Bosch vs KitchenAid

This is perhaps the most competitive segment outside laundry with two very good, marquee brands.

Bosch....starting at $499 after rebates. USP (unique selling proposition): Quiet, water and energy efficient.

KitchenAid: Fairly quiet, eviscerator (fancy term for grinder) and heated dry.

I like Bosch's efficiency and KitchenAid's grinder (although Bosch's mesh filter is more than adequate). Heated dry uses way too much energy and is only 1.4% more efficient.

Be Quiet

So Many Dishwashers...

But which one is the quietest. Quiet is important, especially if you have combined living and dining areas into one room.

Is it the closely held, quality obsessed Miele?

How about the popular Bosch?

The old faithful KitchenAid?

The plucky Asko from Sweden?

The answer is all of them are quiet, but the difference are not detectable by the human ear...Thus none can make the claim as quietest.

3 Good dishwasher questions:

1. How many cycles. A cycle is time and temperature and can be designed for specific items like crystal. You pay for more cycles

2. European Vs American: European is more efficient, but has a filter...American has a shredder and is less efficient

3. Integrated: Controls on the top are sleeker, but more expensive

The $299 Stainless Dishwasher

Frigidaire's most popular dishwasher (by far) is $299 after $250 in rebates.

Have a look:

The 2433 model is integrated (controls on top) with every conceivable cycle.

This is, however, yet another another post about rebates. Often, as consumers we will time our purchases around tax day to save 6.25%.

You would be better off to watch for a rebate promotion like this....it happens every 90-150 days.

Products To Consider

I have often posted about rebates, which can be enormous. Have a look at a few examples...

Frigidaire FDB2433 - This is Frigidaire's best selling stainless dishwasher, and it is $299 after $250 in rebates. Not bad for an integrated dishwasher.

Bosch SHE43P25 - This is the best selling Bosch dishwasher. It is all stainless, quiet and water saving. It is $649 after $150 in rebates.

Frigidaire FAFS4272 - The new Frigidaire washer is bigger, uses less water and has a steam option. It is $449 after $300 in rebates.

Bosch WFVC4400 - This is a great washer. It is big, water and energy efficient. It is $569 after $200 in rebates.

It must be end of the year, and companies have quotas to fill...

Be Quiet

Does anyone ask if dishwashers wash dishes anymore? Quiet became an issue when the kitchen and living space became merged.



If you are looking for quietness, Bosch, Asko, Miele, JennAir are all quiet. In fact, the difference between some of these is not detectable by the human ear....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Your Dishwasher Works

At the risk of losing immediate dishwasher sales, your current dishwasher works. You may have recently noticed streaking or spotting. The dishwasher is fine. Your detergent is not. There are new laws requiring dishwashers to use less phosphates.

Evidentally, phosphates are the cleaning agent, but they also do a pretty good job at creating assorted environmental issues like algae blooms. The best low phosphate detergent is this one.

Finish seems to clean the best, so try it....before scheduling a service call and paying a repairman $100 to say the same thing.

Speaking of dishwashers....Look at this one

The Bosch SHE43P is $399 in black and white and $599 in stainless after $200 in rebates until 11/17.

Miele Dishwashers

JD Powers awarded Miele their award for dishwashers. I never knew there was a JD Powers award for any appliance categories or companies.

In my opinion, they are correct. Miele manufactures the best dishwasher in the world.

Have a look:

Miele has some cool features:

Plate guard plus: Designed so the plates do not chip

Double insulated pump: Product will never leak

Separate Cutlery tray: Silverware has separate rack to prevent scratches and allow for more space in the unit

The best feature is ironically its biggest problem. Miele doesn't outsource anything. They manufacture their own controls, motors and even components. In an age where manufacturers are designing in Europe, outsourcing parts in China and assembling in Mexico, Miele is exactly the opposite. By owning the entire process Miele has a much better control on product quality.

Their repair rate is 3 to 11 times better that their competition. In fact, it is the best repair rate in the the industry by far.

However, it doesn't come cheap. Miele dishwashers start at $1199, over twice the average purchasing price.

