New Appliance Wisdom

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

#1 WEBWHEELER
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Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
Going to LowesDepot tomorrow night to finalize some appliance decisions for the new house, and figured I'd check here to see if there's any real world knowledge to be gained.

Refrigerator: Leaning strongly towards a french door LG. The interior layout of the drawers in the fridge seems to make more sense than most of the others and the freezer drawer is one of the largest. We would like the "Flexzone" drawer between the fridge and freezer, but we don't want the door-in-door crap, and they don't offer those options in the same fridge (except in counter depth, which is 6 cubic feet smaller, WTF). Also could be swayed toward a Samsung or Whirlpool

Range: The Samsung Duoflex seems like the hot ticket. My mom has a double oven, and pretty much uses the small top oven exclusively. My wife seems to think its dumb and would heat unevenly. I tried to explain how conduction, convection, and radiation all work, and her eyes glazed over. Then we saw the Duoflex that can be just a small oven, or open up the whole thing. I'm sure its not as good of a small oven since the insulating panel is removable, but its gotta be better than heating up the whole thing. Also, it has a bridge element so that the gap between two elements is heated so that we can use a large cast iron griddle to cook pancakes and such. I really like that idea, because the hotspots from doing it with 2 burners make it pointless.

Dishwasher: Bosch seems to be the most expensive and quietest. Our current one is loud and the wife hates it, so quiet is at the top of the list. Do you actually get what you pay for?

If I can find someway to make them all the same brand, that saves another $200-400, but I don't think thats worth the compromise on a ~$4000-6000 purchase.

Clothes washer/dryer: TBD. Something cheap, white, and simple...like me. Also must have a downswinging door on the dryer. No side swing. We may end up getting this from Craig and his list.

Anybody got any personal experience with any of the above? Thanks in advance.
 
Do not let them deliver! They will scratch something. I prefer Caldwell's Appliances
 
jeepinmatt said:
Going to LowesDepot tomorrow night to finalize some appliance decisions for the new house, and figured I'd check here to see if there's any real world knowledge to be gained.

Refrigerator: Leaning strongly towards a french door LG. The interior layout of the drawers in the fridge seems to make more sense than most of the others and the freezer drawer is one of the largest. We would like the "Flexzone" drawer between the fridge and freezer, but we don't want the door-in-door crap, and they don't offer those options in the same fridge (except in counter depth, which is 6 cubic feet smaller, WTF). Also could be swayed toward a Samsung or Whirlpool

Range: The Samsung Duoflex seems like the hot ticket. My mom has a double oven, and pretty much uses the small top oven exclusively. My wife seems to think its dumb and would heat unevenly. I tried to explain how conduction, convection, and radiation all work, and her eyes glazed over. Then we saw the Duoflex that can be just a small oven, or open up the whole thing. I'm sure its not as good of a small oven since the insulating panel is removable, but its gotta be better than heating up the whole thing. Also, it has a bridge element so that the gap between two elements is heated so that we can use a large cast iron griddle to cook pancakes and such. I really like that idea, because the hotspots from doing it with 2 burners make it pointless.

Dishwasher: Bosch seems to be the most expensive and quietest. Our current one is loud and the wife hates it, so quiet is at the top of the list. Do you actually get what you pay for?

If I can find someway to make them all the same brand, that saves another $200-400, but I don't think thats worth the compromise on a ~$4000-6000 purchase.

Clothes washer/dryer: TBD. Something cheap, white, and simple...like me. Also must have a downswinging door on the dryer. No side swing. We may end up getting this from Craig and his list.

Anybody got any personal experience with any of the above? Thanks in advance.
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We purchased a Bosch dishwasher from Lowe’s a little less than one year ago, and we’ve been very pleased with it. It is ridiculously quiet. You can’t even hear it running. Granted, our old one was pretty loud so anything would be an improvement. But this is unbelievably quiet. The bottom rack layout is a little funky. Some things just don’t seem to fit. And the middle rack has a strange layout. Seems like normal glasses & coffee mugs don’t fit properly. These are small pettty things and overall, we’ve been extremely pleased with our Bosch dishwasher.
 
