High end kitchen appliances

[Bevo 13560]

The bar stuff is the area that is killing me - way overpriced. There are only about 3 manufacturers of drawer under counter refrigerators with ice maker and they are all $3500 minimum. I have limited space so I don’t really want to go with a refrigerator and separate ice maker. Plus, the cheapest separate units are Thor and Sapphire and they both come to about $3500 for both. The only other way to go is a refrigerator and countertop ice maker. I don’t have much knowledge of the countertop I’ve makers but the two highest rated ones GE Opal 2 and Gevi are about $500 so I wouldn’t save much money. 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Bevo

[Jerry Callo 8695]

25 year old dishwasher died yesterday (insert surly dishwasher joke here: ________________________).  Looks like I have a Bosch 800 in my near future.

[Texzilla58 4731]

Some of y’all live with some tiny ass refrigeration. I am not a French door fan. Got a 26’ sxs in the kitchen plus a 26’ sxs in the garage. And a 15’ upright freeze.

[Okie State 3804]

Those are some big fridges. My ceilings are only 9'.

[Jerry Callo 8695]

5 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

Some of y’all live with some tiny ass refrigeration. I am not a French door fan. Got a 26’ sxs in the kitchen plus a 26’ sxs in the garage. And a 15’ upright freeze.

Some of us are better planners.

[blacklab 11926]

Fridge died yesterday and it's 15 years old so probably not worth fixing and I've wanted a new one for a while anyway. Have a 42" space.

WTF

How is it I can get a 36" wide 28cuFt for $1100 but a 42" wide 24cuFt is $10,000?

And why can't I get a 42" wide 30 cuFt?

[Okie State 3804]

Welcome to the world of high end appliances. Prepare your anus.

[Bevo 13560]

37 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Fridge died yesterday and it's 15 years old so probably not worth fixing and I've wanted a new one for a while anyway. Have a 42" space.

WTF

How is it I can get a 36" wide 28cuFt for $1100 but a 42" wide 24cuFt is $10,000?

And why can't I get a 42" wide 30 cuFt?

It confused me also. It seems like I am better off with a 36” space for new construction. The built-ins are better quality, but you can buy 4 non-built ins for the price of 1 built in and get more space to boot. Seems like the only reason for built ins is to impress your guests who you never have over. 

[Chewbacca 7766]

19 hours ago, blacklab said:

Fridge died yesterday and it's 15 years old so probably not worth fixing and I've wanted a new one for a while anyway. Have a 42" space.

WTF

How is it I can get a 36" wide 28cuFt for $1100 but a 42" wide 24cuFt is $10,000?

And why can't I get a 42" wide 30 cuFt?

42" will get you a 24" fridge and an 18" freezer column fridge.  Just don't look at the price tag...

[Texzilla58 4731]

Fridge died yesterday and it's 15 years old so probably not worth fixing and I've wanted a new one for a while anyway. Have a 42" space.
WTF
How is it I can get a 36" wide 28cuFt for $1100 but a 42" wide 24cuFt is $10,000?
And why can't I get a 42" wide 30 cuFt?

And both will keep your milk at the same 34 degrees. $10k should get you a walk in, but it don’t.

[Not that Bob 735]

On 3/15/2023 at 9:32 PM, Born to Run said:

Lot of truth here, we get lemons with every brand and because models evolve so quickly its hard to product research with any consistency. By the time the gremlins show up they've already modified the appliance and you are at year two with a piece of shit.

Make sure whomever is supplying the appliances has a great install team especially if you are doing inset or cabinet doors on the appliances. I won't use Fergusons in Austin for this. It's a painful disaster

Generally

Sucks: LG everything, Samsung fridges, anything Jenn Aire, I don't really fuck with lower end. GE Cafe is all over the place on quality and reliability.

Decent: Kitchenaid.

Usually Awesome: Bosch/ Thermador dish washers. The clean incredibly well and dry better if you open after cycle or have one that opens on its own- which most Miele do, and clean well. Most Miele have been reliable but a few problem models. Sub Zero is usually incredibly reliable. I just serviced a 48" that finally needed a compressor- I installed it in 2004. Bluestar has great customer service and I've had no issues with them so far.

If not Ferguson, who do you recommend for installs? 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Not that Bob

[Chewbacca 7766]

Anyone have experience with Miele dishwashers? We were going to go with Bosch 800 but Miele has new incentives where we get a dishwasher for free if we buy the 48" range and steam oven.

[CooterBrown 18002]

My fridge died after 12 years so I bought a new one last week. Not high end cause I don’t give a shit but I was happy to find out that they now make fridges with two ice makers. One in the door and large one in the lower freezer. It’s the simple things like never running out of ice that make me happy.

