was then.

 

[Reynard]

Aaand now I want to know why it’s important to be able to fit two people & a cat in the freezer. Or maybe I don’t . . .

Whoops!

It was meant to infer the food needed to keep two humans and one catlet well fed. Plus, with the bigger fridge-freezer than the one I bought, I'd have had to cut a hole in the ceiling to get it to fit!

Also should say, the fridge in the kitchen, which is a mid-80s Electra, was bought from what was then the Eastern Electricity showroom here in Ely. (It's now a charity shop for Wood Green animal shelters). It's perfect for my galley kitchen.

 

[MontyVeda]

I got my Meile vacuum cleaner 2nd hand about 20 years ago. It was probably ten years old at that point. Launched in 1990 so potentially 35 years old now.

 

[Zanelad]

An electric carving knife we received as a wedding present 44 years ago.

 

[Dogtrousers]

My mum is 78. Here 18th birthday present was a sewing machine which she still uses for all her repairs. So it’s 60 years old. She gets it serviced every couple of years and the parts are still available.
My daughter takes all her clothes to get adjusted by her.

My sister has my mum's old Singer sewing machine. It must be over 70 years old. It's not in use, and hasn't been since the mid 70s when my mum got a newer one.

 

[Drago]

Anyone still use a trouser press?

 

[Reynard]

My sister has my mum's old Singer sewing machine. It must be over 70 years old. It's not in use, and hasn't been since the mid 70s when my mum got a newer one.

There's various websites where you can date the machine according to the serial number.