I just purchased a Samsung refrigerator. We got a hell of a deal too. We got the French door style with the door-in-door feature. I like it. I put quick items like beer, milk, OJ, half & half, etc. in there. I'm amazed at how much room it has versus our old fridge and they're the same size. I couldn't really tell you the difference in the LG and Samsung. I think it really just comes down to preference. For the price, I think we got a kickass fridge with a lot of options that fit our needs.
 
tlucier said:
We purchased a Bosch dishwasher from Lowe’s a little less than one year ago, and we’ve been very pleased with it. It is ridiculously quiet. You can’t even hear it running. Granted, our old one was pretty loud so anything would be an improvement. But this is unbelievably quiet. The bottom rack layout is a little funky. Some things just don’t seem to fit. And the middle rack has a strange layout. Seems like normal glasses & coffee mugs don’t fit properly. These are small pettty things and overall, we’ve been extremely pleased with our Bosch dishwasher.
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We had a Bosch and it was awesome. We had to leave it behind with the old house but I'd love to have another. They make good stuff.
 
Something to look into since you don’t get to test it in the store and most people forget. If you have the ice and water dispenser, what flow rate is the water and what is the decibel level of the ice dispenser?

I can’t stand a noisey or slow dispenser. Drives me nuts, and you can’t test this in the store.
 
Bosch dishwasher. I've bought a bunch of them, I think the 800 series.

When we were looking a couple of years ago, we eventually decided against anything LG or Samsung because of parts availability. I read a lot of customer reviews, and the common thread seemed to be that if it broke, nobody had the part, and it had to come from Korea (which took two weeks).

We also steered clear of the French door units because of the number of small plastic parts it took to make the doors seal, and because it seemed like you would rarely be able to only open one door. The drawers didn't open unless both doors were open, etc, so it was always a two hand operation just to get in and out of the fridge. Also, the ice maker/water dispenser meant that one door was huge, and a big chunk of that side of the fridge was consumed by a separate freezer/ice maker. We ended up with a regular old Whirlpool side by side. Sure, the freezer is small, but there's a full size reach-in in the next room. The freezer in the kitchen is just for the stuff that's being used right now.

We got a slide in range with the glass top and double ovens. The top is a little pizza oven style thing. The bottom is a full size regular one. The little oven gets used every day, and is really convenient. They both get a workout on holidays. They're completely separate, so you can cook a turkey in the bottom, and be warming veggies in the top. I hate glass top ranges. Ours was scratched and beat to shit in short order, but everything else has been good.

Lowe's delivery sucks. They don't know where your stuff is or when it's coming, then suddenly there's a truck in the driveway. They unload everything and immediately dent the fridge.

I'm guessing here, but I think we spent $3500 on the entire package, including a built in microwave. Edit: it had to be around $4k, probably $4200.
 
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Also, keep in mind that if you mix and match brands, the finishes may not match. A lot of stuff now looks like brushed stainless, but is actually a painted finish.
 
I have an older version of the duoflex i think, with just a single door, but the divider in the middle. I don't cook a ton, but really just use the bottom portion as a normal oven, it does seem to heat up marginally quicker.
 
We bought the Samsung flex fridge (4 doors, top 2 are fridge, bottom two are separate 1 is freezer other can be fridge or freezer). We previously had a full fridge and full freezer but the fridge died. My daughter, at 2 years, learned to get into the fridge to get her own milk, yogurt, etc. We didnt want to give that up so the flex let her have her own little fridge that she could get in and not affect the main fridge.

That's the good part.... 2.5 years and the seal around the ice maker has been replaced twice. When it fails, ice melts and water pours out the dispenser onto your floors...

