Made In The USA

Front loaders have certainly evolved. They started with the ill fated Maytag Neptune, but now all of them will be much bigger with greater efficiency to a standard washing machine. The payback is now only 1-4 years with an annual savings in electricity, water, detergents of $125-175.

But which ones are made in the USA? It is an important consideration since our economy was (and hopefully will be) based on a healthy manufacturing sector.

The answer is surprising...

Whirlpool/Maytag, after years of importing, have built their latest Duets in the country.

Bosch is a German company building appliances in North Carolina.

Frigidaire and Electrolux are built in Mexico, GE is made in China, LG and Samsung is produced in Korea. Miele is manufactured in Germany.

5 Products to Consider

Following is a continuation of yesterdays post with individual rebate information.

5 heavily rebated items:

Number 1 on this list. Bosch WFVC6450 is now $489 after $400 in rebates. This is a great machine with huge capacity and is incredibly energy efficient.





Whirlpool Duet is $599 until the 16th.





KitchenAid Top of the Line dishwasher KUDS40FVSS is now $799 after $300 in rebates.





Maytag electric or gas stove $389....unspectacular, yet solid.

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.....

New Products?

As I mentioned in the last post, once a year the appliance manufacturers show new products in Foxwoods. Predictably, this year was the least inspiring. In a recession, the easiest way to remain profitable is to slash inventories, reduce headcounts and slash R&D. Slashing R&D typically means less new products as was the case on Monday.

Its not all bad. The newer products(2-6 months) may have less features, but also have lower prices. Winners: the new laundry from Bosch, the new Duets from Whirlpool, new GE refrigeration...

Have a look:



Most inspirational product: This disposal "Gator"...lose a ring or other valuable down the disposer and this contraption will fish it out...complete with LED light.

RIP JennAir (For Now)

As of today, we will no longer be carrying JennAir at Yale. The JennAir kitchen is now Frigidaire Pro...



The display pieces are in outlet...






So what happened? Jennair was very popular at this store since the 1970s and occupied the affordable luxury niche recently. They have had a couple of challenges over the last 8 years.

First, they have been completely out-marketed by Viking and Wolf at the high end, as well as Electrolux, Bosch and GE in their core market. Every one of these companies has introduced new compelling products while JennAir stuck to their dwindling downdraft segment.

Secondly, the brand has been commoditized beyond recognition. I am not critical of Whirlpool as a manufacturer. They are the best appliance factory people in the world. That's the issue. They leverage their factories, so the same product is produced for 6 different labels. There is absolutely no reason to now buy JennAir other than their new overpriced walloven...all the other products are co-branded with other brands.

For JennAir to succeed, Whirlpool needs to start from scratch and create unique products branded exclusively for JennAir. Can they? Absolutely. Will they....?

Mistakes To Avoid...Part 2

24 inch washers are versatile...They fit in small spaces, under a counter and can be stacked. There are a bunch; Bosch, Miele, Asko, Maytag and Whirlpool.





But don't run a gas line. They are exclusively electric...(A friend of mine made that error)

Tax Free Weekend

Our best month for the last four years has been August, because of the tax free holiday. Now the Tax Weekend becomes the first month of a tax increase...Just because our state government doesn't want to, doesn't mean we can't

So this weekend select GE, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Franke, Bosch, Schonbek Crystal, Hinkley, Rohl, Hansgrohe, Bertazzoni, Marvel, Uline and Blomberg will have full tax rebates of the 6.25%

August 15, 16 and 17

Rebate Boy and The Maytag Company

Compiling appliance rebates is a nightmare. There are 6 different places, which can rebate the same model only with different dates. You always have the best deal in the unlikely event that they eclipse at precisely the same moment.

Now we have state of the art computers and some of the most brilliant appliance minds in the industry. When they fail, it comes down to one man. That man is Jay Upton, also known as Rebate Boy. I actually had him as a mentor (old people are assigned new people its serious business here), and the poor dope actually volunteered for this time consuming yet thankless task. (You can't teach everything.)

Let me show how Rebate Boy changes a $1799 dollar Maytag Epic laundry set into $1199 based on rebates, which expire July 5. All the writing is different rebates.





This is the set of Maytag/Whirlpool Epic Duets, which are the same pieces.





This is Jay "Rebate Boy" Upton.

The End Of The Handshake Agreement

An unique agreement was forged in the 1920s. The founders of Whirlpool and the managers of Sears forged an almost 100 year alliance. Whirlpool would supply the washers and dryers marketed under the Kenmore name. As legend has it, this deal was first struck with a handshake (it was years before the class action lawsuit.)

This just ended...Now the winner of the contract was LG. Sears marketing(I suspect) will revolve around technology and steam. The machines will start looking like this:





Instead of this.





Now I have my opinions of LG, but for consumers like yourself, it should be interesting. Whirlpool has to keep the factories running without Sears' help. This can only mean one action in the very near future: Big time price drop.

I am a Bosch guy for now, because they are just dumping their product (previous post), but Whirlpool can really regain share by being similarly aggressive.

Handle This...

So Whirlpool is Maytag, GE Cafe is GE Profile (in some cases), Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau can also be similar. Here is the one uniform feature difference...

The Handle





Quick suggestion to save you money: Forget the brand, buy the least expensive yet similar model. Unless of course you did not like the style of the handle.

Whirlpool is Maytag for $500 Less

The goal of this blog has been to promote energy efficiency, eliminate misconceptions and to offer an unbiased opinion about appliances and lighting.

Which inevitably brings to the enigma known as Whirlpool. Their problems really started with the purchase of Maytag. So they added the names Maytag, JennAir, Amana into their brand portfolio. In their defense, most experts would have been in shock at how desperate Maytag become in just a few short years.

