What brand of appliances do you guys recommend?

[thestrangebrew1]

We're shopping for some new appliances and there are so many choices it feels like a crap shoot. Right now we have a samsung fridge, which for the most part is well built but we've had problems with the ice maker. We're looking for new appliances, fridge, stove, nuker and dishwasher. A few musts:

Only requirement is that the fridge has a reliable icemaker/filtered water dispenser. We really like black stainless steel. Other than that, we have no idea what brands are good. I'm leaning towards LG for the fridge/dishwasher. Fridgedaire has some cool looking stuff, but I guess they all do. Any particular brands you guys prefer or recommend.

 

[MongGrel]

We have both a Frigidaire stove (that I like a lot) and fridge that have held up well awhile now.

The wife insisted on getting a Maytag Centennial washer last time, I was leery over how much it was digital but it has been holding up so far in the humid garage.

Our Frigidaire fridge is pretty basic, so I can't say there on the higher end models.

Dishwashers I have no idea, we still have an old on installed in the kitchen I do not think we have used in over 15 years. I keep thinking about just ripping it out and making under cabinet storage space for items like the coffeemaker, etc and never have.

 

[Subyman]

The higher end you go in the consumer models the less reliable the are IMO. Unless you are looking at a Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Vulcan, etc then don't get pulled in by the higher end models. You can find parts for the lower end stuff on eBay easily. Some of the Asian brands are extremely hard to find parts for like LG and Samsung.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

The higher end you go in the consumer models the less reliable the are IMO. Unless you are looking at a Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Vulcan, etc then don't get pulled in by the higher end models. You can find parts for the lower end stuff on eBay easily. Some of the Asian brands are extremely hard to find parts for like LG and Samsung.

Yea we went to Lowe's yesterday at lunch and browsed for a few appliances. We saw a few fridges that had a screen on them that connected to your wifi and this other crap. There's no way we would get something like that.

We like the french doors with the freezer drawer on bottom, stainless steel, and a good ice maker is what we're looking for. There's so many makes and models to choose from that makes it difficult.

 

[herm0016]

we like kitchen aid branded stuff, we have ended up with their dishwashers in 3 different houses. Have a lg fridge in the rental, old sub zero in our house. Dacor ranges. We like to buy high end stuff used on craigslist. our ranges are about 5k new, got them both for less than 500 each, paid 475 for a sub-zero 690 and fixed the fridge side condenser for 1k, but a 48in sub for less than 1500 is great, considering a new one is 15k.

 

[NutBucket]

The higher end you go in the consumer models the less reliable the are IMO. Unless you are looking at a Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Vulcan, etc then don't get pulled in by the higher end models. You can find parts for the lower end stuff on eBay easily. Some of the Asian brands are extremely hard to find parts for like LG and Samsung.

Which ironically have relatively poor reliability ratings IIRC.

I'd love a pro-grade stove for the bigger burners but I wouldn't bother with those brands for other appliances.

For example, the in-laws have a Thermador dishwasher. Wouldn't you know it, made by Bosch.

 

[gorcorps]

Which ironically have relatively poor reliability ratings IIRC.

I'd love a pro-grade stove for the bigger burners but I wouldn't bother with those brands for other appliances.

For example, the in-laws have a Thermador dishwasher. Wouldn't you know it, made by Bosch.

Bosch is a pretty consistent recommendation for dishwashers specifically these days. Not sure why, but a buddy shopping appliances was pushed towards Bosch even though he was buying Samsung everything else. They said people seemed to be happier with the Bosch dishwashers.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I think we saw a few Bosch ranges as well. They looked decent enough, but I was unsure of the quality. Might have to take a 2nd look at some of there stuff.

 

[NutBucket]

Forgot to throw in, I think for "consumer" appliances I tend to like Kitchen Aid (high-end Whirlpool).

 

[Exterous]

Bosch is a pretty consistent recommendation for dishwashers specifically these days. Not sure why, but a buddy shopping appliances was pushed towards Bosch even though he was buying Samsung everything else. They said people seemed to be happier with the Bosch dishwashers.

I've only installed a few dishwashers but this was my impression after installing my bosch compared to a some random builder installed dishwasher, a $300 MSRP kitchenaide and a $550 MSRP Whirlpool gold dishwasher. The build quality seems much better. The rubber seals around the side of the door weren't as flimsy. Sturdier door and smoother door operation. The overall frame was sturdier and had thicker adjustable feet. I saw fewer plastic parts and the parts I saw appeared to be thicker. Much better designed electrical and water tie in systems. The buttons appear less likely to break (I don't have a real objective way of measuring that but it was like typing on a good quality keyboard instead of a crappy $5 one)

So time will tell but it seems like a good bet so far. My MIL was over the other day and we were standing maybe 4 ft from the dishwasher when she asked me about it.
MIL: "Is it loud when its on?"
Me: "Well its on now so not really."