[Bevo 13560]

7 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Anyone have experience with Miele dishwashers? We were going to go with Bosch 800 but Miele has new incentives where we get a dishwasher for free if we buy the 48" range and steam oven.

Mine is perfect. No issues at all.

[Homercles 10205]

9 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

My fridge died after 12 years so I bought a new one last week. Not high end cause I don’t give a shit but I was happy to find out that they now make fridges with two ice makers. One in the door and large one in the lower freezer. It’s the simple things like never running out of ice that make me happy.

Wait until one breaks 

[Okie State 3804]

Anyone have experience with Miele dishwashers? We were going to go with Bosch 800 but Miele has new incentives where we get a dishwasher for free if we buy the 48" range and steam oven.

We like ours, but hasn't even been a year yet. Seems like a no brainer if it's free though, right?

[Doc Daneeka 6769]

10 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

My fridge died after 12 years so I bought a new one last week. Not high end cause I don’t give a shit but I was happy to find out that they now make fridges with two ice makers. One in the door and large one in the lower freezer. It’s the simple things like never running out of ice that make me happy.

Mine — not high end and also a brand oft-maligned here for refrigerators — also has two ice makers: one that makes largish “cubes” and one that makes smaller ones. Combined with my countertop nugget ice maker, we definitely have enough ice and none of them are in-door. 

[Da Fino 2772]

13 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Anyone have experience with Miele dishwashers? We were going to go with Bosch 800 but Miele has new incentives where we get a dishwasher for free if we buy the 48" range and steam oven.

No complaints with the dishwasher. Really love the range and will always have a 48 going forward. The steam oven is pretty awesome, we just don't get much use out of it. 

[Chewbacca 7766]

7 hours ago, Okie State said:

16 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Anyone have experience with Miele dishwashers? We were going to go with Bosch 800 but Miele has new incentives where we get a dishwasher for free if we buy the 48" range and steam oven.

We like ours, but hasn't even been a year yet. Seems like a no brainer if it's free though, right?

Yeah, I figure if it craps out, I'll just replace it with Bosch.

[Okie State 3804]

Yeah, I figure if it craps out, I'll just replace it with Bosch.

Yep. I think the Miele and Bosch models are both the smaller European designs too so I would think they are easy to swap out. The American models are a little larger.

[52-80 19147]

On 8/23/2023 at 5:29 PM, Okie State said:

On 8/22/2023 at 10:23 PM, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, I figure if it craps out, I'll just replace it with Bosch.

Yep. I think the Miele and Bosch models are both the smaller European designs too so I would think they are easy to swap out. The American models are a little larger.

its the girth that counts

had a seemingly inexplicable issue with a 1-week old Miele 7 series dishwasher, replacing a troublefree Bosch.  i had to snake out the drainage pipe and now everything functions fine again. is it coincidence that years of operation with the bosch never ran into a clog?

my main criteria for buying dishwasher was a function to automatically open and the vent the door after the cycle.  good for running machine overnight and not having moisture reaccumulate on the dishes

[Incredulity 11650]

6 hours ago, 52-80 said:

my main criteria for buying dishwasher was a function to automatically open and the vent the door after the cycle.

I need to look into this.

Fucking hate the Asko that we currently have.  It literally doesn't dry anything so being there to unload the dishwasher is important or everything is musty.  pisses me off.

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

I need to look into this.

Fucking hate the Asko that we currently have.  It literally doesn't dry anything so being there to unload the dishwasher is important or everything is musty.  pisses me off.

Bosch has it.  The biggest complaint I ever see with Bosch is the lack of drying.   Since it’s so quiet, we run it at night, and it pops open around 0100 or so. Everything is dry when I unload in the AM, no musty anything or residual water. Also, it’s not an issue at all unless you have plastic ware. When we no longer had little babies, the problem completely went away.  Before that, you’d just sandwhich each plastic plate between the porcelain plates and the heat would dry them.  

[uoftorange 1386]

About to replace the kitchen at the beginning of next year.  

My wife is set on Monogram stuff, anyone have experience with them?  I know it's GE's high end and it has great reviews.

I will say I just replaced an LG dryer with a SpeedQueen DR7004WE and it's incredible.  I'll be buying the matching washer as well.  

Edited August 31, 2023 by uoftorange

[cab948 69]

Getting ready to start a new build later on in our forever home.  Looking into a lot of the brands mentioned here, Blue Star, Wolf, Miele for the kitchen appliances.  Still trying to be halfway budget conscious but if I am overspending somewhere in the house, it will be in the kitchen since cooking something I really enjoy.    

We are about to start the hard budgeting process here in a month or two but if I needed to cut the budget a bit somewhere in the kitchen, would the fridge be the first place you would look in the kitchen?  After ready Surly, Reddit, etc. it just seems to be a general feeling that fridges now-a-days will have issues, even some of the higher end ones.  My thought process is run of mill standard fridge for a few years until it shits the bed or I am tired of it while saving up for a Sub Zero or the like.  This could free up a quick 10k in the budget if needed.   I am crazy in this thought process? 
 

