Kitchen Applicances shopping - what do you have at home & do you like them? (Page 2)

Rather than discuss brand, I'll discuss features!

I have a double oven...LOVE it.  What did I ever do without it?  It's a very basic model and the bottom one is just a temp dial...the top is the digital thing that's on most ovens these days.  I'd probably go up a few models to get the full features on both ovens...

I have a side by side fridge...HATE it.  I am NOT a side by side girl.  I want French doors with a bottom freezer.  Side by sides STINK.  I do like having my icemaker and water on the door...VERY key feature for me.  Use it ALL THE TIME.  I also want a counter depth fridge.  This could just be the positioning of the fridge in my house, but counter depth would work SO much better.  More expensive, but worth it IMHO.

My dishwasher stinks.  I'm sure it's probably low quality.  I miss other dishwashers I've had where I can put the dishes in without even rinsing and they come out clean.  That doesn't work on this one.  It's also one of those "very low to the floor" models...not sure what they call them, but when the door opens it's only an inch or so above the floor versus most dishwashers are higher.  Drove me insane at first but now I'm used to it I guess.  Not sure I like it though.  It also doesn't have enough cycle options in my opinion.  I'd run it on "heavy duty" if I had that option...to get more gunk off.  But all I have is normal and pots and pans.

Stove top...love the glass top stoves.  I'll never own anything with burners ever again if I can help it.  My burners are oddly sized and I have to say that this may be fairly standard, but it's something I would pay attention to if I was buying my own stove top and see what the burner size options were to best fit how I cook.

I have the microwave with the semi-annoying "beep" if you haven't taken the food out...but the interval is WAY longer than 3 seconds...maybe more like a minute or two.  Doesn't bother me.

On my "dream list" would be a hood vent.  Like, one that vents OUTSIDE the house not that cheesy fan that just pushes it at higher velocity into the kitchen.  My current house is especially susceptible to retaining cooking smells.  If I make something with garlic the house smells for days.  I like to think this is because it's better insulated than my other homes have been...I mean, if all the air in the house was leaking out all the time it wouldn't hold smells as much, right?  either way, I'd rather be able to get the yummy smells out at some point. :D  Garlic is cool and all, but not days later. :D

Can anyone recommend a good brand/model for a dishwasher? I will not buy an LG. Everything else is fair game.

#1 priority is that it lasts at least 5 years

#2 priority good warranty with local parts, but that might be difficult to recommend local parts. Just good warranty service would be enough. Our LG dishwasher broke so many times, and now it is 1.5 years old. The warranty only lasted a year, so getting fixed seems like it would be throwing good money after bad. From our prior warranty claims experience, the claims were processed by a 3rd party and it took awhile to get parts etc. and sometimes multiple trips had to be scheduled with a repairman. 

#3 priority dishes come out clean

#4 priority quiet

Also, it's gotta be white. 

I'm looking in about the $600 range. I could go with something more pricey, but may only live in my house for 5 years, so not sure if a pricey one is worth it.

Wolf, Viking, SubZero are all out of my price range.  We redid our kitchen about 4yrs ago with LG appliances.  The only problem we've had was when a rubber stick-on foot clogged the dishwasher drain.

Wife's sister has a similar fridge, still a french-door but a different model.  She has a beef with the ice maker.  We don't use ice much so it hasn't been an issue for us.  After cooking on her electric cooktop, I'm so glad I have gas.   

Do you have a Sears in your area?   I've always been happy with their parts department, at least.  I do all my own service.   I've heard other people in our area be happy with their service.

They've ALWAYS got parts.   We bought all of our appliances at Sears, and they're doing fairly well.  This will be year 5.

My Kenmore dishwasher was made by Whirlpool and it meets all of your requirements.   You should be able to ask the salesman who makes the Kenmore appliance you're looking at.   If they can't tell you, have them remove the "kick panel" of the dishwasher... there will be a troubleshooting guide stuck to the back of it, and it will say who made it!

used to work as a warranty/design engineer in the appliance industry. samsung is where its at.  

you have to be careful with kenmore branded appliances, they could be made by Whirlpool or Electrolux(Frigidaire).  there is no sears appliance factory pumping out kenmore, its the same stuff made by other manufactures with a different brand label and maybe slightly different trim. oh, and maytag is whirlpool. 

avoid LG. they are sketchy, their energy ratings are lies.  they set up their programming to pass energy testing in climate controlled chambers with flying colors, but can never duplicate the results in the real world setting.

Wolfe is one of your better lines, but you do pay for the price.  I'll have to respond when I check tonight at home.

Thank you. I do have a Sears and was thinking that might be a good place to buy. I was also looking at this Whirlpool dishwasher which they do have at Sears, so your recommendation really helps.

Also, you've helped me confirm something. I've seen some Kenmore and Whirlpool appliances and they looked the same.

All of Sears products are made by someone else... this has almost always been the case. 

If you can wait, they're constantly cycling their "sales" in and out.  Never buy anything for full price at Sears unless you absolutely can't wait.

If they have a comparable model with a stainless tub, consider moving up a model.  It will be quieter and cleaner.   If you have hard water, that white plastic tub will be brown in no time.   (Want a cleaning tip?  Throw a half-cup of Tang (yes, that Tang) in there and run a cycle.   Prepare to be amazed! )

We moved 4 years ago and the house had a compactor.  I have never used it as it requires special bags, but it works GREAT as a garbage bin, with a "tall kitchen garbage bag" fitting perfectly.  You can manually smash the garbage down really well, and no smells leak out.

We have all older high end GE aplliances and they are all still working well except the ice maker just broke and cannot get a new part for it anymore.  We also want a new cooktop, as ours has an indoor grill which we never use and want additonal burners instead.  We bought a new Bosch dishwasher at our old house, and it worked awesome - super quiet and got dishes super clean.

does the tang tip apply to hardwater stains elsewhere??

Excellent. I got a Whirlpool from Sears. It's being delivered tomorrow. Our LG had a stainless tub. It was one of the features we wanted when we bought that dishwasher. We bumped that down in priority this time since it didn't seem to be the biggest deal breaker for us. Also, Vancouver has very soft water. Every appliance that I've bought the sales people or repair people always tell me, make sure you use less than half of the amount of recommended detergent because the water is so soft.

Anyway. New dishwasher tomorrow. Yay!

There are a lots of companies who offer discount on kitchen appliances so you can choose one of them but for wooden material you must be careful.

For wooden cabinets don't go for big names you will cost that more than you expect.