That said I usually just get whatever Lowe's has on openbox\repair\display clearance. It just happened that this Bosch was $250 because of a dent on the side that no one will ever see because of the lower cabinets.

If you have a Lowes nearby and are patient you may be able to get some crazy deals shopping their clearance

 

[Aikouka]

I've been planning out a kitchen remodel, and I've been mostly looking at LG appliances so far. In regard to fridges, I like that their ice maker is located mostly on the door, which frees up some space at the usual top-left shelf location. I looked at the 26.8 cu. ft. model in the store, and I think it looks pretty good. They do have fancier models with the whole CustomChill drawer, but I'm not really sold on that as it only has a single temperature setting with four options. That means if you want to dedicate it to drinks instead of meats, you can only use it for something that has to be around that temperature.

As for ovens, what I'd really love to have in a kitchen would be a double wall oven, but I just can't justify the much higher cost... especially when you add in that you need to buy a range top too! So, I've been looking at double-oven ranges instead, and I'm thinking about the LG 6.9 cu. ft. gas model. I was originally leaning toward electric, but a friend pushed me toward gas.

As for microwaves, I wasn't really too sure what I wanted for the longest time. However, I'm strongly leaning toward an over-the-range model. Now, I was originally planning on getting a proper range hood, but I did find an LG 2.2 cu. ft. model that goes up to 400 CFM and can extend to cover more of the range. Although, my only question would be... how loud is that microwave's 400 CFM vs. a real range hood's 400 CFM? To note, most of the decent OTR microwaves can be vented outside.

As for the dishwasher, I was originally looking at Bosch, but if I buy all four LG appliances, I can get a $300 rebate, which sounds kind of nice. Although, the only thing that pushes me away from LG on the dishwasher is that Bosch units seem to get a little bit higher review scores.

If you want to get an idea, here are the four that I was looking at (I'll link to them at Best Buy)...
Dishwasher
Microwave
Fridge
Stove

 

[herm0016]

a real range hood will be 600+ cfm, and will be quieter. Check craigslist for great deals on double ovens, you can pick up a high end one for less than half the new cost. we went with a built in microwave in an upper cabinet. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Summit-A...BfiI0vYrSL0-rkK3EFWH6bXQipJGpB0vxkaAhmw8P8HAQ much better than a vent hood/microwave combo.
we just did not have enough wall space, otherwise we would have gone this route as well, over our Dacor duel fuel range. We even got a 1200 dollar kohler sink for 200 and a free kohler stainless faucet.

ex cl appliances:
viking wall oven: http://denver.craigslist.org/app/5628135489.html 550
sub zero: http://denver.craigslist.org/ppd/5627651774.html 1750
cooktop: http://denver.craigslist.org/app/5609136622.html 500
dishwasher: http://denver.craigslist.org/ppd/5615878831.html 300
sink: http://denver.craigslist.org/app/5622128137.html 300

this would make a great kitchen for 3 grand, new cost for this would be more like 15k.


we did our whole kitchen from the studs out, including removing structural walls for less then just our fridge would cost new.

 

[dum]

I bought an LG french-door with bottom freezer when I moved a year ago. The only issue I've had with it so far is the compressor for the freezer icing over once but that was a quick (and apparently common for that model) warranty fix.

The in-door ice maker isn't all that great. We have a lot of problems with the ice freezing together into a big mass or all sitting to one side so the maker thinks the bin is full and won't make any ice.

 

[shimpster]

Kenmore Appliances is a brand of household appliances sold by Sears since 1913.

The products are currently produced by manufacturers such as Whirlpool, GE, Panasonic, Sanyo, LG, Bosch, Electrolux, and Mabe Mexico.

Most appliances are just labeled as a particular brand, with only a few manufacturers making all of them.

 

[dphantom]

I have always bought kenmore. Sears usually has better deals in my experience and the kenmore units are all name brand stuff anyway such as whirlpool or frigidaire. We are building a new house now and just bought a kitchen package plus washer and dryer - all kenmore.

 

[x26]

We're shopping for some new appliances and there are so many choices it feels like a crap shoot. Right now we have a samsung fridge, which for the most part is well built but we've had problems with the ice maker. We're looking for new appliances, fridge, stove, nuker and dishwasher. A few musts:

Only requirement is that the fridge has a reliable icemaker/filtered water dispenser. We really like black stainless steel. Other than that, we have no idea what brands are good. I'm leaning towards LG for the fridge/dishwasher. Fridgedaire has some cool looking stuff, but I guess they all do. Any particular brands you guys prefer or recommend.

