We've entered the modern era

... well sorta - We took the plunge in May and finally upgraded and expanded our washer n dryer situation and well got a nice new fridge at the same time. Some might say so what. But, have you ever tried to replace major appliances like these in a 160 year old house? Always a challenge.

1st - energy star/efficiency a must

2nd - expanding from 1 set to 2 sets in the existing space

3rd - get the frig in the kitchen and out of the wash room

4th - front loaders that don't shake the old structure to pieces and vibrate the guests out of their beds (and oh can self level on a floor that has a couple degree tilt to it ;)

5th - is there enough juice in the existing electric panels

6th - make new dryer vents

...

ahh the list went on, and we looked for a few months. And many solutions were available, but ... would they fit, would they shake us too much ...

Well - our local appliance guys at Kelsey's in Rockland came to the rescue and had the answers for us. Not only were they helful, but their prices beat the big box stores - (go local plug).

Anyways - what did we get - Whirlpool Duet Sport - pretty awesome. Fridge - Amana - big thumbs up from Consumer Report, lots of capacity without a big footprint, and oh yeah - great leveling legs in the front (of course in our kitchen we have a little slant going on the floor).

Now for the fun - getting the old fridge out - tilted floor and narrow doorway - not fun; electric supply wasn't really sufficient for the current set-up - so all new electric had to be run; new dryer vents had to be cut (gotta love old construction - wall is about 12" thick - let's see 1" cedar panelling, over 1" of old plaster and lathing, followed by 8" insulation filled void, 1" cedar outer sheathing, .5" of cedar siding, and finally the vinyl siding - oh yes, cedar - unbelievable - smelt great cutting the hole - oh and did I mention make sure to miss the posts in the wall - 8"x8" hardwood posts - oh yeah hardwood - they weren't messing around back in the day), and lastly expanding the fresh and waste water lines (thankful for front loaders this wasn't a problem considering that the 2 new machines combined don't use as much as half a load in the old machine), ...

So - all is in - we are enjoying the fruits of the upgrade (not doing laundry 24 hours a day and not having to walk into the wash room to get to the fridge). And as with all our projects at the old house - we shake our heads and laugh at how much work it took to do something that is a no-brainer in a modern home.