How do y'all feel about Frigidaire vs. GE vs. Whirlpool

[HawkinsHollow]

@HawkinsHollow I don't know what your electricity costs are, but efficiency varies a lot in appliances as well. It may be worth keeping an eye on. The Bosch units are both quiet and very water and energy efficient. So, they may cost more now, but may save you later. Like @jyoutz, the Bosch is the best I have ever owned or been around.

For us, water is key, with the side effect that it is ok to run the dishwasher whenever because it is so quiet.

Similarity, our LG washer is pretty quiet, but has a very high speed spin cycle (like the Speed Queens) that reduces drying times and drying energy. It is also water, and therefore energy frugal in washing as well.

All the best,

Peter

Those are really good points sir. In the southeast water is abundant and electricity is rather cheap, but I do not like to be wastefui. Also, energy is money so it might be worth looking into efficiencies of these different appliances. Great, another rabbit hole to go down!

 

[jyoutz]

@HawkinsHollow I don't know what your electricity costs are, but efficiency varies a lot in appliances as well. It may be worth keeping an eye on. The Bosch units are both quiet and very water and energy efficient. So, they may cost more now, but may save you later. Like @jyoutz, the Bosch is the best I have ever owned or been around.

For us, water is key, with the side effect that it is ok to run the dishwasher whenever because it is so quiet.

Similarity, our LG washer is pretty quiet, but has a very high speed spin cycle (like the Speed Queens) that reduces drying times and drying energy. It is also water, and therefore energy frugal in washing as well.

All the best,

Peter

Last night I took some clothes out of our Speed Queen washer to put in the dryer. I noticed that most was just damp and almost dry. None were dripping water.

 

[2manyrocks]

Most residential energy expense is for heating/cooling. You can save yourself some energy dollars by doing a careful insulation job. How do you plan to heat/cool your addition?

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Most residential energy expense is for heating/cooling. You can save yourself some energy dollars by doing a careful insulation job. How do you plan to heat/cool your addition?

We are going to do a dual zone mini split. One zone for the master bed//bath and the other for the new living room. The existing will be heated and cooled by the exisitng heat pump that does a pretty good job. Yes, we are going to insulate the addition well, and possibly update some of the insulation in the existing where possible without ripping down drywall unnecessarily. Our electric bill is right around $90-120 summer and winter, and we are 100% electric appliances. We will be going to gas stove and gas on-demand water heater.

 

[MMC]

OK, I'll bite. LOL - yes, wives and new stainless stuff in the kitchen seem to go together. The good news is I now have two good 20-25 year old refrigerators in the shop with...working ice makers. And I'm never getting rid of them. Last year had to take one to a buddy's - had a million dollar Korean fridge, down for two months for a part...

So...here's what I did: bought a Bosch dishwasher, the quietest model they make. Can't even hear it and washes great - great reports on Consumer Reports for years.

Fridge, bought a Whirlpool double door, freezer below because it's made in Kentucky and I believed I could at least get parts...

Oven, a GE Profile gas that had good ratings. Double oven, air fryer (which after reading the manual, necessitated an old man (me) running a separate circuit for that through ceiling joists, etc., just to meet code...well, it actually should be run that way). She has yet to use that darned air fryer LOL. Being gas, that stove will run forever...except for the sparkly blue lights in the top of it - way too complicated. Who on earth needs to "connect" a phone to a stove. Stupid.

Now, for the first time in my life, I bought an extended warranty for all this stuff from Lowes. Not for the basic functioning of the units, but just as protection on the unnecessary electronics that run this stuff - that's the weak point. We are fortunate to have an independent, competent appliance guy. Before I bought I asked him for recommendations. He said Samsung and LG are good units, but he would not repair them, perhaps because of parts issues.

But, as others offered, buy the simple versions of this stuff, if your spouse will sign on. The running gear is going to probably be the same. Oh, and agree with Speed Queen top loaders. Drove a long way to buy one at a small hardware store. Flawless for 10 years...and simple controls. Runs like the 40 year old Maytag it replaced...

My stuff in the kitchen has run fine for five years, but tomorrow morning, who knows?

 

[Sigarms]

I'd try to stick with "American" brands, and not necessarily out of a sense of patriotism - just the fact that at least in the past their parts have been available for a pretty long period of time so I've been able to fix stuff.

I'm curious as to what appliances are made in the US now?

Most "brand names" are just that, names that are actually sold depending on what class they are considered in the market.

 

[2manyrocks]

Evidently there has been a lot of consolidation to the point that many brands are owned by the same company.

With all the electronics in these appliances, maybe whole house surge protection is a good idea these days?

FWIW, we installed Mars 83905 surge protectors ($65) on our mini splits.

 

[ultrarunner]

Magic Chef is a brand that has worked well for my property management.

I was still seeing made in USA but have not bought since pandemic.

 

[jyoutz]

I'm curious as to what appliances are made in the US now?

Most "brand names" are just that, names that are actually sold depending on what class they are considered in the market.

Speed Queen is the only that I know for sure is USA made in Wisconsin. The tag just says made in USA. When you call the company, you get a person with a genuine WS accent. You betcha.

