Are We Having Fun Yet?

Well, it's a gamble, isn't it? If you're lucky enough not to need repairs, you'll likely win once you've factored in the fuel savings and the rebates that are usually available for buying a high-efficiency unit of whatever type. But if you need repairs, you're often hosed. Leaving aside the merit of reduced energy and water use in its own right, why does a dishwasher need to have an onboard computer? Why does a stove need to have an onboard computer? Why is this better? In my experience it is not. My house has a Bosch computer-controlled dishwasher with electronically-selectable modes and options. My apartment has a General Electric dishwasher with mechanically-selectable modes and options and a mechanical rotary timer with knob and synchronous motor. The Bosch might use less water, but it takes the same amount of detergent and takes much more time, and the stars have to line up correctly and the gods have to smile upon you or the dishes won't get all the way clean or all the way rinsed. The GE is a little louder and might(!) use more water, but it gets the dishes all the way clean each and every time, and it does it relatively quickly. The mechanical timer and pushbuttons will most likely outlast whatever sends the dishwasher to its grave. The Bosch has already had the control boards replaced and still doesn't work as it should. Why is this better?

As for tankless water heaters: Been there. Utter nightmare, and totally false economy. Not again. But while I was still trying to keep those pieces of junk running, they absolutely ate control boards. Even when I stopped buying new ones and took my pile of dead ones to an electronics repair business to be reworked with uprated components (5w resistors rather than 2w, for example), they just wouldn't live long. Why does a water heater need an onboard computer?!!

BTW, CMH, please send me an e-mail; I've got something you've gotta see/try.