Costco refrigerator review
- Thread starter Andy Kaminski
- Start date
JSaus
TVWBB All-Star
Yep. In the past, most were made by Whirlpool and displayed side by side for comparison. Kenmore always seemed to offer a little more for the price. We purchased quite a few of their products. In later years, they could have been made by just about anybody via low bid. I miss the old Sears for tools and appliances.
Brian B Atlanta
TVWBB Gold Member
I stand corrected I thought at one time they made their own stuff whatever it seems many years ago their stuff was better my mother had a washing machine for like 18 years but I guess none of the new stuff is the same quality. Probably hard to stay in business if you make refrigerators that last 15 years or washing machines that may last 18 years. 
In the world of OEM manufacturing, customer specs are gonna determine what ships Kenmore may want to start with an existing model, but tighten up performance specs. Pretty easy on a showroom floor to see what refrigerators come out of the same factories.
And yeah..... build anything to last just to the warranty period. Anything beyond that is a cost, and a potential lost sale. Yes, I'm a bit cynical there.
And yeah..... build anything to last just to the warranty period. Anything beyond that is a cost, and a potential lost sale. Yes, I'm a bit cynical there.
MikeCantell
TVWBB Pro
FYI sears has never made the first appliance shirt shoe or underwear, worked for them for 21 years as a appliance tec, at 1 time if it said Kenmore it was made by whirlpool, then some years later they put the name on all that would let them, Ge set the price to high so they went back to selling Ge as Ge, now there are several that sez Kenmore, LG about ruined the name Kenmore with a lot of folks, 1.6 million units with potential compressor failures not all kenmore but some of those also. Put my last LG compressor in on my last day Thursday last week lol.
MikeCantell
TVWBB Pro
There are more fridge makers now than there ever has been, very few come out of the same factory , a few makers have made some for the others but it's kept pretty hush hush on those
Brian B Atlanta
TVWBB Gold Member
Did that work?
Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
We are in the market for a new range. The one we have is dying, it's a Kenmore gas oven and it sounds like it's exploding when the oven lights and it's hit and miss if the burners will light. Had it all of six years. What's odd is we had the exact same one when we built our new house in Prescott 23 years ago and for the 10 years, we lived there it was faultless, so we bought another when we upgraded at this house, and it's been a real poor performer compared to the first one.
Don't have a clue what to look for now. All Barb wants is self-cleaning we don't need convection or air fry.
Don't have a clue what to look for now. All Barb wants is self-cleaning we don't need convection or air fry.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Slide in range? Need more info on what exactly you’re seeking to replace. Convection/air fry are nice features if you use the oven often. Convection delivers a more even cook and makes the “air fry” work. But if you use onto basic heating of food and cooking then maybe it’s not worth it for you.
Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
Yep it's a slide in. Both of the ones I described had convection, but we seldom ever used it.
We already have a countertop air fryer which is plenty big enough for the two of us.
We don't do a lot of baking, mostly reheating and casserole type stuff baked potatoes, french fries.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
electric or gas (the cooktop part?) and electric or gas for the oven? smart move to have a countertop air fryer. that saves time and energy in heating smaller portions.
Rich Dahl
R.I.P. 7/21/2024
Sorry about that I thought I typed gas for both oven and cooktop, been a long day.
Also saves space because it's stored in a closet when not in use.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
no problem. i'll post some options. i went through this similar drill a few months ago on our new home build. so fortunately or unfortunately, i had to learn of the latest products. and we had just upgraded our current home's in-wall oven and cooktop as i explored the costs of going down to a single slide in range to replace the in-wall and separate cooktop.
NOTES:
LG is owned and makes named LG branded appliances.
Whirlpool Corporation owns the Jenn-Air, Maytag, Amana, Roper, and KitchenAid brands.
Electrolux company currently owns Frigidaire, Tappan, Kelvinator and Gibson appliance brands.
The appliances division of GE was purchased by the Chinese-owned Haier company in 2016. Four years prior, the same company acquired the New Zealand appliance maker, Fisher & Paykel. When the Haier company acquired GE, they wisely retFromained the right to use GE brand names through 2056. Today, Haier manufactures GE, Hotpoint, Cafe, Profile, and Monogram branded household appliances.
Samsung owns and makes Samsung. In the summer of 2016, Samsung acquired the Dacor brand of American-made luxury appliances.
