Range recommendation

[clifp]

So my trusted appliance repairmen just left with the news that my not even 5 year old range is beyond repairing. Evidently when it was installed there was enough of gab between the kitchen tile and the end of the range, the moisture from cleaning, boil over etc. seep into back of the unit and caused massive corrosion.

Now in the past, I've just gone to Sears and bought Kenmore appliance. But my last experience with Sear purchasing this range was such a customer service nightmare, several attempts and 6 weeks without working oven. That I am looking for someplace else.

I an obvious choice is Home Depot, or Loews but I have had no experience with purchasing appliances from them is I am wonder how their installation and service has been. Also any brand or model recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Gotadimple]

I recently bought Whirlpool Gold appliances - but not at the box stores. I found a reputable local appliance dealer. The price was pretty much the same as HD or Lowes, but the delivery and install was cheaper. Installer was very knowledgeable.

-- Rita

 

[brewer12345]

I have bought from Lowe's and local retailers and been happy.

 

[Dawg52]

This is what I would like to own one day. But I'm basically too cheap.

Cooking - Viking Range Corporation

 

[lemming]

All the appliance folks I have talked to this last month have told me things now last for 6-8years. Lowering expectations I guess.

I'm replacing a 15yr old dryer (harvest gold-might be the original one in a 1972 house.)Whirlpool seems to be the only US manufacturer. I'm not even looking at the front loaders-too many bad reviews online for LG and GE.

 

[utrecht]

Back in the early 80's I was a salesman at an appliance store (Highland Appliance for those who remember it). I don't know if its changed but back then Sears appliances where made by Whirlpool but to lower specs than the appliances that had the Whirlpool name on them.

 

[Leonidas]

Back in the early 80's I was a salesman at an appliance store (Highland Appliance for those who remember it). I don't know if its changed but back then Sears appliances where made by Whirlpool but to lower specs than the appliances that had the Whirlpool name on them.

We replaced all of our appliances last year and I discovered that there had been a lot of consolidation, mergers, sales, etc. among all the appliance companies. But they didn't change the names of the lines that were acquired. It was driving me crazy, because I would read conflicting reviews on the same line that sounded like completely different machines. I found some talkative and bored sales people at two different independent appliance stores who were willing to educate me on who made what, and which line was cheap, cheaper, cheapest. There was a lot of "Brand X made a great dishwasher, but they were acquired by Brand Z last year and now the Brand X is their bottom of the line discount line. They're total garbage." To keep them straight I made a chart (since trashed).

 

[73ss454]

We replaced our kitchen this year and went with a 36in Wolf range. DW just had to have the Red adjusting knobs on the front of the stove. Also went with a Sub Zero fridge and Miele dish washer.

 

[arebelspy]

We replaced all of our appliances last year and I discovered that there had been a lot of consolidation, mergers, sales, etc. among all the appliance companies. But they didn't change the names of the lines that were acquired. It was driving me crazy, because I would read conflicting reviews on the same line that sounded like completely different machines. I found some talkative and bored sales people at two different independent appliance stores who were willing to educate me on who made what, and which line was cheap, cheaper, cheapest. There was a lot of "Brand X made a great dishwasher, but they were acquired by Brand Z last year and now the Brand X is their bottom of the line discount line. They're total garbage." To keep them straight I made a chart (since trashed).

So the big question is... What did you end up with?

 

[check6]

I have purchased two white electric GE's off of Craigs' List for a rental and my own home for around $175 each. Cleaned them up and they look like new. Works great and the oven preheats much faster than my expensive Jenn Air I use in another home.

 

[pb4uski]

All the appliance folks I have talked to this last month have told me things now last for 6-8years. Lowering expectations I guess.

I'm replacing a 15yr old dryer (harvest gold-might be the original one in a 1972 house.)Whirlpool seems to be the only US manufacturer. I'm not even looking at the front loaders-too many bad reviews online for LG and GE.

We have had a set of LG washer/dryer for 2 years - no problems at all - quite happy with them. Perhaps we've been lucky.

