How do y'all feel about Frigidaire vs. GE vs. Whirlpool

[HawkinsHollow]

The appliance company we're using for our home build in Oregon highly dis-recommended Bosch. There's no one in the area that services them and parts are hard to get. So check if you can get service and parts especially if you're not close to a good size urban area.

Also both they and the home builder suggested buying the appliances from one company. The finishes will match that way, and also there's a manufacturer discount that gets larger the more appliances you buy.

Great info. I am near a reasonably sized urban area so might not be an issue, but I will look into it. And yes, definitely going with a stove, fridge and Dish washer from the same manufacturer for that very reason.

 

[gsganzer]

Frigidaire sucks. I bought Refrigerator, range, over the range microwave/exhaust fan, dishwasher when I redid the house I bought not even two years ago.

Dishwasher didn't work right out of the box. Took three weeks, two different techs, and three trips to get it to turn on. One and a half years later it quit "cleaning" the dishes. Tried everything. Cleaning screens three times a day. Running empty cycles to make sure it is flushed out. Cycles with vinegar. No luck. Trash.
Oven control board died after 6 months. Again 4 weeks to get the part. Two different techs and two trips to fix it. I finally had to put the new board in myself because they said it would be two more weeks to get the tech back out to install it.
Refrigerator constantly freezes what ever is on the top shelf.

I am putting KitchenAid in my new house. Ended up buying the dishwasher and using it now and then when the new house is built I will take it out and move it to the new house. Kitchenaid dishwasher is phenomenal. It is their top of the line 3 rack model.
I went with KitchenAid because Bosch doesn't have a sidebyside refrigerator.

We just visited with our friends in OK. They built their house 5 years ago with all Frigidaire appliances. They also bought an extended warranty. They said every single one of the appliances have had to be repaired. The refrigerator 3x or more. Look nice but junk.

 

[ultrarunner]

10 years ago major remodel down the street… all new LG…

10 years later on refrigerator 3 and dishwasher and washing machine 2

 

[ponytug]

Our LG washer went 12 years, and cleaned really well. What I appreciated most about it was how dry it spun the clothes.

The front load design means that there is a rear seal to a bearing to the direct drive motor. In principle, one could do a preventative maintenance and pull the washer apart after 5-7 years to replace the seal before it leaks into the bearing, washing the grease out and causing corrosion, but is an almost complete disassembly of the unit. Unfortunately for me, when I did get it disassembled several of the fasteners that held the drum to the axle had corroded to the point that they died when I tried to unscrew them. The LG dealer was very good about taking all the parts that I had ordered back, so I was just out time and shipping.

I did see that in more modern versions LG had changed the fasteners to something more corrosion resistant. We will see.

View of the leaking seal;

But the items that did the repair in were the nuts/fasteners holding these three bolts in. You have to pull the arm assembly to replace the worn axle.

File this one under "Live and learn".

Parts to do the entire repair were about $220. I could have bought an entire drum assembly, after I got to this stage, but opted to punt and get a new washer. We are on LG washer #2, and happy with it as well.

All the best,

Peter

 

[HawkinsHollow]

We just visited with our friends in OK. They built their house 5 years ago with all Frigidaire appliances. They also bought an extended warranty. They said every single one of the appliances have had to be repaired. The refrigerator 3x or more. Look nice but junk.

10 years ago major remodel down the street… all new LG…

10 years later on refrigerator 3 and dishwasher and washing machine 2

See!! These are the kinds of horror stories I am afraid of!!!

 

[ponytug]

See!! These are the kinds of horror stories I am afraid of!!!

If it really worries you, pass the buck, as there are always home warranties. I knew a guy who put in two dishwashers, so he could have a clean one and a dirty one to save putting things away. (Yes, he was one of a kind...)

Don't forget commercial brands like Hobart. Rock solid, with a history of parts from decades ago, but don't expect quiet or fancy... (I would never put Viking or Wulf in a home, unless it was the commercial stove, not the "retail homeowner" version, but that gets into Fire department territory and big HVAC issues.)