So you can see your choices are pretty clear. different brands will have different warranties and might share some parts. Example, KitchenAid's warranty is stronger and longer than Whirlpool. But Jenn-Air is longer and covers more than KitchenAid's warranty. But the parts shared between KA and Jenn-Air are nearly identical on cooktops sans some "beauty" parts.
You didn't specify color. Color will effect price as SS costs more than porcelain black or white.
By slide-in, your control panel will be on the front of the unit, not a rear, upper control panel as that is a free-standing range (they name the types, i didn't).
From what you're describing as your "needs," you're looking at a basic entry level unit these days with few bells and whistles. If you level up to convection personally i love convection), that would be your next price point.
Abt.com - Slide-In Gas Ranges
Shop slide-in gas ranges that are designed to easily fit between your kitchen cabinets, combining a gas cooktop and an oven for more convenient cooking.
www.abt.com
since 1996 in my homes I have owned and used KA appliances (slide in gas range which i absolutely loved). the current home (since 2002) came with GE Profile cooktop and GE Profile built in oven (convection and a separate mircrowave) which all died in (both the cooktop and microwave and oven) 16-17 years.
I'd say the GE Profile was average quality and average durability. Now I am hard on my cooking appliances and used to use them a lot. I cooked for my family of five on them extensively so they probably delivered the life they should have. Would I buy GE Profile again? No. for my needs and features, I am buying GE Cafe for my new home. This was a tough choice as the builder offers this as their upgraded Professional line of appliances.
From my research, I am willing to give the Cafe brand a go as my cooking is now and will be much less intensive then when I cooked for 5+ people over the past 22 years. But my first plan was a dual fuel KA 36" slide in commercial style.
I am a personal fan of KA/Whirlpool products (not fridges, but cooktops and range/slide-ins). I replaced my current home's GE stuff with all KA when i needed new appliances. I bought the KA top fo the line drop in cooktop, 36". it has all the features I wanted and needed. From automatic burner ignition/reignition, illuminated "on" knobs (so i can visually see which burner i left on) to various burner outputs (5k btu lowest to 20k btu highest), i can wok and sear or delicately melt chocolate. the in-wall oven is electric convection and has a major feature set along with a built in micro/convection oven. the micro/convection oven does air frying, crisping and all other standard features. this appliance works well for us and even more now that it's mostly my wife and me for dinner.
If you stay at your feature set, you're looking at $800-1K for a good basic slide in range.
I would look at the Frigidaire, GE and KA offerings. Parts are widely available if service is ever needed. The unit you're seeking isn't overly complex so less features to break over time.
And there are some really good sales going on right now. All three of these brands are assembled in the USA (ovens/ranges). Most microwaves are made in China these days.
Last edited:
John_NJ
TVWBB Wizard
Did you look into Thermador during your research?no problem. i'll post some options. i went through this similar drill a few months ago on our new home build. so fortunately or unfortunately, i had to learn of the latest products. and we had just upgraded our current home's in-wall oven and cooktop as i explored the costs of going down to a single slide in range to replace the in-wall and separate cooktop.
NOTES:
LG is owned and makes named LG branded appliances.
Whirlpool Corporation owns the Jenn-Air, Maytag, Amana, Roper, and KitchenAid brands.
Electrolux company currently owns Frigidaire, Tappan, Kelvinator and Gibson appliance brands.
The appliances division of GE was purchased by the Chinese-owned Haier company in 2016. Four years prior, the same company acquired the New Zealand appliance maker, Fisher & Paykel. When the Haier company acquired GE, they wisely retFromained the right to use GE brand names through 2056. Today, Haier manufactures GE, Hotpoint, Cafe, Profile, and Monogram branded household appliances.
Samsung owns and makes Samsung. In the summer of 2016, Samsung acquired the Dacor brand of American-made luxury appliances.
So you can see your choices are pretty clear. different brands will have different warranties and might share some parts. Example, KitchenAid's warranty is stronger and longer than Whirlpool. But Jenn-Air is longer and covers more than KitchenAid's warranty. But the parts shared between KA and Jenn-Air are nearly identical on cooktops sans some "beauty" parts.
You didn't specify color. Color will effect price as SS costs more than porcelain black or white.
By slide-in, your control panel will be on the front of the unit, not a rear, upper control panel as that is a free-standing range (they name the types, i didn't).
From what you're describing as your "needs," you're looking at a basic entry level unit these days with few bells and whistles. If you level up to convection personally i love convection), that would be your next price point.
