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| writing:repairability_in_solarpunk [2026/01/18 17:01] – JacobCoffinWrites | writing:repairability_in_solarpunk [2026/02/04 03:05] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites |
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| We’ll talk in the next sections about how these goods might be made fixable and durable, but if they become unwanted (maybe two people move in together, or someone dies) the item might be passed ad-hoc to someone who needs it, or it might be returned to the library economy – volunteers or employees would collect it, inspect it, clean it up or make repairs, and provide it to someone else. If it’s beyond repair for some reason, it would be stripped for usable parts and the remaining materials recycled. Ideally only a very small portion would end up needing forever-storage in a landfill. This process could take place in a huge, futuristic facility, or tons of small workshops; it all depends on your setting. | We’ll talk in the next sections about how these goods might be made fixable and durable, but if they become unwanted (maybe two people move in together, or someone dies) the item might be passed ad-hoc to someone who needs it, or it might be returned to the library economy – volunteers or employees would collect it, inspect it, clean it up or make repairs, and provide it to someone else. If it’s beyond repair for some reason, it would be stripped for usable parts and the remaining materials recycled. Ideally only a very small portion would end up needing forever-storage in a landfill. This process could take place in a huge, futuristic facility, or tons of small workshops; it all depends on your setting. |
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| Conventional wisdom is that there are some huge downsides to this kind of operation - a general fab shop will be far less efficient at producing any given thing than a dedicated facility. The dedicated equipment/layout, the per-arranged supply lines for parts, the specialization and experience of the workers all play a huge role in producing a quality item as quickly and efficiently as possible. | Conventional wisdom is that there are some huge downsides to this kind of operation - a general fab shop will be far less efficient at producing any given thing than a dedicated facility. The dedicated equipment/layout, the pre-arranged supply lines for parts, the specialization and experience of the workers all play a huge role in producing a quality item as quickly and efficiently as possible. |
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| With each new product, even a skilled fab shop crew will be relearning lessons other teams elsewhere already learned, and they'll burn a lot of time learning how to make each thing, and even just maneuvering it around their workshop. And these efficiency losses aren’t just made in person-hours and minor injuries – this slower, less-specialized work means more electricity spent running tools and lights, parts and materials wasted through accidental damage. All of this may come with an environmental cost (in extraction or pollution) depending on how the larger society creates energy and sources materials. | With each new product, even a skilled fab shop crew will be relearning lessons other teams elsewhere already learned, and they'll burn a lot of time learning how to make each thing, and even just maneuvering it around their workshop. And these efficiency losses aren’t just made in person-hours and minor injuries – this slower, less-specialized work means more electricity spent running tools and lights, parts and materials wasted through accidental damage. All of this may come with an environmental cost (in extraction or pollution) depending on how the larger society creates energy and sources materials. |
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| * Re-Glazable Windows - in areas with strong temperature swings, windows have gotten pretty advanced: with multiple layers of tempered glass and a layer of vacuum or inert gas between them, a modern window can be an impressive barrier against winter cold or summer heat. This is a huge part of making a home more efficient. But with that improvement in technology came some regrettable designs, including windows where the glass and frame were designed to be sold and replaced as a single piece. The alternative, re-glazable windows, are windows where the glass sandwich can be removed from its frame with a couple tools and some specialized knowhow. If a window gets cracked or broken, a third-party window company can manufacture a new stack of glass (with its layer of vacuum or inert gas etc) to the size of the frame, pop out the broken one, and glue in the new one, rendering it as good as new. This is both convenient and keeps the homeowners' options open for a replacement. | * Re-Glazable Windows - in areas with strong temperature swings, windows have gotten pretty advanced: with multiple layers of tempered glass and a layer of vacuum or inert gas between them, a modern window can be an impressive barrier against winter cold or summer heat. This is a huge part of making a home more efficient. But with that improvement in technology came some regrettable designs, including windows where the glass and frame were designed to be sold and replaced as a single piece. The alternative, re-glazable windows, are windows where the glass sandwich can be removed from its frame with a couple tools and some specialized knowhow. If a window gets cracked or broken, a third-party window company can manufacture a new stack of glass (with its layer of vacuum or inert gas etc) to the size of the frame, pop out the broken one, and glue in the new one, rendering it as good as new. This is both convenient and keeps the homeowners' options open for a replacement. |
