What Brand of Kitchen Appliances Do You Depend On?

[dk001]

Was Amana / Frigidaire then switched to LG.
Going back to Amana or Frigidaire. Matter of fact all is back except the fridge. One more repair call and it will be ... (lemon law).

 

[Glideslope]

Amana for refrigerator and stove. Bosch for dishwasher. Maytag for Washer and dryer.

 

[Huntn]

We recently took receipt of a new Frigidaire FFJB2705T refrigerator, 27CF made in Mexico, purchased from Home Depot on sale for $2200 + a 5 year warranty, $300. My observation is that so far we like it but, I've already noticed an issue with the ice maker where it seemed to jam up on the crushed ice setting. For this configuration it seems to be a common problem and here is the issue.

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When we had a side by side Kenmore, the left side is frozen, the right side is refrigerated. (Still have that fridge, but it is headed to the garage.) With the ice maker on the left the ice stays cold no problem, yet the distribution of frozen food on a bunch of narrow width shelves can be inconvenient. On the new fridge, the freezer is on the bottom, nice and wide, plenty of space.

For this new configuration, the ice maker sits in the refrigerated portion of the fridge, and there appears to be a vent in the back that blow cold air into this ice maker, but it appears to be susceptible by virtue of sitting in the refrigerated space, the ice can freee up. One thing very noticeable, with the original fridge, ice came out completely frozen, while with the new fridge the ice comes out wet, ie not as cold.

This happened to me the other day on the crushed ice setting. Now is this a matter of the ice crusher being weaker than the previous fridge? I don't know. To fix it, I switched it to cubed ice and that seemed powerful enough to power through and dispense, some cubed ice. When I put it back to the crushed setting it worked. I also dropped the temp of the refrigerated part from 37F to 35F to see if that might help the ice maker stay cold.

One thing that does impress me is this energy rating.

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[0128672]

View attachment 1761677

Miele. They are a German brand, and most of their products are still made in Germany.

Their washing machines in particular are the best you can buy: they use cast-iron ballast weights instead of concrete, and stainless steel tubs instead of plastic like most other brands.

We’ve been using their products for 40+ years with very few issues.

Like many brands though, I don’t think their latest stuff is quite as well made as the older stuff. For example, last year their cheapest couple of washing machine models switched to composite/plastic tubs, so caveat emptor.

Edit: forgot to mention that Steve Jobs chose Miele appliances for his own home…

I'm a Miele fan too. Although not a kitchen appliance, I've had a Miele vacuum cleaner going on 11 years. It might be a Titan but I can't recall the exact model. It's never needed service, the hose is in excellent shape, and continues to work as quietly and efficiently as the day I bought it.

 

[splifingate]

Finish:
Don't get stainless steel anything. It scratches easily and looks horrible after a while. Painted surfaces, porcelain and glass hold up much better.

Amen to that, velocityg4

Regards, splifingate

 

[splifingate]

bit late to the Party, but I've been very happy with my Whirlpool fridge (M# WRS571CIDM01; purchased in 2017) . . .

. . . the water/ice disp. from the freezer side is nice, and the fridge volume is quite satisfactory . . . I am now planning for a dedicated freezer, as the volume for pre-pared foods in containers (in the freezer-side) has become a challenge.

Not the fault of the freezer, mind; just my increased need for more space.

The Amana dishwasher is very effective, but it really does not effectively dry the dishes.

I may try a Maytag, as my Centennial side-by-side W/D units (electric; purchased in 2017 (from Lowes (!))) have been exemplary.

I plan to upgrade to a NG stove in the near future, and my mind is already blown with the price-points for something with a good door seal . . . sub-1K units with a silicone seal don't fill me with confidence . . . .

On another note, my SO blew the guts of my (Sears) Hoover canister vacuum (the very best appliance I have ever purchased (outside the 1990's Braun coffee-bean grinder)), so I snagged a used unit off eBay, and Frankenstein'ed it back from oblivion.

I still have a Sears catalogue from the 40's my Dad gifted me, and there were three types of houses one could purchase . . . *sigh* . . . were it what it were :/

Regards, splifingate

 

[JagdTiger]

I am looking masticating juicer for my kitchen. does anyone have?

I did have a Samson juicer, it worked well, a masticating juicer is one of the best ways to extract fruit because it does not destroy the enzymes or bacteria we need...the blade juicers create too much heat and end up destroying/pasteurizing the much needed enzymes and bacteria for are intestinal tract.

 

[rluvbeach]

we just bought a bosch dishwasher and it is the best one we've had. paid a little more but worth it.

 

[Euroamerican]

I don't have a favorite currently, but I've tried to assure reliability is the top priority rather than looks or feature set.

Leaning AGAINST Samsung of late, after horror stories about refrigerators that friends have purchased.

 

[Abstract]

Don’t depend on one brand!

Dishwasher: Bosch Series 8 is supposedly the top of the top. I’ve owned one and used it for 1.5 years, but we left it when we sold our house.
Our newly built house included a Smeg, which has been amazing. In fact, I’d say it’s as good at cleaning as the Bosch Series 8, but not as user friendly.
The LG we lived in for 6 months was awful at cleaning dishes — its only job. ?