I love my Kitchen aide Refrigerator--great ice and filtered water--7 years old no Probs. It's the High-End version of Whirlpool--nice Features and build quality.

The Builder used GE appliances--which have held up well-and a Jennair Cooktop.

I personally would stay away from Samsung/LQ stuff.

Good Luck!

 

[BarkingGhostar]

The higher end you go in the consumer models the less reliable the are IMO. Unless you are looking at a Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Vulcan, etc then don't get pulled in by the higher end models. You can find parts for the lower end stuff on eBay easily. Some of the Asian brands are extremely hard to find parts for like LG and Samsung.

I have not experienced this. I had both a $400 frig and a $1800 frig. While I have not had to have the $400 frig repairs, the icemaker and freezer is crap. Want ice? Its one lump or one lump from day one--since turned the icemaker off. The only repair on the $1800 frig cost me ~$80 and that was ~10 years ago.

 

[bamx2]

Whirlpool is my preference.

 

[soulcougher73]

We have whirlpool throughout. No real issues so far.

 

[RagingBITCH]

We're shopping for some new appliances and there are so many choices it feels like a crap shoot. Right now we have a samsung fridge, which for the most part is well built but we've had problems with the ice maker. We're looking for new appliances, fridge, stove, nuker and dishwasher. A few musts:

Only requirement is that the fridge has a reliable icemaker/filtered water dispenser. We really like black stainless steel. Other than that, we have no idea what brands are good. I'm leaning towards LG for the fridge/dishwasher. Fridgedaire has some cool looking stuff, but I guess they all do. Any particular brands you guys prefer or recommend.

tsb - what model number did you have? We had a Samsung we bought in '13 which had icemaker issues too. Long story short, Lowes refunded our money fully thanks to the extended warranty...it's now our garage fridge.

Anyway back to your original topic - we bought a LG fridge to replace that. In our recent kitchen remodel, Jenn-Air for gas cooktop, Kitchenaid for dishwasher and beverage center.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I've been out of town this wknd w/o good service. The wife is prob not going to go for used stuff on CL, but we're not loyal to any store either. We haven't had time yet, but we were probably going to check out sears and see what they have. We bought our washer dryer from there and they had decent prices but that was 2-3 years ago. At this point, I'm leaning towards Bosch for dishwasher and countertop stove. Maybe even the double oven. For the fridge, I'm going to look into kitchenaide or whirlpool for the fridge. I've never heard of Jenn-Air, I'll look into that as well.

Raging - I don't remember the model but I'll look into it. I pretty much busted the ice maker trying to pull the stupid tray out when the ice froze into a solid clump and stopped using it since.

 

[Aikouka]

Long story short, Lowes refunded our money fully thanks to the extended warranty...it's now our garage fridge.

They let you keep the old fridge?

Anyway back to your original topic - we bought a LG fridge to replace that. In our recent kitchen remodel, Jenn-Air for gas cooktop, Kitchenaid for dishwasher and beverage center.

How do you like the LG fridge?

a real range hood will be 600+ cfm, and will be quieter. Check craigslist for great deals on double ovens, you can pick up a high end one for less than half the new cost.

Hm... it is definitely a lot cheaper, but there's one problem... it's like a used car in that you'll usually never get exactly what you want. For example, I was looking at black stainless steel appliances, but the one that I found online is a white double wall oven. If you just want to add something to an older kitchen and don't care as much about cohesion or looks, then $300 for a double wall oven (albeit, no guarantee about the state of the item) is pretty awesome!

 

[RagingBITCH]

They let you keep the old fridge?



How do you like the LG fridge?

Yep. It was about a 6 month beating of calls to service companies coming out replacing parts that had already been replaced and calls into corporate, but they eventually refunded us our full purchase price and we kept it. It's now an extremely large beer fridge in the garage :O

We love our LG...got the biggest one they had w/ dual ice maker and the door in door. Door in door is a fantastic option btw.

Oh, we also went KA for our combo microwave/oven as well, forgot to put that in my original post.

 

[Subyman]

I have not experienced this. I had both a $400 frig and a $1800 frig. While I have not had to have the $400 frig repairs, the icemaker and freezer is crap. Want ice? Its one lump or one lump from day one--since turned the icemaker off. The only repair on the $1800 frig cost me ~$80 and that was ~10 years ago.

I wasn't talking about trash level like a $400 fridge. Low end consumer fridges range from 800-1400 IMO.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Bought a Kenmore Elite fridge last year when I bought my house. No issues to date (only a year old though). Replaced a loud Samsung dishwasher with a Kenmore Elite (beyond quiet). Again, no issues, but only 6 months old.

Will eventually replace the double ovens, stove and microwave. Won't hesitate to get Kenmore Elite. Can always get some sort of super sale/coupons at Sears.