| * However, many companies have produced windows where the frame wraps around the glass layers on both sides, making them a single unit. Replacing these requires removal, meaning the window frame (the one that's part of the building this time) or wall will have to be carefully disassembled. And if the broken window was made in an odd, nonstandard size, a whole new frame will have to be produced along with the glass to fit the hole in the wall, or the hole in the wall will have to be modified. This is more expensive and fewer companies do this work, it also takes much longer. It looks like a good deal to the manufacturer - by producing a slightly-nonstandard window nobody else can service they can lock in their customers, but many of these already went out of business, leaving people with no good options for replacements. | * However, many companies have produced windows where the frame wraps around the glass layers on both sides, making them a single unit. Replacing these requires removal, meaning the window frame (the one that's part of the building this time) or wall will have to be carefully disassembled. And if the broken window was made in an odd, nonstandard size, a whole new frame will have to be produced along with the glass to fit the hole in the wall, or the hole in the wall will have to be modified. This is more expensive and fewer companies do this work, it also takes much longer. It looks like a good deal to the manufacturer - by producing a slightly-nonstandard window nobody else can service they can lock in their customers, but many of these already went out of business, leaving people with no good options for replacements. |
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| ===Efficiency and Complexity=== | ===Efficiency and Complexity=== |
| * For my own anecdote, I've seen a {{:writing:37360394_1-1255170388.jpg?linkonly|big industrial mixer}} in a bakery run daily for years with no maintenance and put up with all kinds of abuse while little countertop KitchenAids (supposedly the consumer-grade top-of-the-line) burned out routinely. | * For my own anecdote, I've seen a {{:writing:37360394_1-1255170388.jpg?linkonly|big industrial mixer}} in a bakery run daily for years with no maintenance and put up with all kinds of abuse while little countertop KitchenAids (supposedly the consumer-grade top-of-the-line) burned out routinely. |
| * This can be applied to all kinds of other appliances - commercial washing machines used by laundromats and hotels, kitchen appliances and tools used by restaurants, tools intended for mechanics, factories, or metal shops, and even exercise equipment designed for gyms rather than home use. | * This can be applied to all kinds of other appliances - commercial washing machines used by laundromats and hotels, kitchen appliances and tools used by restaurants, tools intended for mechanics, factories, or metal shops, and even exercise equipment designed for gyms rather than home use. |
| * Old Stuff - if you look around a mechanic's shop, it's not uncommon to see a Sears Craftsman Drill Press from the 1940s, or some other tool that's been used for generations (I once saw a drill press whose column was a metal pipe which had been cemented right into the floor! If that's doesn't demonstrate trust that a thing will last I don't know what does.). To some extent this stuff has already been winnowed down by survivorship bias, but it also exemplifies a lot of the qualities which make a thing both durable and fixable. I've seen consumer-grade washers and dryers from the late 1970s still limping along in some homes too. | * [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wspYo94xr4hufTOFfSjnltoTc6-DCXRs/view?usp=drivesdk|Old Stuff]] - if you look around a mechanic's shop, it's not uncommon to see a Sears Craftsman Drill Press from the 1940s, or some other tool that's been used for generations (I once saw a drill press whose column was a metal pipe which had been cemented right into the floor! If that's doesn't demonstrate trust that a thing will last I don't know what does.). To some extent this stuff has already been winnowed down by survivorship bias, but it also exemplifies a lot of the qualities which make a thing both durable and fixable. I've seen consumer-grade washers and dryers from the late 1970s still limping along in some homes too. |
| * It's important to note that generally older devices were much more fixable because they were so much simpler and that simplicity came with fewer features, fewer settings/modes, fewer safety considerations, and fewer concessions to efficiency. | * It's important to note that generally older devices were much more fixable because they were so much simpler and that simplicity came with fewer features, fewer settings/modes, fewer safety considerations, and fewer concessions to efficiency. |
| * If you'd like a good example of these differences, compare an antique sewing machine to a modern one - the older one is much easier to fix (the motors are often entirely external and easily replaced) but it'll jam more often, makes sewing your fingers to the fabric easy, and good luck using it on heavy canvas, spandex, t-shirts, or any of the other odd fabrics they've developed special modes for. | * If you'd like a good example of these differences, compare an antique sewing machine to a modern one - the older one is much easier to fix (the motors are often entirely external and easily replaced) but it'll jam more often, makes sewing your fingers to the fabric easy, and good luck using it on heavy canvas, spandex, t-shirts, or any of the other odd fabrics they've developed special modes for. |