It's also very loud. Like hear it through two walls while you're laying in bed loud...
 
shawn said:
Bosch dishwasher. I've bought a bunch of them, I think the 800 series.

When we were looking a couple of years ago, we eventually decided against anything LG or Samsung because of parts availability. I read a lot of customer reviews, and the common thread seemed to be that if it broke, nobody had the part, and it had to come from Korea (which took two weeks).

We also steered clear of the French door units because of the number of small plastic parts it took to make the doors seal, and because it seemed like you would rarely be able to only open one door. The drawers didn't open unless both doors were open, etc, so it was always a two hand operation just to get in and out of the fridge. Also, the ice maker/water dispenser meant that one door was huge, and a big chunk of that side of the fridge was consumed by a separate freezer/ice maker. We ended up with a regular old Whirlpool side by side. Sure, the freezer is small, but there's a full size reach-in in the next room. The freezer in the kitchen is just for the stuff that's being used right now.

We got a slide in range with the glass top and double ovens. The top is a little pizza oven style thing. The bottom is a full size regular one. The little oven gets used every day, and is really convenient. They both get a workout on holidays. They're completely separate, so you can cook a turkey in the bottom, and be warming veggies in the top. I hate glass top ranges. Ours was scratched and beat to shit in short order, but everything else has been good.

Lowe's delivery sucks. They don't know where your stuff is or when it's coming, then suddenly there's a truck in the driveway. They unload everything and immediately dent the fridge.

I'm guessing here, but I think we spent $3500 on the entire package, including a built in microwave. Edit: it had to be around $4k, probably $4200.
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No input here. I buy cheap and updste regularly.
But the LG parts concern is dated. All LG appliances now made in TN...parts readily available. I don't have any LG appliances but I've been to that plant-ma-hal /campus ( actually like 18 buildings) a bunch.

Ge dishwasher sucks
 
I was an 'old appliance' junky for many years and would just take whatever folks were getting rid of as they upgraded...never had one of those appliances crap out on me. Moved to the new house, wife said she wanted all new, we argued about it...so we got all new. I wasn't very hands on during the process, but I can tell you we bought during some holiday deal Lowe's was having...something like 20%, plus another 10-15ish% off if you signed up, were approved and purchased it all with your new Lowe's card. I wanna say we got $7k worth of stuff for under $5k. Paid off the card when I got home and haven't used it since.

Beyond that, we got a Bosch dishwasher, I'll echo everyone else, quietest dishwasher I've ever owned. No streaking, no water spots, no re-cleanings. We went Samsung French door with freezer pull out. From what I've seen they're great until they're not. I would have preferred to opt for something a built in water/ice machine. Doors are wide enough I don't have to open both unless we have a left over pizza box that's bigger than 20" wide. GE glass top stove...wife still burns stuff, so I guess it works. Microwave, got a massive overhead whirlpool, I'm pretty happy with it. Washer and dryer, got a Whirlpool Cabrio set up...washer transmission shit the bed after about 2 months, didn't have an agitator...got a refund and went speed queen. Dryer works as it should.
 
We had all new Bosch appliances in our house we moved out of. I'll agree the dishwasher was very quiet and seemed to work well. We had a wall mounted microwave w/convection oven and full convection oven combo that have both had problems in the four years we lived there. I wouldn't recommend Bosch for crap. Especially for the cost of them($3500 for the set).

We have a french door Whirlpool fridge that I like a lot. The only thing I would change is having the Ice compartment in the door vs. in the fridge. It takes up a lot of room.
 
Something else to consider: For the cost difference between a french door fridge and a side-by-side, you can buy an upright reach-in freezer or two chest freezers.

Never buy an appliance from Lowe's for list price. They put them on sale for 20% off on a regular basis.

And never put the microwave over the oven (if you have the choice).
 
