My better half has asked me to solicit some feedback on preferences regarding appliance manufacturers. She’s tweaking the kitchen design and wants to outfit it with a selection of good quality appliances. What brand of appliances do you guys encounter most often in new construction and remodeling?
Thanks,
Michael
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Replies
Built-in fridges: GE Monogram
Ranges and cooktops: Dacor
Dishwashers: Fisher & Paykel
Microwaves: Sharp
What's your budget? Will the kitchen be used for cooking or just for show?
"What's your budget?"
10K for ALL appliances (oven, cooktop, dishwasher, compactor, disposal, fridge, washer, dryer, microwave, water heater).
"Will the kitchen be used for cooking or just for show?"
We're just simple folks. Minimal cooking. No extensive baking, lavish meals, etc. However, I do want to invest in a brand that is consistently reliable.
MichaelNew knowledge is priceless.
Used knowledge is even more valuable.
We be even simpler folks, but will offer this since you are simple folk and likely dont need big overpriced brands or SS fronts.
For own addition to son's house, advising them to choose (or have already purchased) the following:
oven, Ge or Whirlpool, scratch and dent, wait for a deal $250.00. To ensure long element lift, throw away the 'fast-on' connectors and braze the wires to the element stubs - the heat is a an oxidation killer of element connections. (going on over 25 years on whirlpool ovel like this, after 2 elements in 10 years.)
cooktop, GE 692R 36" induction drop-in, deal for non-working one for $125 off craigslist, (clean, but did take 4 hours to troubleshoot and repair electronics)
dishwasher, Under $200 low end non-programmable Ge or Hotpoint, add your own sound batts to the outside and a piece of faom in the door, quiet as a $1000 Bosch, and cleans well (same design as 35 YO unit in own house) - who of you ever has acctually bothered to program a dishwasher??
compactor, use recycle bins, free from city
disposal, Tounge in cheek, but will back door, the critters love us, the 3 wild cats the gradkids feed love it, and the cats and crows keep the mice away. If you are on septic, a disposal is a big NO-NO.
fridge, scratch and dent again, GE or Maytag at appliance outlet, $600 you never see a scratch on the side in an alcove
washer, dryer, Garage sales, $40 each. The only ones have seen at garage sales that dont work are free. Note: at garage sale prices it pays in convienience to have TWO dryers for speed of drying.
microwave, Sharp at bigbox, $100, it actually pays to have 2, so will get these at garage sales also. Better yet, garage sales again if you can fix anything, about $10 each (typical are simple broken switch, brand new unit, and a 6 mo. old unit that had a broken switch bracket on an interlock) Older and dirty are usually free, but dont think you are that simple.
water heater, generic big box, electric $160, add more of your won insulation in a plywood box.
Total: Under $1500, no joke. Think of the other features you can add to the house with that extra $8500.
compactor, use recycle bins, free from city
How'd you do that? They want me to pay for the containers, which I won't do.
Pretty sure we pay for recycle containers with taxes, but have no choice -- this is the left coast.
Compactors are probably illegal in this state <G>
Some towns here forbid composting meat scraps in the garbage because of vermin, so we just throw the food scraps out the back door so the critters don't have to dig for it.
BTW, over 20 years age we went away for a week, and inadvertently hit the freezer CB withthe hot water heater (no need to heat if you are away).
200 # of spoiled -meat. Dug a 4 ft deep hole in under the garden and buried it with a few logs over it also.
Next morning, the neighborhood dogs (no lease law yet then) and coyotes had found it and dug badger type holes 4 foot deep!!
re:
invest in a brand that is consistently reliable -- IMO, your time is the best investment there.
Have personnally found that the only way to ensure reliability (long term , 30 years plus) is to re-engineer parts of the appliance - and maintenance, keep clean and oil any accessible motors on a regular basis (esp those that say 'lifetime lubricated'!!).
e.g. the oven terminal retrofit as mentioned above.
dishwasyer, washer, dryer motor oiling yearly and keeping the seals clean. also other maintenance
cooktops, same type items as for the oven, induction cooktops probably too complicated to DIY upgrade unless you are an electronics techie or EE.
fridge - keep heat exchanges free of dust - yearly cleaning, keep freezer fan clear of ice, keep a spare defrost cycle timer on hand (cheaper than building a solid state one, the timers are a prime fridge failure item no matter the make)
water heaters - tighten all electrical terminals, AVOID dissimilar metals on connections. For 30 year long life on an electric water heater, it pays to check for circulating ground currents with a milliamp meter and use di-electric connections to metallic water pipes.
etc.. without proper maintenance, reliability is non-existent.
fridges would be GE Monogram
DW'ers would be Bosch
Stoves would be woodburning : )
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I'd send her to spend some time at That Home Site on Gardenweb (ths.gardenweb.com). Lots of folks dealing with similar questions. Takes on the feel of housewife therapy at times, but I found it pretty useful during our remodel.
My neighbor behind me had a Dacor intalled and has had issues with it. When my wife and I recently remodeled our kitchen last summer, our appliance salesman recommended Dacor. The same store our neighbor went to. Although twice as much, we ended going with a Viking rangetop and am glad we did.
I like GE appliances in the middle price tier. They seem to have good features and are reliable. Most of the Dishwashers are made by the same company, so not a lot of differences among brands, unless you want to waste money on a high priced brand like Bosch.
It's hard to go wrong with a kitchen full of GE Monogram. A good clean look and above average performance throughout.
Makes my back hurt just thinking about a monogram fridge. :-)
Speaking of the big fridge, don't let anyone roll it over a wood floor, even if there have been 5 other fridges rolled over the floor in question.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
For what it's worth, we installed six 42" GE Monogram side by side reefers from Sept '05 to June '06. One has failed twice, two of the others had service calls within the first sixty days of occupancy. And yes, they are extremely heavy. We roll them into place on strips of tempered 1/4" masonite to avoid hardwood damage.
Harry