Personally, I try to avoid buying both new and old technology, though SpeedQueen might be an exception to the latter. With the explosion of features and computer controls, I am on the page that a bunch of appliances are too fancy and too dependent upon semiconductors to be reliable. Who is going to be writing software for that snazzy appliance three years from now? Five? I wouldn't bet on ten. Don't forget those whole house surge suppressors...

For similar reasons, I'm personally inclined to be buying "best of breed" for any given type of appliance, and not sweating the looks, decor matching, etc. Although, after seeing your photos of that gorgeous pergola, I am sure that you have the skills to be able to put veneer on appliances if it came to that.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ning]

Don't forget commercial brands

I was perusing restaurant equipment online one day and was stunned at the simplicity, size and price of commercial refrigerators (like restaurant ones, not "commercial" for home). They seem completely perfect to me, no fancy crap that just breaks; I'd prefer to have individual baskets (self-supplied, not coming with the fridge) on rack shelving to organizes eg one for all the cheeses, one for all the onions together, etc, and grab a basket when you need something and dig through it out of the fridge, rather than the plastic drawers and door pockets in home kitchen fridges.

Funny thing is, though - while most kitchen counter appliances either don't have a warranty for commercial use, or have a greatly limited one compared to home use (makes sense, consider a bakery using your kitchenaid mixer, it'll be used ten times as much and not last), for big stuff like fridges, they don't have warranties for non-commercial use!

Clearly they don't want you buying the cheaper stuff that'll last forever (I suppose they justify it that they don't want to deal with homeowner joe and instead are business to business... or something), but considering most modern fridges have maybe a two year warranty I'm not sure what that's worth any more. I'll be putting real commercial kitchen fridge & freezer in my next house and self-warranty.

 

[D&D]

Clearly they don't want you buying the cheaper stuff that'll last forever (I suppose they justify it that they don't want to deal with homeowner joe and instead are business to business... or something), but considering most modern fridges have maybe a two year warranty I'm not sure what that's worth any more. I'll be putting real commercial kitchen fridge & freezer in my next house and self-warranty.

iME, It would be easy to justify. Dealing with Harry Homeowner can absolutely suck. Driveways that aren’t truck accessible. Imagine delivering stuff that’s 36” + wide and they swear they have all 36” doorways, but in reality they are 34” or smaller. Screw ball stairs, landings and railings to work around to get the appliances in place. Electrical outlets, gas and water lines that don’t exist in the home and the homeowner is irate because the appliances aren’t installed like they paid for.
Yea, I can see one or two reasons to avoid some clientele.

 

[gsganzer]

I found this appliance reliability rating from Consumer Reports while googling.

CR Reliability Ratings

 

[Ricn]

Our biggest issue with app these days is the printed circuit boards fail, and they are expensive to replace. Our old app were mechanical and worked well for a much longer period, they were real steel, cast and copper all made here in america and with very little alum and plastic that helps in early failure. Mostly they are made in china now and a few other counties that makes shipping very expensive so they are made lighter and cheaper. No different than any other product at most all our stores these days. I do have and LG refer that has been very good to us for quit a long time, not sure about new ones though. Bosch is expensive, not sure I'd go that high in hopes it will last longer unless having a long term 100% written warrentee. Our last few app are whirlpool and so far so good. We all ive in a world of through away products but can still buy an all steel gun if needing one.

 

[Popgadget]

We just bought all new appliances, and went with GE Profile for gas range, microwave/vent hood, refrigerator and electric dryer. Speed Queen washer and Bosch dishwasher.
Those choices were all based on previous experience, research, and conversations with appliance repairmen.
The 4 GE Profile appliances qualified for a substantial rebate.

 

[Torvy]

We aren't fancy people who need to have the brands match. Our builder messed up and subbed out items I specifically requested, so more match than intended.

Top load HE washer is LG. Had it for years with no issues. Whirlpool dryer is older. Dryers rarely fail. Front load washers tend to have more problems.

Dishwasher is Bosch. Newer version of one we put in old house. Definitely worth it.

Builder put in LG wall oven and microwave. Oven was supposed to be Whirlpool, don't remember what nuker was supposed to be.