My last house was new. Had all new stainless GE appliances. They all sucked. The microwave felt cheaply made and the buttons didn’t have that crisp feel. The fridge was the worst. From day one the ice maker stayed frozen no matter how low the temp. The dishwasher door was super flimsy in my opinion. Lastly, the oven didn’t heat correctly. If s recipe calls for 10 minutes at 350,we’d have to cook it 15 at 400 or more. It was never right. If it was going to be my forever home I would have thrown all of them in the yard. I vote anything besides GE.
 
shawn said:
And never put the microwave over the oven (if you have the choice).
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I'm going to assume because the ambient heat the stove puts off, literally cooks the microwave. But I can't say I've ever seen a microwave hung anywhere other than above the stove.
 
UTfball68 said:
I'm going to assume because the ambient heat the stove puts off, literally cooks the microwave. But I can't say I've ever seen a microwave hung anywhere other than above the stove.
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With a microwave above the stove you dont get a good true vent/draft/draw
 
UTfball68 said:
I'm going to assume because the ambient heat the stove puts off, literally cooks the microwave. But I can't say I've ever seen a microwave hung anywhere other than above the stove.
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Put them in the cabinets. Base cabinets work well, but if you have a full-height area, you can mount them there (near counter height), too. I like them down low. I don't see it as different from an oven, but some people like them up closer to counter height. Either way is fine.

Microwaves are shitty hoods. They get in the way of the range, making it harder to use the cooktop. If you have a bunch of stuff going on, they add one more appliance in the same spot, forcing people to work around one another to get stuff in/out of the nuke or tend to things in the oven. Shorter folks will have to pick hot things up to eye level (or even overhead) to get them in/out of the microwave, increasing the risk of burns. The bottoms of them stay filthy from splashes and vapor deposits, and they're harder to clean than a regular hood would be. It also combines two unrelated appliances (vent hood, microwave) into one, increasing the likelihood that one will crap out, necessitating repair/replacement of the whole thing.
 
shawn said:
Put them in the cabinets. Base cabinets work well, but if you have a full-height area, you can mount them there (near counter height), too. I like them down low. I don't see it as different from an oven, but some people like them up closer to counter height. Either way is fine.

Microwaves are shitty hoods. They get in the way of the range, making it harder to use the cooktop. If you have a bunch of stuff going on, they add one more appliance in the same spot, forcing people to work around one another to get stuff in/out of the nuke or tend to things in the oven. Shorter folks will have to pick hot things up to eye level (or even overhead) to get them in/out of the microwave, increasing the risk of burns. The bottoms of them stay filthy from splashes and vapor deposits, and they're harder to clean than a regular hood would be. It also combines two unrelated appliances (vent hood, microwave) into one, increasing the likelihood that one will crap out, necessitating repair/replacement of the whole thing.
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This all seems nit picky and per your preference. We had one and had none of those issues. Plenty of space between the two and the fact that my wife and I are both 5'7"+ it wasn't an issue.
 
McCracken said:
This all seems nit picky and per your preference. We had one and had none of those issues. Plenty of space between the two and the fact that my wife and I are both 5'7"+ it wasn't an issue.
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I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.
 
"Countertop" microwaves are bigger than the ones they put over ranges. The unit is 23" deep, IIRC, compared to maybe 18". Super nice for heating up a larger casserole or a couple of dishes of leftovers. The only difference between it being on the counter or built into a cabinet is a ~$100 trim piece that holds it in the cabinet space.

If I were your designer, I'd recommend putting the MW in the island, across from the sink. Bonus is the kids are entertained watching it spin. ;)

If you don't use a MW that often, you could put a countertop model on the counter in the pantry. I had an older/smaller one in ours at our old house and it worked ok, as well.
 
trailhugger said:
"Countertop" microwaves are bigger than the ones they put over ranges. The unit is 23" deep, IIRC, compared to maybe 18".
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Good point. 2.2 CF vs 1.6CF, 16-9/16" turntable vs 12", based on the submittal I sent back this morning. ;)
 
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