Fridge: It’s all about the compressor. This may not be easy to get, but Mitsubishi makes the best fridges because they use the best conpressor.
Everyone else is using similar, “standard” quality conpressors (or worse), with design and “bells and whistles” being the differentiators.
??‍♂️ They’d be rare/impossible to get in the US, but they are the best.

We own a Fisher & Paykel, which has been great. I didn’t want Mitsubishi because it (and Samsungs, LGs) are deep and narrow, too deep for our fridge space. It would stick out, and leave gaps on the side.

Fisher & Paykel made wide fridges that aren’t as deep. ? Fits our kitchen so well.

Whirlpool is passable.


Laundry machine: A “Made in Germany” Bosch, or a Miele. Miele is as good, if not THE best around, but also expensive. There are other very good brands, but you really don’t need anything more than a Bosch.

Vacuum: Miele C3 Cat & Dog. Best of the best. A bagged vacuum is better at cleaning than a bag-less brand like Dyson. I like the Dyson stick-vac, but not as a primary vacuum, and not if you have allergies.

The C2 is just as good at vacuuming, but is “less good” in some minor ways. It’s way cheaper, and is what I own.

Everything else is worse.


Stove and oven: Mine are both Smeg, and both have been excellent. Love my oven. The stove uses gas, and looks stunning.

If I had my choice though, I would have bought a Miele induction cooktop, and an oven from….Smeg? Not sure. ?

 

[rluvbeach]

My wife has a cleaning business, she‘s a big fan of shark vacuums both on performance and price

 

[ejb190]

My wife has a cleaning business, she‘s a big fan of shark vacuums both on performance and price

My MIL is a cleaner and loves her Hoover upright. We have a Shark for one reason. My wife had a stroke many years ago and only has use of one hand. On the Shark the releases for the wand "click open" allowing it to be removed with one hand instead of holding the latch open and pulling the wand with the other hand. It's the only brand that had that feature.

You wouldn't usually think of Best Buy as an appliance store, but recently we replaced our washer and dryer. Lowe's was a month out, but BB had the same models in stock for $30 cheeper. So you never know.

 

[TheBeefChief]

My partner absolutely loves the Joseph Joseph range and we tend to steer towards them. The problem is they are so expensive so only tend to buy them when they are on offer or in a sale. The build quality is amazing and I haven't had to replace any of them as of yet.

 

[AJK13K]

Wolf/Sub Zero. Oven, Grill, Hobs/ Fridge ... Expensive but none better
Dyson/Miele portable and heavy vac, fans and air purifiers
Asko washer and dryer
Bosch dish washer
Mini Vivaldi II 2 boiler espresso machine


On the occasion of my last move. We went for what we always wanted. Expensive but no regrets.

Art k

 

[orbital~debris]

why in the world do I need a frig that uses a camera and display to show me the insides of the frig when a simple opening of the door reveals that.

I think one of the reasons is to conserve energy usage. If you are only opening the fridge to check what you have/don't have (maybe so you know if you need to buy some more milk at the supermarket), then lots of cool air is lost and needs to be regenerated.

Obviously, conserving energy has two big benefits – saves you money, reduces anthropogenic climate change (if your energy source uses fossil fuels).

Besides, you don't need an over-engineered camera method, some (e.g. LG) have technology allowing glass panels to switch from black to transparent.

 

[maflynn]

I think one of the reasons is to conserve energy usage. If you are only opening the fridge to check what you have/don't have (maybe so you know if you need to buy some more milk at the supermarket), then lots of cool air is lost and needs to be regenerated.

How much cold air is being lost when opening the door, vs. the amount of energy needed to create the components and also the amount of pollution produced in such production? Dare I say its probably more energy and pollution then someone opening the door every so often ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit: Let me rephrase what I'm trying to say: The cost, in both the energy and pollution creation, for the production of the components, and parts needed for such a feature far out weigh, any miniscule energy used by opening the door. More so, the energy requirements needed to power these is a consideration as well. While it may not be a lot, the energy draw is 24x7, where as a door opening is infrequent most of the time.

 

[orbital~debris]

How much cold air is being lost when opening the door, vs. the amount of energy needed to create the components and also the amount of pollution produced in such production? Dare I say its probably more energy and pollution then someone opening the door every so often ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edit: Let me rephrase what I'm trying to say: The cost, in both the energy and pollution creation, for the production of the components, and parts needed for such a feature far out weigh, any miniscule energy used by opening the door. More so, the energy requirements needed to power these is a consideration as well. While it may not be a lot, the energy draw is 24x7, where as a door opening is infrequent most of the time.

Yes, I considered some of those aspects as well. I think I was basing my point of view on the fact that refrigerator manuals always advise keeping the door closed when there is a power-cut/outage, which suggests that the cool air can be quickly lost if the door is opened.

The truth is, I don't know. But I'd quite like to find out. I tend to fall on the side that the power required to re-cool the air lost is more energy-intensive than the current that alters the state of the glass opacity (which may be, if well-engineered, just energy that's already required but routed efficiently). You're right that component creation is a factor that needs to be taken into account.