Cover it....

So many dishwashers

So many more

Buying a dishwasher is a relatively simple comparison of American vs European.

The American (GE, Frigidaire, KitchenAid, Maytag and Whirlpool) have evisserators or shredder rings inside for food disposing.

Europeans (Miele, Asko, Bosch and Electrolux) have filters, heat the water hotter and tend to be a bit quieter.

Which is better depends on price, rebates and matching style with other appliances. There is one notable exception, however. If you are panelling your dishwasher, the Europeans do not protrude past the cabinets, whereas the American dishwashers will stick out another 1.5 inches...thus ruining the integrated look.

Have a look at the Bosch...

July Buys

Look at these dishwashers...

From July 1-July 21 KitchenAid, Miele and Asko are offering free installation (to existing plumbing) after rebate.....not a bad rebate.

Stuck in Florida

Evidentally it is raining in Boston, so without a showroom I will blog about my parents new kitchen. New is an operative term, because they had cabinets without the granite for probably 6 months. Probably the first good lesson about kitchen design is hire good people



My folks have managed to accomplish good and bad within the same space.

Lighting:

The Good:

I like the Tech Orbs on either side of the sink. Small, unobtrusive yet decorative.



LED undercabinet...uses 10 watts per strip instead of 170 with halogen based undercabinet.



The Bad:

5 inch recessed on a short ceiling. It would have been neater with a smaller can like a 4 inch or a low voltage.



Appliances:

The appliances aren't actually new, but are decent: Shallow depth refrigerator, electric slide-in, over the range microwave with a Miele dishwasher being the splurge.







Overall, not bad.

The Return Of The Swedes

What was the first European dishwasher in the US? Don't say Bosch. It was actually Asko in 1990. They have always been an interesting product with the lowest water usage, sturdy graphite racks and really quiet insulation.

In many ways, Asko changed the way you buy a dishwasher. With open floor plans, now you want a dishwasher quiet, and Asko was the first to provide it. Price was always their biggest problem with their decent models selling in the $1200-1400 range

But that has all changed with this model at $799



Now that it can compete with Bosch and KitchenAid....will it?

Elemental

Stainless interior dishwashers can dry by 2 methods. You do need JetDry to properly dry the dishwasher. But some dishwashers like this KitchenAid add an extra heat element...Whats the difference in efficiency between using the heating element at $40-50 per year and shutting it off.

20%, 30%, 50%?



Try 1.4%. This KitchenAid will efficiently dry 98% of the dishes just using JetDry and 99.4% using Jet Dry and the heating element....so save the $40-50 an shut off the element.

Yale And Whirlpool

At one point in time, we were a huge customer of the Whirlpool company, but we have since parted ways in the last two years. From my perspective, they have lost focus, and have been beaten to the market by their rivals, especially in the luxury and affordable luxury segments. They are also behind (in my opinion) in induction and cooking technologies in general.

Still, they do have great brands and very efficient manufacturers. Here are a couple of pieces you should consider buying in February...

KitchenAid KUDC03FVSS

Stainless integrated at $599 after a gazillion dollars in rebates. I like this unit. It has good features for a very decent price...Still love the brand. My mother had one for 18 years.








Whirlpool Duet WFW9150

Its not the biggest anymore. At $499, however, it is about about $300-400 cheaper than three years ago ...





Now about the cooking.....

Upscale Frigidaire?

Frigidaire's story always intrigued me. They were actually part of GM until 1973ish and were renown for the quality of the product. One cannot help but appreciate the irony.

Anyway for the next 20 or so years, they meandered between owners and hit rock bottom, only to be purchased by Electrolux. I really like this company, simply because they realized a huge loss by shutting and modernizing plants only to be more successful later with better, less expensive product.

They were also the first company to mass manufacture stainless steel appliances and own significant share in this category to this day. Their cooking product has been excellent and really drives their brand. For GE it's refrigeration, Whirlpool would be laundry and for Bosch it's dishwashers.