 

[JakeBrake]

We replaced our 17 year old built-in Kitchenaid dishwasher with a new Kitchenaid we purchased from Lowes a couple of months ago. The installers furnished by Lowes were very knowlegeable and competent.

The new dishwasher cost only $100 more than the 17 year old model.

Theoretically, the new dishwasher is much more energy efficient than the old model, but it takes twice as long to wash a load of dishes.

Now, we are considering replacing our 27 year old electric range. I feel sure we will buy from Lowes, Home Depot, or a local appliance dealer.

 

[Leonidas]

So the big question is... What did you end up with?

Kitchen Aid for everything except fridge and cook-top (Micro/convection/conventional combination oven, warming drawer and dishwasher).

Since we were just replacing existing appliances, and those were 22-years-old, we were limited to what would fit in existing cutouts in cabinetry and island. Appliances have become larger over the years, and our choices might have been different if size had not been restricted.

Kitchen Aid was a good choice at the time. Cook-top is a JennAir because of size restrictions and because they had the only one in that size that had a high BTU burner.

Fridge is an LG french-door model. The refrigerator is the only appliance that I bought an extended warranty on. That goes against my usual style, but the record on reliability of fridges was all over the place. That was the one appliance I bought at Home Depot and I liked the terms and price on their extended warranty. For everything else I just created a repair/replacement fund and will hope I come out ahead on that decision.

Everything works great. The only issues we have had so far is that the super-duper high-BTU burner requires extra caution in cooking (that sucker is very hot), and I'm not crazy about emptying the food filter in the dishwasher. On the latter issue, I tried to get a unit with a disposer built in, but I couldn't find any available. Salesman said all the mfrs were going to filter style because of noise considerations.

Finally, the warming drawer was a great idea. We use it all the time, for warming and slow-cooking, and I can't imagine not owning one in any future houses we may live in.

 

[braumeister]

It's funny how the mind works in unexpected directions.
When I saw this thread title, I immediately thought about recommending the shooting range I belong to. We have more than ten different ranges on the property, including a 600-yard long range rifle range, so we're pretty proud of it.

 

[clifp]

The choices of shooting ranges in Honolulu is limited to I think exactly two one indoor geared for tourist. Unless I join the military or police not a viable option.

Sadly it looks like my choice for ranges are almost as limited. Much to my surprise in visiting Lowes, Home Depot , and Best Buy yesterday. Slide in ranges aren't very popular so I had one choice at both Home Depot, and Lowes. Lowes was expensive and they charge an extra $220 for installation Best Buy surprisingly had the best selection, they had a whole four models, plus the really pricy Vikings. Really it turns out there is only one model that had convection oven, and wasn't complete overkill for somebody who isn't serious cook like myself.


Of course I can always order via the internet and wait for 6 weeks for it to be shipped from the mainland. Oh well the price of paradise. The good news, with a microwave, toaster over, Foreman grill, and the ever popular eating out I won't
starve!

 

[Rambler]

clifp- we bought a GE Advantage slide, gas cooktop with gas convection/regular bake oven. It has been 6 years, and it is at our home in California. So, it doesn't get a whole lt of use, but we really like it. My only gripe about it is that it is hard to make the black glass top (below the cooking grates) look really clean. It takes a lot of elbow grease. But it can really cook. One high powered burner, and three pregressively smaller burners...the smallest being a simmer burner. I wanted an oven with natural bake in addition to convection, and I wanted it to burn gas, as we have blackouts fom time to time, but our solar has battery backup, which will light the stove, and we fuel it with propane. We also have a stack in the wall with a GE microwave, and an electric convection oven, from the same GE Advantage line. All have worked very well.

For other appliances, we went with an Electrolux fridge, won't do that again, a Top of the line GE Dishwasher, that you can barely hear when running -which we like, and a kitchen aide trash compactor. DW has decided she does not like the compactor, so we may replace it with an ice maker someday (we use lots of ice), or maybe we'll put an ice maker in the outdoor kitchen. BTW, we have a GE fridge in the outdoor kitchen as well. It is much more useable than the Electrolux, but it is white, and the indoor kitchen is all stainless, so I can't do he switcho-chango thingy.

