kitchen appliance reccomendations

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JHZR2

JHZR2

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Hi,

I'm buying a home, and I know that the dishwasher is on its last legs (seller's disclosure). Ill keep it running as long as I reasonably can, but I know that sooner or later itll need replacement. The house also has a 1 1/2 width electric stove, a 30 year old GE unit... Why its an electric, when the house is piped for gas is beyond me. Ill not change it until it dies, but Id like to look at my options.

So, Id like opinions for who makes the best refrigerators, dishwashers and free-standing stoves.

Does anyone know of free-standing 1 1/2 width (I guess it would be a 3-burner wide as a better description) gas stove that is readily available? Lowes didnt have any on the floor - only ones that must be built into a counter.

Frigidaire makes some good stuff that is reasonably priced... kitchenaid makes some nice dishwahsers with stainless innards, though Im not sure how necessary such things really are.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

JMH
 
No need to get that overpriced import stuff. Just don't get the bottom of the line contractor crap.

I've found the best domestic dishwashers are the quietest ones from GE. We used to have a SS Kitchenaid at the old house, nice unit, too. How much you spend depends on noise level location and length of time in house.

Amana and Fridgidaire are good. Never had one break, have two (big ones) and a chest freezer.

Stoves - your choice. If you have room, get a nice six burner gas one!
 
Take a look at Consumer Reports in the past year. I have never gone wrong using their recommendations on kitchen appliances. I use their recommendations exclusively for dishwashers, and consider it for refrigerators. Their reliability statistics seem to be right on, based on my family's past experiences. We have purchased minor scratch and dents from the local Sears Clearance Outlet with good success and lower prices.
 
Forget Amana they changed manufacturers. they were great some years back. A hig end appliance shop here called Kleenmaid sold them exclusively once but fter after quality fell and problems rose alarmingly they dumped them for the new high end GE models from the U.S.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pablo:
Stoves - your choice. If you have room, get a nice six burner gas one!
Click to expand...
I have room... is there such a thing as a free-standing six burner and oven combination?

Thanks,

JMH
 
quote:
Originally posted by Slick17601:
Best way to go would be a dual fuel range. Electric oven, gas cooktop.
Click to expand...
What does "dual fuel" actually mean? Is this with respect to electric as a "fuel"?

Why would I want electric for the oven? I certainly prefer gas for stovetop (have used both pretty extensively), but dont bake or use the oven much, so woudnt know the difference yet... whats the point of electric oven if you have gas service?

Thanks!

JMH
 
My local salesman (trusted and used for many years) said Frigidaire makes some of the worst D/Ws. He said if I don't believe him, check with a repair man. I ended up going with a middle range Bosch because of the excellent sound dampening and efficiency. Also, it does not release steam into the room but rather vents it in the drain pipe (why doesn't everyone do this?) BTW, I a bought a Frigidaire fridge and double-oven.

I owned a Whirlpool Gold that was a CR top rating but was left disappointed. It was still too noisy to run with guests and the silverware never cleaned well. Dishes were great.

He said Kitchen-Aid was very good but had less dampening than the Bosch.

Stainless vs plastic really doesn't matter as appliances typically will be replaced long before the plastic tub cracks (not like the good old days). Plastic will tarnish over time so it's purely aesthetics.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pablo:
Home Gas ovens suck. Too small or something for the gas heat to control, etc.
Click to expand...
Not any more. Latest house renovation (third house in 1.5 years we've lived in; fourth house done overall) features a gas GE. Not fancy, and not bottom-grade. We buy for best price/looks as that is what sells.

Dead-on accurate temps from factory. Excellent broiler operation/temp maintenance. Bakes beautifully.

Overall, it's like lawnmowers: they don't build 'em for repairs anymore as service quickly negates cost of new.

My rule of thumb here is to be happy with seven years and then start studying market for the "inevitable day". Were I dealing with built-in, that would change (I'd go with a commercial-grade product).

As to dishwashers you can try what works for me: seal off enclosure with plywood (seal around electrical and plumbing reasonably, making sure DW can be pulled out easily), level unit, place unit on vibration matting, re-level after a week; then add extra insulation to sides and top. Trim out spaces along front.

Not perfect, but definitely helps. Back of sink area benefits by this, too, as the sound gets out from under there as well.

Time to go make some mayonnaise and then potato salad for a cookout tomorrow. Gotta love gas
grin.gif
 
I just thought of one issue... electric is a dry heat... gas ovens have the benefit of the moisture created during the combustion process.

Is this good or bad?

Thanks,

JMH
 
We built a new home and got Energy star rated Kenmore dishwashers (Yes, we have two, one upstairs and one downstairs in my personal room that has a kitchenette) and a Kenmore side by side refrigerator.

Most of the Kenmore stuff is actually made by Whirlpool. The dishwashers we got are the super quiet ones. Sometimes I am not sure if it has started up. Loud dishwashers are a no no with me.

We do not have a stand alone stove. However, for a cooktop and oven we chose JennAire. (electric)

We bought all this stuff at Sears. We waited for one of their sales where if you bought multiple appliances at the same time, you got an extra 10% off,

We also have Kenmore HE3+ front loading washer and matching dryer, also made by Kenmore. We got these at a Sears dent and scratch store in Delaware (no sales tax) and hauled them home in our own pick-up truck. We saved a small fortune on these items.
 
Kenmore.

Kenmore almost always get top or near-top recomendations from Consumer Reports. I like the fact that ALL parts for these appliances (and everything Sears sells) are available online from sears dot com.
 
yes, I like those sears front loader washers and dryers... Im very familiar with that store in DE (I lived pretty close to it in school), and will have to check it out... not sure if I want scratch and dent in my kitchen... Id have to see what the scratch or dent is.

The kenmore dishwashers were indeed nice... but then again, lits of dishwashers are very nice!

JMH
 
We used the Sears Delaware "dent and scratch" store for stuff that was in the laundry room, not the kitchen. The imperfections were minor enough for laundry room use that we could have glued a $50 bill over each scratch and still come out ahead.

However, you probably want perfection for the kitchen.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Razl:
Also, it does not release steam into the room but rather vents it in the drain pipe (why doesn't everyone do this?)
Click to expand...
That's interesting. It seems to me that the steam would simply come out of the air gap instead.
 
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