Abt.com - Slide-In Gas Ranges
Shop slide-in gas ranges that are designed to easily fit between your kitchen cabinets, combining a gas cooktop and an oven for more convenient cooking.
since 1996 in my homes I have owned and used KA appliances (slide in gas range which i absolutely loved). the current home (since 2002) came with GE Profile cooktop and GE Profile built in oven (convection and a separate mircrowave) which all died in (both the cooktop and microwave and oven) 16-17 years.
I'd say the GE Profile was average quality and average durability. Now I am hard on my cooking appliances and used to use them a lot. I cooked for my family of five on them extensively so they probably delivered the life they should have. Would I buy GE Profile again? No. for my needs and features, I am buying GE Cafe for my new home. This was a tough choice as the builder offers this as their upgraded Professional line of appliances.
From my research, I am willing to give the Cafe brand a go as my cooking is now and will be much less intensive then when I cooked for 5+ people over the past 22 years. But my first plan was a dual fuel KA 36" slide in commercial style.
I am a personal fan of KA/Whirlpool products (not fridges, but cooktops and range/slide-ins). I replaced my current home's GE stuff with all KA when i needed new appliances. I bought the KA top fo the line drop in cooktop, 36". it has all the features I wanted and needed. From automatic burner ignition/reignition, illuminated "on" knobs (so i can visually see which burner i left on) to various burner outputs (5k btu lowest to 20k btu highest), i can wok and sear or delicately melt chocolate. the in-wall oven is electric convection and has a major feature set along with a built in micro/convection oven. the micro/convection oven does air frying, crisping and all other standard features. this appliance works well for us and even more now that it's mostly my wife and me for dinner.
If you stay at your feature set, you're looking at $800-1K for a good basic slide in range.
I would look at the Frigidaire, GE and KA offerings. Parts are widely available if service is ever needed. The unit you're seeking isn't overly complex so less features to break over time.
And there are some really good sales going on right now. All three of these brands are assembled in the USA (ovens/ranges). Most microwaves are made in China these days.
We bought a Thermador dual fuel slide in convection oven/ gas range in 1992 and it was really solid until the electronic control panel went and no replacement part was available a few years ago.
Built in California.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Hall of Fame
yes. i was eyeing a thermador cooktop as my own purchase a few years ago. it was at the top of my list. KA ran a sale the the savings/spread was around $1K with the sale price. and knowing this current home wasn't my forever home, i kept the decision to prosumer versus professional level cooktop.
Thermador is Bosch Corp. A brand I trust and use a lot of their parts (german cars). And we love our Bosch dishwasher.
For consumer level range, i'd recco Bosch but Bosch costs more than the Whirlpool corps product offering(s). Thus i left them off the list as they also tend to be more feature rich.
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
I didn't want to take up so much of Andy's bandwidth, but I think I found the problem. I gathered up all the pictures I have taken since July of 2019 and I think I see a pattern...it's not leaking from the top, but from the interior channel. This is the very first picture ever taken.
And this is the mating part of the stryrofoam.
I don't know how that indentation in the foam tape got in there unless it came that way from the factory...there is nothing that I can see projecting out from the coil area to have caused that. Also, you can see the impression from the refrigerant lines and marks from the factory sealant. Things are awfully tight in that area, and I'm kind of thinking the interference from the refrigerant lines was/is keeping the cover from sealing tightly in that area.
Having seen that, I took an endoscope and looked inside the cover to see if there was a gap and I can see that I currently have this loop of wire caught in between the cover and the rear panel. DOH!
I didn't take a picture because it was so awkward trying to fish the camera into position while holding the tablet. Notice that it is a relatively short path from the intake air path to the fan at that location.
I ordered another evap cover and it came in yesterday. I'm going to create some templates from the new cover and make sure everything is tucked away and has enough clearance before re-assembling. It's not a good time to take it down right now with all the leftovers in the fridge from T/G, but soon.
Again, my apologies to the OP, Andy!
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
But how many homes have gas and 220 running to their stove?
That's what I don't get about dual fuel. In almost every home we've had it's gas OR 220...never both.
Brian B Atlanta
TVWBB Gold Member
My house in Atl built new in 1996 had both started with all electric a cooktop and oven. About 10 years or so maybe more when we did the Kitchen over we went to dual fuel as my wife is a big baker. Not sure up north that was common and older homes probably had one or the other.
If you had a basement not sure it would all that big a deal to run the 220 if all you had was gas.
If you had a basement not sure it would all that big a deal to run the 220 if all you had was gas.
Jay D in Jersey
TVWBB Wizard
That's assuming your service panel is in the basement. Last two homes it's been in the garage.