R

 

[FIRE'd@51]

It's funny how the mind works in unexpected directions.
When I saw this thread title, I immediately thought about recommending the shooting range I belong to. We have more than ten different ranges on the property, including a 600-yard long range rifle range, so we're pretty proud of it.

Yep, my first thought was that this would be a post about golf driving ranges.

 

[ERD50]

Yep, my first thought was that this would be a post about golf driving ranges.

I thought it would be about the range of an Electric Vehicle.

-ERD50

 

[Nords]

Sadly it looks like my choice for ranges are almost as limited. Much to my surprise in visiting Lowes, Home Depot , and Best Buy yesterday. Slide in ranges aren't very popular so I had one choice at both Home Depot, and Lowes. Lowes was expensive and they charge an extra $220 for installation Best Buy surprisingly had the best selection, they had a whole four models, plus the really pricy Vikings. Really it turns out there is only one model that had convection oven, and wasn't complete overkill for somebody who isn't serious cook like myself.
Of course I can always order via the internet and wait for 6 weeks for it to be shipped from the mainland. Oh well the price of paradise. The good news, with a microwave, toaster over, Foreman grill, and the ever popular eating out I won't starve!

Pssst... Craigslist. We scored a nice Sears slide-in stainless steel oven with a black glass cooktop for $150 from a homeowner who didn't know how to take care of what she had.

Of course now that we're empty-nesters, we mainly cook with the microwave. I think our daughter used the oven in August to make a cake.

Yep, my first thought was that this would be a post about golf driving ranges.

Well, since everyone has a different connotation to the word, my brain's reflex response was "3000-4000 yards off the target's aft quarter, with good down Doppler and a possibility that it may take more than one MK48 ADCAP torpedo"...

 

[eytonxav]

We replaced our kitchen this year and went with a 36in Wolf range. DW just had to have the Red adjusting knobs on the front of the stove. Also went with a Sub Zero fridge and Miele dish washer.

Well, I guess you dropped a few de niro on those brands

 

[73ss454]

Well, I guess you dropped a few de niro on those brands

Yup, DW said I either get her what she wants or sell the Chevelle.

 

[JakeBrake]

The choices of shooting ranges in Honolulu is limited to I think exactly two one indoor geared for tourist. Unless I join the military or police not a viable option.

Sadly it looks like my choice for ranges are almost as limited. Much to my surprise in visiting Lowes, Home Depot , and Best Buy yesterday. Slide in ranges aren't very popular so I had one choice at both Home Depot, and Lowes. Lowes was expensive and they charge an extra $220 for installation Best Buy surprisingly had the best selection, they had a whole four models, plus the really pricy Vikings. Really it turns out there is only one model that had convection oven, and wasn't complete overkill for somebody who isn't serious cook like myself.


Of course I can always order via the internet and wait for 6 weeks for it to be shipped from the mainland. Oh well the price of paradise. The good news, with a microwave, toaster over, Foreman grill, and the ever popular eating out I won't
starve!

Around here I am seeing plenty of free-standing slide-in electric ranges to choose from. Our problem is we have a drop-in electric range that we want to replace with a free-standing slide-in electric range. This will require a little carpentry.

Also, we are looking at the over-the-range hood/microwaves. I can't understand why these things are popular. It appears to me to be a rather lame concept. We have decided to go with a new basic hood over the proposed new range. We have a cabinet cut-out shelf designed for a free-standing microwave.

Incidentally, I thought Honolulu was on an island. There's no better shooting range than the open ocean.

 

[Nords]

There's no better shooting range than the open ocean.

We're still cleaning up UXO on the seabeds from WWII and to a depth of four feet on Kaho'olawe, and you want to create yet another environmental hazard?!?

Waikiki's indoor shooting range exists almost exclusively for the hedonistic thrill of Japanese visitors who rarely get to touch, let alone shoot, a firearm. When our daughter was accepted to NROTC we sent her down there for a couple familiarization firings. On her second trip she thought she was pretty hot stuff with a .22 until the regular next to her started shooting his .357 Magnum.

They actually use a leash on the muzzles of the revolvers to ensure that the customer keeps them pointed downrange.