I went appliance shopping the other day.
...And I took 15 pages of notes!
Yep, I spent close to 3 hours at the local Home Depot and Lowe's stores trying to get some basic ideas for our kitchen and laundry appliances.
I don't know where we'll eventually buy our appliances from, but I simply wanted to get some general information about the products available on the market today.
As I inspected, opened, closed, turned, sized, and photographed practically every appliance that the Home Depot had on display (their selection was about 1/3 that of the Lowe's store), I jotted down notes about each one in my 5x7 notebook. I'll be sharing my notes about the specific appliances in future articles, but I just thought I'd give the general overview at this point.
I was mostly interested in two things:
#1 Overall Dimensions -- I was hoping to get a better idea about how much space to allow for the appliances in our laundry room and kitchen cabinetry design.
#2 Overall Quality -- How flimsy were the drawers? How easy did the doors open & close? How effective was the door seal at keeping out air? How solid does the product seem overall?... which would determine how long the product was likely to last in our home. How do the manufacturers compare?
I learned a lot! ...
The Brands I Inspected:
- Bosch
- Frigidare
- GE
- LG
- Maytag
- Samsung
The Brands I Favored Overall:
GEMaytag
The Brands In Our Home Right Now
We currently have all GE Profile products in our kitchen (...now almost 6 years old, and practically trouble-free). And a Sear's Kenmore washer & dryer (...nearly 16 years old, and absolutely trouble-free).
First Impressions While Appliance Shopping
My first thoughts were... We didn't pick the GE Profile products in our current home, our builder did. Probably because they were the most economical. But, as it turns out, they may also be the best quality, too.
When I set out to explore appliances, I was so sure I would be coming home to break the news to Jim that we would be spending a lot more on "expensive" appliances for a change -- because I thought I would love the Bosch and/or the LG products that I've heard so much about.
Nope. Quite the contrary. This visit merely confirmed for me that the old tried & true appliances with the familiar names of Maytag and GE may, in fact, be the best choices for us.
For what it's worth... the sales rep at Home Depot said that Whirlpool recently purchased Maytag.
I was excited to learn more about Bosch and LG because I've seen so many of their commercials on TV lately. And their products have also been in all of the leading magazines, too -- not only in the paid advertisements, but in the articles as "recommended products", as well.
I think one of the reasons their products are all the rage is because they're coming out with "the first this" on a washing machine, or "the most that" on a refrigerator. You get the idea.
But believe it or not, I was not impressed by either Bosch or LG. Each had one or two things that I liked. But overall... no way!
Now for some examples...
Bosch's Washer & Dryer Combo
CON:- the doors don't close easily or accurately on the handful of Bosch's I examined
- the controls are on TOP of the unit, rather than on the front -- which means I wouldn't be able to place a countertop for folding clothes on top of these units
- more expensive
- the detergent & fabric softener compartment seemed the most sturdy and solid among all of the brands.
LG's Washer & Dryer Combo
CON:- cheaper look & feel close-up
- surprisingly "plasticy" in overall appearance
- more expensive
PRO:
- I liked their washing machines & clothes dryers far more than their refrigerators and other kitchen appliances
...So, there weren't a ton of differences, but the little things really made an impression on me. More often than not, it was the lack of any "wow factor", that was accompanied by a much higher price tag.
GE & Maytag Win Hands Down
Overall, GE (mostly their Profile line) and Maytag (also sold as Whirlpool) have kitchen appliances, washers and dryers that seem far superior to me than all of the other brands I looked at.
UPDATE 12/4/07:
Check out these tips for dishwasher shopping ...and see the top ranking dishwashers.
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Joe,
Thanks for the advice to limit vibration in our w/d.
Sorry to hear about your house being destroyed.
RE: "Make sure the hoses used are the premium reinforced, high pressure ones as you don't want a water leak there. The biggest insurance claims for water damage is the toilet feed line breaking and the washer hose."
Yep...unfortunately we've been down that road, too, and now have the reinforced hoses. We had an insurance claim but nothing like yours. We were there in the house when it happened and were able to limit the damage somewhat. The upside to that whole fiasco is that it led to our decision to replace the carpet in the entire house with hardwood flooring (the majority of which we footed the bill for...obviously). The carpet was on its' last leg anyway.