 

[not2old]

Recently put new Whirlpool washer and dryer into one of our rentals and we were annoyed at how noisy they were. Got the dishwasher installed awhile later and were shocked at how quiet it was. Both near the bottom of the line in cost.

 

[D&D]

Wow! Yeah, Bosch is almost twice as expensive as the mid-range Frigidaire stuff we are looking at. It would take our total appliance cost from about $6000 to $10000. Ouch!

Apples to apples or just by brand name? 500 series should be feature price wise close. 800 and benchmark, not so much.

 

[GSVette]

Sub zero is US made (but a pretty high price point)- I dont recall if Wolf and Cove ( the Sub Zero lines of stoves/ovens sand dishwashers, respectively) were.

We have just completed purchasing our kitchen appliances for our house build. We looked
At GE Monogram, Sub Zero/Wolf/Cove, Thermador, Bosch, Meile and a few others- finally settled on SKS ( LGs mid to upper end line-sort of like GEs Monogram). SKS had certain features in their built in fridge and the induction cooktop that were pretty unique as well as a very nice warranty and support package.

The LG compressor issue from a few years back gave me some concern but most everything I could find indicated that new LG compressors have resolved the earlier design weaknesses.

If you want a real shock to your system, price out a kitchen in one of the mid upper price points- you’re looking at 20k plus for a 4 piece kitchen. I just about had a coronary when we got a bid for a 60” Sub Zero, Wolf stove/oven and Cove dishwasher.

 

[D&D]

Sub zero is US made (but a pretty high price point)- I dont recall if Wolf and Cove ( the Sub Zero lines of stoves/ovens sand dishwashers, respectively) were.

We have just completed purchasing our kitchen appliances for our house build. We looked
At GE Monogram, Sub Zero/Wolf/Cove, Thermador, Bosch, Meile and a few others- finally settled on SKS ( LGs mid to upper end line-sort of like GEs Monogram). SKS had certain features in their built in fridge and the induction cooktop that were pretty unique as well as a very nice warranty and support package.

The LG compressor issue from a few years back gave me some concern but most everything I could find indicated that new LG compressors have resolved the earlier design weaknesses.

If you want a real shock to your system, price out a kitchen in one of the mid upper price points- you’re looking at 20k plus for a 4 piece kitchen. I just about had a coronary when we got a bid for a 60” Sub Zero, Wolf stove/oven and Cove dishwasher.

When you drop 250+ on a kitchen remodel, 10%ish on appliances sounds reasonable

 

[ultrarunner]

Sub zero is US made (but a pretty high price point)- I dont recall if Wolf and Cove ( the Sub Zero lines of stoves/ovens sand dishwashers, respectively) were.

We have just completed purchasing our kitchen appliances for our house build. We looked
At GE Monogram, Sub Zero/Wolf/Cove, Thermador, Bosch, Meile and a few others- finally settled on SKS ( LGs mid to upper end line-sort of like GEs Monogram). SKS had certain features in their built in fridge and the induction cooktop that were pretty unique as well as a very nice warranty and support package.

The LG compressor issue from a few years back gave me some concern but most everything I could find indicated that new LG compressors have resolved the earlier design weaknesses.

If you want a real shock to your system, price out a kitchen in one of the mid upper price points- you’re looking at 20k plus for a 4 piece kitchen. I just about had a coronary when we got a bid for a 60” Sub Zero, Wolf stove/oven and Cove dishwasher.

My home came with a built in sub zero and the compressor failed at 23 years.

I thought maybe time to replace but not at 13k

Opted for factory $1100 new compressor... I was not spending 13k and I did not want to mess with the cabinets...

 

[Ricn]

Had to replace our 40 year old Maytag washer that still worked ok but was noisy as H--- with lots of vibration. We bought the mechanical Speed Queen model with no circuit boards and it has been great for three years.

 

[bigtiller]

Speed Queen is the only that I know for sure is USA made in Wisconsin. The tag just says made in USA. When you call the company, you get a person with a genuine WS accent. You betcha.

Western Samoa ????

 

[HawkinsHollow]

If you want a real shock to your system, price out a kitchen in one of the mid upper price points- you’re looking at 20k plus for a 4 piece kitchen. I just about had a coronary when we got a bid for a 60” Sub Zero, Wolf stove/oven and Cove dishwasher.

Yeah, they look great and I am sure they are amazing quality. But that is a bit steep for me.

 

[ponytug]

Evidently there has been a lot of consolidation to the point that many brands are owned by the same company.

With all the electronics in these appliances, maybe whole house surge protection is a good idea these days?

FWIW, we installed Mars 83905 surge protectors ($65) on our mini splits.

These days, I think a whole house surge suppressor and half a dozen 2000J surge suppressor strips around the house are table stakes. Just total up the cost of the gizmos that have circuit boards in them in a typical house, and it is pricey. Then cost out your time to actually sort through to repair, replace, and coordinate repairs, and I think it is chicken scratch.

But just call me Otto...

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

Crazy thing about 15 years ago was a $50K organ with zero surge protection got fried by a surge. Then they were going to reinstall a replacement without any surge protection until it was mentioned it was crazy not to protect it.

 

[jyoutz]

Western Samoa ????

Wis-ski-on-son