Household Appliances - Which Brands?

[toddwulf]

We purchased the Maytag Neptune W/D about a year ago. We wanted front loader wash as they use much less water and so far, with three young kid's and a guy who get's lot's of clothes dirty tractoring and what have you, they've been great, although not cheap up front.

For the new house, we are installing Thermador (a.k.a. Bosch) dishwasher, 6 burner ragne/oven combo and going with a GE fridge and the new GE Advantium Microwave/Halogen combo unit. Wife wanted something high end without paying the high cost for Wolf or the other high end one and this is where we ended up - Commercial grade without commercial price on the cookery stuff.

Todd in Placerville

 

[Chuck52]

Consumer Reports has covered all the major appliances in the last few months. I don't always agree with their conclusions, but they do list their rating points pretty well. I think (and could easily be wrong) that Maytag was rated lower for refrigerators because of repairs needed. I do recall that the "professional" ranges seemed to have a higher number of repair problems than the "consumer" ranges, and that they also weren't all that impressive in performance. That stuck with me because the wife was thinking about one of them when we do the kitchen remodel sometime in the not-distant-enough future. They also seemed to have issues with the combination microwave/convection oven units. It might be worth your time to check it out at the library. If nothing else, they list the features and the suggested prices.

C.R. regularly rates foreign cars higher than domestic, which irritates lots of folks. I see them as a useful reference, but personal experience counts more in my book.

Chuck

 

[looch]

We have a Frigidaire Gallery gas range. It's not bad - just doesn't simmer very well - too hot. We get around this by doubling up the grates. Friends of ours bought a Kitchenaid gas range and had nothing but trouble. The oven wasn't working properly. They got rid of it and now have a DCS - very nice. One of the lowest priced, commercial grade ranges. I'd probably go that way if I had to do it again.

 

[fishman]

Kbarrett,

I agree with Richard, investigate the over-the-stove multi-use gizmo. I bought a GE Advantium (for my wife /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif 4 months ago and absolutely love it. Cookies in 10 minutes flat! /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Anyway, the oven feature is great for company so that you can keep food warm while you're baking in the big oven. Pricey, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Refrigerators . . . I've had great luck with Whirlpool. I have a side-by-side with ice in the door, and an upright freezer. No problems.

Rest of the kitchen is Maytag, and they are top-notch. No problems at all. Electric stove is the best I've ever used, high heat in under two minutes.

 

[crown]

kbarrett,
I would look at Kenmore, I have the fridge your talking about very happy with it. Good prices too made by Whirlpool.

 

[kbarrett]

The Avantium is a pretty cool concept. Cooking with light!
I was wondering how well it worked. From your experience it sounds like it works very well.

 

[ewoss3]

we went with all GE appliances and have had no problems for 5 years now

 

[fishman]

kbarrett,

The way I understand it, the Advantium cooks by microwave, conventional heating elements (i.e. oven), and/or a 500 watt halogen light. When you select "speedcook", they all kick in. It can roast a chicken pretty darn quick. The quality of the food can suffer though with less time to marinade in whatever spices you use. Some things are better than others.

That's not an issue with cookies! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

You can also use it as a conventional microwave or oven. Coupled with the vented hood, it's tough to beat.

I picked mine up at Home Depot. Downside is the price: $699 with a comparable microwave coming in at $250 less. Again, I think it was well worth the difference in price.

 

[kbarrett]

Well, I pulled the trigger on some Amana appliances.

Model ARSE66MB
Side-By-Side Freestanding Refrigerator

Model ACF3355A
Self Clean Gas Range

Model ACO1860A
Over-the-Range Microwave Oven

After a bit of research, Amana seemed to offer more bang for the buck.

Thanks for the input! - It was helpful