I've also ran across a few other mid to high end brands that I have not really heard of.  Has anyone had any experience with Fisher & Paykel or SKS (Signature Kitchen Suite).   The latter seems to have a 5 day warranty repair that if anything happens under warranty, they try to fix it in under 5 days.  

[hornbri 1394]

I think I agree with that, whenever I have had a problem with a fridge it’s not with the basic functions like cooling and freezing. It’s something with the fucking water dispenser or filter or some other gadget. 

[blacklab 11926]

Yes, the fridge is probably where I would.

Our fridge crapped out a few months ago and we have space for a 42" so I started looking at high end stuff like subzero.

What I found is they are 42" wide but not very deep so they end up being pretty small. I ended up with the biggest one I could find

https://www.whirlpool.com/kitchen/refrigeration/refrigerators/side-by-side/p.36-inch-wide-side-by-side-refrigerator-28-cu.-ft.wrs588fihz.html

a 28 cubic foot side by side. Most of the 42" were in the 20-24 cubic foot range.

The main reason for the 42" being really expensive are you can add shit to the front to make it look like your cabinets.

[locodos 5387]

nvrmnd

Edited February 28 by locodos

[dcbc 14465]

2 hours ago, cab948 said:

Getting ready to start a new build later on in our forever home.  Looking into a lot of the brands mentioned here, Blue Star, Wolf, Miele for the kitchen appliances.  Still trying to be halfway budget conscious but if I am overspending somewhere in the house, it will be in the kitchen since cooking something I really enjoy.    

We are about to start the hard budgeting process here in a month or two but if I needed to cut the budget a bit somewhere in the kitchen, would the fridge be the first place you would look in the kitchen?  After ready Surly, Reddit, etc. it just seems to be a general feeling that fridges now-a-days will have issues, even some of the higher end ones.  My thought process is run of mill standard fridge for a few years until it shits the bed or I am tired of it while saving up for a Sub Zero or the like.  This could free up a quick 10k in the budget if needed.   I am crazy in this thought process? 
 

I've also ran across a few other mid to high end brands that I have not really heard of.  Has anyone had any experience with Fisher & Paykel or SKS (Signature Kitchen Suite).   The latter seems to have a 5 day warranty repair that if anything happens under warranty, they try to fix it in under 5 days.  

 

This one keeps your food cold for $600.  This one keeps your food cold for $800 . . . .

 

Edited February 28 by dcbc

[thunderlounge 7813]

I can say this:

Do NOT get Samsung or  LG.  They WILL crap out quick, and getting someone to fix them is a pain in the ass. (While your food goes bad.)

For basic consumer brands: whirlpool/kitchen aid/ GE. 
 

 

[Chewbacca 7766]

5 hours ago, cab948 said:

Getting ready to start a new build later on in our forever home.  Looking into a lot of the brands mentioned here, Blue Star, Wolf, Miele for the kitchen appliances.  Still trying to be halfway budget conscious but if I am overspending somewhere in the house, it will be in the kitchen since cooking something I really enjoy.    

We are about to start the hard budgeting process here in a month or two but if I needed to cut the budget a bit somewhere in the kitchen, would the fridge be the first place you would look in the kitchen?  After ready Surly, Reddit, etc. it just seems to be a general feeling that fridges now-a-days will have issues, even some of the higher end ones.  My thought process is run of mill standard fridge for a few years until it shits the bed or I am tired of it while saving up for a Sub Zero or the like.  This could free up a quick 10k in the budget if needed.   I am crazy in this thought process? 
 

I've also ran across a few other mid to high end brands that I have not really heard of.  Has anyone had any experience with Fisher & Paykel or SKS (Signature Kitchen Suite).   The latter seems to have a 5 day warranty repair that if anything happens under warranty, they try to fix it in under 5 days.  

The big benefit to the high end fridges is the ability to make them panel ready and match your cabinets.  Much cleaner look than having a big stainless door, IMO.

[Brew 3049]

Kitchen remodels, my favorite thing. Hopefully, we’re two weeks out from being done. Decided to just go forward with it since we had the appliances. Fucking ridiculous what you it ended up costing, but it is what it is.

[Bevo 13560]

6 hours ago, Brew said:

Kitchen remodels, my favorite thing. Hopefully, we’re two weeks out from being done. Decided to just go forward with it since we had the appliances. Fucking ridiculous what you it ended up costing, but it is what it is.

Looks pretty good. I would add doors, though.