Frigidaire's dishwashers have always been rather cheap and almost appendage to a Frigidaire kitchen.

Until now...Have a look







Integrated all stainless dishwasher at $499 after rebate.....very nice.

Stainless vs Plastic

This would have been a truly great post had we not switched out the stainless steel dishwasher for white. There are two points to this post (more for your blog dollar).

Have a look at these two dishwashers, and kindly disregard the color...








Pretty similar, aren't they? One is a regular line, another is a derivative. A deriv (as we say in the biz) is the same as the regular line with a different number so you cant price shop. Sears, Home Depot, Best Buy and even Yale has special derivative numbers. The way around this is to compare features, not model numbers...Now you can shop for price.

But the models are similar, what is the difference, you say?....well look again.








Stainless and plastic tubs both hold the water just fine. Stainless is non porous and resists germs and orders (tip here for plastic: use tang once a month to freshen it up).

Dishwasher Controls - Front vs Integrated

I am in Chicago sans computer...good time as any to show a couple dishwashers

Regular style: controls on the front.



Integrated: controls on the top.



Love the look, but it will cost you 150 more for the same features.

A word about dishwashers: a cycle is time and temperature...so a delicate cycle is less time at a lower temperature.

Dated?

Lets look at Bosch dishwashers:



What's strange is half are 2009 and the other half are 2010. I cannot tell the difference, so I probably wouldn't spend the extra money for a 2010.

All you need to know about dishwashers in general:

1. Cycles: Monitor time and temperature. For example, a delicate cycle is less time with no heat boost. Pots and pans is a longer cycle with heat.

2. Drying: Typical European dishwasher has no heat drying as the residual heat from the wash combined with Jet Dry will dry the dishes. American dishwashers have an added heat (and energy) dry as an extra option.

3. Controls: Controls could be on the face or hidden on the top.

4. Filter: American dishwashers have a grinder, and Europeans have a filter.

5. Quietness (funny nobody asks if they actually clean): Although all are better than your present dishwasher..Typically the Europeans will be quieter, but the difference between the quietest brands and models is not detectable by the human ear.

JennAir/Electrolux

When you read this it will be Monday, where I am now will be Tuesday, but I am writing this on a Sunday. Now for more confusion, lets look at the integrated Electrolux and JennAir...

The JennAir is $1149, and the Electrolux is $699.









This is curious, because it is the same dishwasher. JennAir sells them to Electrolux, but then they can't move them at $1299 and close them out at $699.

Do I like this dishwasher at $1299, heck no, at $699 however, for a fully featured integrated dishwasher...its a pretty good price.

Better Late Than Never?

So Frigidaire has a new stainless steel dishwasher with stainless on the inside. Consumers don't buy dishwashers over $500 without stainless on the inside, and Frigidaire learned this the hard way. For years, they concentrated on plastic tanks (ok to $399) with tons of features at $599. Invariably, they would rebate the product to $450 somewhere...

But that was then, Let's look at the "new" Frigidaire...








Not bad, decent features.....but how does it compare to the best seller?

Bosch





Frigidaire has more features and is $40 cheaper, but Bosch will heat the water hotter and is quieter. Once again, I would lean to the Bosch piece, but Frigidaire will package this as part of the rebate program to enhance sales.

How To Buy Appliances..Part 7

This is really not all that difficult...Its easy if you know what you want. Much harder when you have no idea. How about a novel idea? Lets stay under your budget, pick desirable items and as an added bonus, not lose your mind.

1. Establish a budget. You will stick to it.

2. What pieces do you really want. Is it a SubZero, stainless steel appliances, slide in range?

3. Rebates. I hate to say it, but $500 in rebates would sway my loyalties between similar items.

So lets say you have no idea:

4. Start at the range. There are more tough choices than any other product.





5. Refrigerator next, once again the most difficult dimensionally.





6. Dishwasher and over the range microwave should match the other two pieces.









If you stay within the same brand, there are numerous budget saving rebates. I am not partial to side by sides, but this Bosch package has a whopping $1350 in rebates...I can learn to love it for that type of money.