So the decision had to be effected. Would Whirlpool keep the brands unique and independent with their own features and benefits or would they streamline the brands under one platform and just throw different logos on the same machine.

They chose the latter and have been disappointed just like GM with their lineup of the same cars with different logos...For consumers, it is an opportunity.

Two exact laundry pairs...with $500 difference in price...



Hint...buy the Whirlpool.

What happened To Amana?

Really, what happened to this company? 20 years ago, Amana dominated the premium refrigeration market and were actually the first to manufacturer counter depth products.

Of course, they were owned by Raytheon, who naturally is significantly invested in defense. So there were effectively bisected and sold. Goodman Holding bought their air conditioning products, and a rapidly deteriorating Maytag company acquired the appliance division.

Maytag was then acquired by Whirlpool, and Amana has been largely ignored until now. There seems to be a pervasive logic during a recession: Sell it for whatever you can.

With rebates, Amana once again becomes interesting (at least for now.)

KitchenAid

KitchenAid dishwashers were originally manufactured by Hobart a commercial manufactured. KitchenAid was always the best product back in the day...Whirlpool acquired the line in 1988 and relaunched as a full line product.

Unfortunately, Whirlpool are factory people, not marketing people and KitchenAid became commoditized...Then the Europeans like Bosch started grabbing share based on quietness, metal tanks and overall fit and finish

Its funny how a brand can lose its appeal by doing nothing. In the late 1990s, KitchenAid relaunched the brand again with a metal tank and guess what quieter models. I really like this dishwasher as it also has more features and a evisserator instead of a filter like Bosch

Here is a funny (to me) stat.

KitchenAid dishwasher 1986 $599...





KitchenAid dishwasher 2009 $399 after rebate...

A $1200 Pendant?

This post is more about what not to buy. Most of what we sell is of this variety:



Cost is between $85 and $300 on average. Lighting is intriguing and so different than appliances. Instead of dealing with major industrial companies like GE and Whirlpool, we buy from individual owners and simple partnerships.

As you can imagine, the quality can differ greatly, and once a light flickers, malfunctions or hangs crooked, consumers usually have no warranty (we warranty in home for life). Even if you did have a warranty, electricians loath these types of jobs.

Which brings us to a $1200 pendant....Why





Extreme quality....Hand blown glass, authentic details and great components. Would I buy it? In the right room, it certainly would be a consideration.

What Happened To JennAir Downdrafts?

Look at this JennAir Expressions unit





Back in the day (about 15 years ago), we sold a ton of these in single, double and triple units. It was a state of the art product with convertible burners, inside grill and a flush design.

So what happened?


Like anything else, the product hasn't changed, but everything else has. These cooktops are induction, which is not available in the Expressions.

Componentary downdrafts like this Electrolux have allowed people to buy exactly what they want for a cooktop rather than being pigeonholded into a grill or a particular design.





Back to the drawingboard, Whirlpool (owner of JennAir)

How To Buy Appliances

670 plus posts and finally I am on point:


1. Rebates: Its all about rebates these days. in the old days, it was Magic Chef who started it, Frigidaire expanded and now brands like GE, Bosch and KitchenAid have rolled out programs. Rebates can save you almost 1/3 the purchase price. Watch the web, ask a trusted salesperson and review manufacturers websites...They change monthly

2. OEMs: Fancy term for the same product labelled several times. KitchenAid, Amana, Maytag, Whirlpool and JennAir have the same refrigerator. Buy the least expensive. In laundry, this could save $200-300

3. Features: What do you really need? I love the top of the line cooking products with power burners, convection and second oven, but only if the client will use it. The difference between a KitchenAid dishwasher at $600 and $1300...buttons, cycles...aka features

4. Service: Hate to say it, but the chances of a product being repaired by the manufacturer is remote at best. Find the retailer or independent who can fix increasingly intricate products

5. Social: In the old days, you would ask your friends and peers about a prospective company. Now you can check Yelp, Angieslist and CutySearch for hundreds of reviews

Laundry Poll

I have become a surveying fool...The laundry poll is the most interesting thus far. Lets look at the top two manufacturers by your votes, Whirlpool and Maytag.

What is the difference? Answer: Nothing

Have a look...



Maytag is produced on the same platform as Whirlpool. The Whirlpool Duet/Maytag Epic is actually a very good machine. Now buy the cheaper one.

EnergyStar Maytag

On March 1-March 30, 2009, this Maytag Epic machine will be $499 after $350 in rebates. This is not the long dead Neptune machine. Maytag laundry has been manufactured by Whirlpool for 3-4 years. As I have posted before in tough times, manufacturers will do almost anything to keep factories rolling.





This may be a good time to review the $100 difference this month between an EnergyStar Maytag front load versus a conventional top load.
Regular Estar
Water consumption Gallons 14,000 versus 5,009
Energy consumption kilowatt hours 374 versus 153
Spin RPMs 400 versus 1200
Capacity Cubic feet 2.6 versus 3.26

In With The New

You are the second person to see the new GE Induction range (after me.)



Induction (to review) is much faster than gas, offers lower simmering and emits far less heat in the room. The good news about GEs entrance into the market is Frigidaire and Whirlpool will not be far behind. Then the pricing will be lower as competition intensifies and the technology improves.

Identical Products...Different Prices

Let's save some cash to put us in a good mood this weekend...First some pictures.


Whirlpool Duet vs Maytag Epic





JennAir vs KitchenAid refrigerators (except for the brand new one from last post)





There are many circumstances where products are identical except for minor cosmetics, some features and the label. My advice: When the products are identical, buy the cheapest iteration.