We tried to move the GE fridge, but the bottom freezer died in transit. Replaced with an LG with ice maker in freezer, but no through-the-door stuff. Those fail the most.

LG sent a guy from Shreveport (85 miles or so) when the door was dented in shipping. Their support seems top notch.

Cook top is a Samsung. Another we got the newer version of one we put in old house. Like it a lot.

From original post, Whirlpool, Frigidaire and GE is really iffy. Some are great, some are junk. They do a lot of name swapping and rebranding. Hard to tell who makes what.

The winner for reliability is our no-name chest freezer we got at Sam's. Had it since the mid-late 90s. It was in the garage in SD, WI and TX. Dealt with temp extremes. Haven't done anything to it. It lives indoors in our new place.

 

[ericm979]

I was perusing restaurant equipment online one day and was stunned at the simplicity, size and price of commercial refrigerators (like restaurant ones, not "commercial" for home). They seem completely perfect to me, no fancy crap that just breaks

Friends of ours bought a house where the sellers did a kitchen remodel that included a commercial fridge. They didn't have much good to say about it. It was loud and it used electricity like crazy.

Also they're not going to have ice makers- restaurants have ice machines. So you'll need a way to make ice.

 

[CalG]

Funny how topics come up on "the tractor forum" when they do.

Every fall, the fruit trees and gardens fill the fridge. (STUFFED would be a better description)
and when that happens, the darn thing "over cools" and freezes my beer. NOT COOL! ;-) Worse, it ticks off SWMBO.

So I got out the literature to see if it could be something to do with the settings. Doesn't look like fiddling with the dials is gonna fix the issue.

Frigidaire FPEM-18F. We bought it new in 1988 ;-) I can't even find a reference to it on the interweb!

My bet is it starts working just fine again after all the peaches are eaten.
But 300 pounds is a lot of peaches!
I've got it shut off just now, "defrosting", even if the FP designates a "Frost Proof" design.

I did read once that the Japanese make the best refrigeration appliances, so I bought a Toshiba Dehumidifier. It's worked flawlessly for over 5 years, but from looking, it's NOT repairable. an assembly and packaging nightmare.

 

[ponytug]

@CalG Have you tried a small internal fan (or an extra fan) to equalize the air temperatures top/bottom left/right?

In my experience fridges "stuffed" with items don't cool especially well, but that there is a big difference between ones with fans and ones without.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CalG]

@CalG Have you tried a small internal fan (or an extra fan) to equalize the air temperatures top/bottom left/right?

In my experience fridges "stuffed" with items don't cool especially well, but that there is a big difference between ones with fans and ones without.

All the best,

Peter

Thanks Peter, it's got a fan inside that runs just about constantly. Pushing cold air from the bottom to the top.
Placing and wiring a secondary muffin fan might do it though.
finding room.... well, I could put it in the butter tray ;-)

Note: this fridge has a freezer section in the lower right corner. less than a foot high, a foot deep and just wide enough for a half gallon of icecream ;-)

 

[Torvy]

Freeze most of the peaches...or make preserves.

 

[kenmbz]

I had a low end GE washer/dryer, never again. figured the less complex the better, not.

But I did find out how much the actual motor driver and cpu boards cost in quantity.

The motor driver board was 4.95 and the CPU board was about $8.

Both were listed for about thirty different machines from multiple name plates.

Would have to buy a whole pallet to get that price, but the markup to $200 and $300 for the parts places is pretty steep.

 

[ponytug]

I had a low end GE washer/dryer, never again. figured the less complex the better, not.

But I did find out how much the actual motor driver and cpu boards cost in quantity.

The motor driver board was 4.95 and the CPU board was about $8.

Both were listed for about thirty different machines from multiple name plates.

Would have to buy a whole pallet to get that price, but the markup to $200 and $300 for the parts places is pretty steep.

Sounds like a nice eBay side business...

 

[jyoutz]

We just bought all new appliances, and went with GE Profile for gas range, microwave/vent hood, refrigerator and electric dryer. Speed Queen washer and Bosch dishwasher.
Those choices were all based on previous experience, research, and conversations with appliance repairmen.
The 4 GE Profile appliances qualified for a substantial rebate.

Really good choices all around.