[52-80 19147]

4 hours ago, Bevo said:

Looks pretty good. I would add doors, though.

and a couple of broads

[52-80 19147]

16 hours ago, hornbri said:

I think I agree with that, whenever I have had a problem with a fridge it’s not with the basic functions like cooling and freezing. It’s something with the fucking water dispenser or filter or some other gadget. 

this is the problem.  you've got a fridge thats operating near/below freezing temperature, but you've also got motors and pumps and hydraulics working in it at the same time.

i would simply not buy a fridge-freezer with all that shit.

 

my miele dishwasher i bought because it has a 3rd arm which i thought would be better for cleaning the cutlery rack.  turns out it doesnt clean the cutlery rack all that well.

[Bevo 13560]

16 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

this is the problem.  you've got a fridge thats operating near/below freezing temperature, but you've also got motors and pumps and hydraulics working in it at the same time.

i would simply not buy a fridge-freezer with all that shit.

 

my miele dishwasher i bought because it has a 3rd arm which i thought would be better for cleaning the cutlery rack.  turns out it doesnt clean the cutlery rack all that well.

Do you have it on the short cycle that runs for 2 hours or the regular cycle?

[52-80 19147]

1 minute ago, Bevo said:

Do you have it on the short cycle that runs for 2 hours or the regular cycle?

i use auto, which in theory has an optical sensor that detects when things are clean based on the outgoing water. 

although i think sometimes the long cycle still leaves caked on coffee stains and such

[fattyflattie 4639]

19 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

I can say this:

Do NOT get Samsung or  LG.  They WILL crap out quick, and getting someone to fix them is a pain in the ass. (While your food goes bad.)

For basic consumer brands: whirlpool/kitchen aid/ GE. 
 

 

agree 100 on the samsung.  Longest lasting (modern) fridge I ever owned was an LG.  

[thunderlounge 7813]

4 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

agree 100 on the samsung.  Longest lasting (modern) fridge I ever owned was an LG.  

You’re the lucky one in a million. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

You’re the lucky one in a million. 

Could be. Probably where all my good luck went. 

[Brew 3049]

Samsung we had at our beach place was terrible. The condensation line ran down the back of the freezer and would constantly freeze causing water to back up into the bottom of the fridge. We have had zero issues with the Sub we had before this remodel. It was an older model and still worked like new.

[Spaulding Smails 1552]

On 2/28/2024 at 2:27 PM, cab948 said:

Getting ready to start a new build later on in our forever home.  Looking into a lot of the brands mentioned here, Blue Star, Wolf, Miele for the kitchen appliances.  Still trying to be halfway budget conscious but if I am overspending somewhere in the house, it will be in the kitchen since cooking something I really enjoy.    

We are about to start the hard budgeting process here in a month or two but if I needed to cut the budget a bit somewhere in the kitchen, would the fridge be the first place you would look in the kitchen?  After ready Surly, Reddit, etc. it just seems to be a general feeling that fridges now-a-days will have issues, even some of the higher end ones.  My thought process is run of mill standard fridge for a few years until it shits the bed or I am tired of it while saving up for a Sub Zero or the like.  This could free up a quick 10k in the budget if needed.   I am crazy in this thought process? 
 

I've also ran across a few other mid to high end brands that I have not really heard of.  Has anyone had any experience with Fisher & Paykel or SKS (Signature Kitchen Suite).   The latter seems to have a 5 day warranty repair that if anything happens under warranty, they try to fix it in under 5 days.  

You're making the right call.  Range >>>>> fridge.  Those tend to be the two biggest ticket items in the kitchen.  I'd splurge on a Wolf range and cut some budget with something in that middle of the road price range for the fridge.  We've had some good luck with GE Cafe refrigerators on projects the last several years.  Doesn't break the bank and looks pretty sharp. 

As @blacklab said, Thermador and SubZero are awesome if you can swing side-by-side 36" units or if you want to have them panel ready.  I'm a big fan of Bosch dishwashers.  Wolf and Thermador for the range.  Viking used to be the best range by a mile, but their quality has slipped some in recent years.  

[Chewbacca 7766]

Does anyone know anything about heated makeup air to use in conjunction with high cfm vent hoods?  We need to do this in the mountains and can't find anyone who knows anything about it.

[Bevo 13560]

12 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Does anyone know anything about heated makeup air to use in conjunction with high cfm vent hoods?  We need to do this in the mountains and can't find anyone who knows anything about it.

Are you talking about a HRV or ERV for the whole house or something specific for the vent hood? Aprilaire 8100 Energy Recovery Ventilator that can be purchased at Amazon is pretty good.

[Bevo 13560]

Here is a review https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/hrvs-ervs-for-passive-house . And none of the reviews that I looked at this morning mention Aprilaire so I may be wrong. Broan sound like the best bet because Zendher is ridiculously expensive. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/erv-selection