I think the trouble is, these 'whatabouts' and the like, they tend to allow someone to entrench their existing views, and just stay static instead of moving with the latest science-based knowledge. I am open to being wrong, if informed about factors I'd not taken into account.

 

[maflynn]

Yes, I considered some of those aspects as well. I think I was basing my point of view on the fact that refrigerator manuals always advise keeping the door closed when there is a power-cut/outage, which suggests that the cool air can be quickly lost if the door is opened.

I think there's a requirement to keep food fresh for 24 hours in the event of a power outage. Opening the door does impact that ability, hence they tell people to avoid that when they can when there's a power outage. I think the amount of cold being lost to opening the door is miniscule, but will add up during a black out. When there's power, there's probably a barely perceived blip in needing to maintain temps - compared to the power needs for a display, camera, and lights.

 

[orbital~debris]

I think there's a requirement to keep food fresh for 24 hours in the event of a power outage. Opening the door does impact that ability, hence they tell people to avoid that when they can when there's a power outage. I think the amount of cold being lost to opening the door is miniscule, but will add up during a black out. When there's power, there's probably a barely perceived blip in needing to maintain temps - compared to the power needs for a display, camera, and lights.

Yep, good points.

But, I think you may be talking about a different tech to me with the view-inside models; AFAIK there's no camera or display, just a glass panel that can go from opaque to transparent. If the lights are modern LED there's low energy use there (and hardly any inefficiency from light–>heat radiation).

 

[HDFan]

Wolf/Sub Zero. Oven, Grill, Hobs/ Fridge ... Expensive but none better

You have to be careful. Some of these high end appliances actually have poor ratings according to Consumer Reports.

I had a Samsung range that had so many repairs that it had to be replaced by the service contract. On the other hand my Samsung side by side refrigerator freezer is about at its expected life time and still going strong, other than parts for broken shelves not being available. Thank heavens for duct tape.

My top of the line Bosch dishwasher has now failed for the second time in about a year since purchase. Luckily I learned always to have a service contract on my dishwashers as they keep failing on me in their infancy.

 

[danny_w]

We just bought a new house and all of the appliances are Whirlpool. We bought a Whirlpool French door fridge to match, but got an LG washer/dryer pair. We love the fridge so far, and the LG set is going well so far. This is our first front load washer and dryer and research showed that LG was at the top in the category. It seems that Whirlpool is tops in reliability for kitchen appliances.

We had a Samsung fridge previously and it was a huge piece of junk. We bought it shortly after they started selling in the US, and we were sorry; should have waited to see all of the horror stories but at the time there were very few reviews. We will NEVER buy another!

 

[I7guy]

We just swapped out a bunch of stuff.
- rheem seer 18 gas furnace and a/c for a 25 year old rheem model AC and old oil furnace
- kenmore washer and electric dryer were replaced with Samsung washer and gas WiFi models.
- old kenmore electric cooktop for a gas kitchen aide cooktop
- 2 year old LG dishwasher for a kitchen aide model
- old GE microwave and oven wall combo for a kitchen aide double oven
- new sharp microwave with a moving drawer and swing out control panel
- new Koehler sink with touch less faucet
- the only appliance kept was a side by side LG refrigerator that had the compressor replaced under warranty.

Lots of things changed since this: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...iances-do-you-depend-on.2225847/post-28266739

 

[Erza Xcarlet]

For decades we (Wife and I) have purchased Sears, Kenmore Appliances. When we remodeled our kitchen in 2015, we purchased a gas stove top, and wall oven, a no brainer. Lately we have been thinking of replacing our 25CF refridgeratir with a 28-29 CF model, however, Sears is struggling, they are about to close the local Sears brick and mortar store, and I went to Sears.com and found some distrubing reviews.

Yes, you have to take reviews with a grain of salt, but all the reviews I saw there were bad, from the refrigerator was noisy when it runs, to a graphite model, the texture started pealing within 2 years, to it broke under 2 years, with a 1 year warrant and it would have been $900 to fix.

I realize Kenmore has always been a brand made by other manufacturers, but I’m wondering if these manufacturers are now making crap for Kenmore? I have to say the Kenmore prices currently on sale are excellent, but if you are buying junk... ?

Anyway we are not looking for the most expensive, but want good quality. We are going to Lowe’s tomorrow to look at a 28CF Samsung, French Doors with freezer on bottom for $1700. Oh, and my wife wants a white finish.
What say you?

French Door with bottom freezer and white finishing will be great

 

[Huntn]

French Door with bottom freezer and white finishing will be great

White is currently out as a style. We went with
Post in thread 'What Brand of Kitchen Appliances Do You Depend On?'
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...iances-do-you-depend-on.2225847/post-30164464

Of note 6 months later, no problems with ice maker, but one thing I do is after dispensing crushed ice, I switch it back to cubed and dispense some of that as if it keeps the unit clearer, less likely to freeze up and jam.

 

[tzhu07]

I'd just like to know what people's personal experiences have been.

All of my appliances are still running since 2004:
- fridge
- range
- microwave (built-in)
- dishwasher
- laundry washer
- dryer

They are all GE branded appliances.