Thanks Joe
Addressing Randy's problems with viabration is interesting to address since many home would be more convenient with the washer on the second floor. . We have the exact same Kenmore washer sitting on Concrete with no problem. The repairman is probably correct that the floor is causing a resonance. You could try placing a sheet of 3/4 plywood screwed to the floor under the washer and even doubling this up to add "mass" to the base to see if this helps. The pedestal probably amplifies the viabration at certain cycles of the spinning that would not be apparent on a concrete floor. One of the thick rubber mats sold at Sams for standing on might help but dampening out viabrations is a real trial and error problem and the wrong rubber can make it worse as far as allowing shaking.
Make sure the hoses used are the premium reinforced, high pressure ones as you don't want a water leak there. The biggest insurance claims for water damage is the toilet feed line breaking and the washer hose. The toilet line broke in my home while away and put 130,000 gallons of water through the house destroying it.
Joe
Yep...I agree with Joe. We went to Home Depot and Lowe's and found the same brands and variety as you discovered. HD's selection left us wanting and Lowe's was fair. That's when we decided to step on over to BrandSmart (don't go there...bunch of sharks lurking in the sales staff) and then to Sears. There motto of "Brand Central" held true. We've purchased our Kenmore Elite high capacity w/d pair and Kenmore gas range there and have been very happy with both. It does a fantastic job of washing, it's super, super quiet and uses very little energy and water. My wife wishes the dryer would dry clothes as fast as the washer washes them but I guess that is fairly standard.
The only annoyance with the washer is that we bought the pedestals to make them sit high and when it is in high speed spin cycle, there is some vibration. The washer tries to automatically even out the load before going into spin cycle but doesn't always get the job done. We called out the repairman soon after we bought it and he determined it was in perfect working order. He checked it from top to bottom and said that the reason it was vibrating was because it was on the second level of our home and that the floor was actually "giving in" to the vibration of the uneven load. We would have to reinforce the floor more or move the pair to the basement/terrace level for a solid surface.
I asked him if the pedestal might have something to do with the vibration and he said that it could certainly amplify the vibration but he didn't have any data to back that up.
Anyway, thought I would throw that in there for you.
Joe -
Wow... I had NO idea. Thanks.
We will definitely be investigating water softeners for our new log home. My parents always had one. And Jim's parents always had one. I've just never asked them WHY they installed their water softeners.
Thanks again for the helpful info, Joe!
Lynnette,
I rebuilt a house that had been on well water in Michigan that didn't have any type of filtration nor water softening. The sprinkler water had left a iron oxide "red" coating on the outside windows and stained the walls. The pipes inside were halfway blocked with "gunk" and had to be totally replaced. In Florida,the neighbors well water used for sprinklers, smells like rotten eggs. Even our FL city water is so hard it leaves spots on everything. I don't know what TN water quality is like and that may also depend on how deep the well head is.
Water softner units are the way around this and there is a GE unit softner that sells for around $400 that is automatic. The softer the water, the less shampoo and laundry soap is needed. The in line, large filters needed for odor and sediment are not very expensive but need to be replaced on schedule since they are a source of bacteria when no chlorine is present. Many homeowners forget to do this with their ice maker filters which can lead to serious health problems. Most new refridgerators have an internal filter ($40.00) which needs to be changed at least once a year.
Some people split the incoming well water pipe for unconditioned sprinkler water (need to watch the wall and driveway staining) and then soften and filter the house water. Make sure filtered water is available for car washing to avoid the water spotting.
Joe
Hi Joe,
Yeah, the Kenmore is what we've had for 16 years (washer & dryer) and they've treated us VERY well. I just haven't ventured over to Sears yet to see what they've got lately. Will do.
And nope, I haven't researched anything about water softening & filtering. Anything specific I need to look for, based on your own research?
Take a look at the Sears Kenmore brand for washer and dryers which I believe is made by Whirlpool but to Sears specifications. Also check with Consumer Reports as this is an area they are very good at analyzing.
Have you done any research on water softening and filtering equipment especially if you are going on well water?
Joe