Good Dishwasher?
Our dishwasher broke down over Easter - it was a Whirlpool, that I never liked much. It is the only appliance that we did not replace when we remodeled our kitchen a month ago! It is getting on for 10 years old (normal life expectancy, apparently.)
Hubby looked at it and deemed it "not fixable" - he came home with a brochure for a $1500 Electrolux! I have tried to look up dishwashers on the Internet, but it isn't my forte and I can't find unbiased reports.
You do a great deal of cooking and therefore washing, so I am asking for some advice on what dishwashers you find helpful and efficient, and, oh yes, really CLEAN!
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15 Comments:
I have this GE Profile http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02219973000P?vName=Appliances&cName=Dishwashers&sName=Built-In
I bought mine in 2002 when I built the house and never a problem. I like all the cycles and was well worth it.
Check out gardenweb.com for appliance chat and reviews.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/appl/
JerzeeTomato at 12:35PM on 04/14/09
I always find applicanceblog.com to be helpful. Even if you are not attempting a home repair, you can take a look at the forums to see who is having problems with which items. You might also have luck posting your question there, as several repair technicians frequent the site.
derosa at 2:28PM on 04/14/09
@bareneed - you are not alone! Ours crapped out Easter morning, too!
17 year old Maytag... RIP.
sarajane at 3:56PM on 04/14/09
@sarajane - that baby doesn't owe you a penny - 17 years, wow! I actually got half of my Easter dinner dishes done before mine gave up the ghost. BTW, thanks to you all for the suggestions.
bareneed at 4:03PM on 04/14/09
I have a great dishwasher. I mean, it's half the reason I'm going to marry the guy. ;-)
Seriously, he always does the dishes. It's fabulous.
lo82070 at 4:27PM on 04/14/09
We had a kitchaid which was okay, but rusted out.
We replaced it in 2003 with a Miele. We've been extremely happy with it. Yes, it was expensive, but it actually gets the deed done and is freakishly quiet (it took us a couple of years to learn to CHECK if it's on before opening it).
Pot scrubber works well, and it has a top rack only option for just doing small loads. It heats its own water, so we don't have to keep the house water heater up so high (saving energy).
The only thing it has trouble with is dried on avocado.
Cybele May at 6:38PM on 04/14/09
Whatever you get, make sure it's Energy Star rated!
Embackus at 6:41PM on 04/14/09
I hate my Miele- I would never recommend it to anyone. It doesn't dry well and ours was never silent. Had the repairman in very early couldn't get it to be silent!! My next one will be a KitchenAid-my mom had one for over 25 years.
deefine at 7:09PM on 04/14/09
Bosch
Super-quiet, ridiculously customizable, and you barely need to pre-rinse the dishes.
mince at 9:16PM on 04/14/09
I, too, have a Bosch and I love it for all the same reasons as @mince. I use environmentally friendly dishwasher detergent which doesn't have nearly the scrubbing power as the awful-for-the-earth kind, but my Bosch doesn't care. It dutifully gets rid of egg bits, dried on tomato sauce, coffee rings, and baked on anything.
ProfessorChaos at 10:01PM on 04/14/09
1500 seems like a lot for a dishwasher. We went with Frigidaire (found out its really made by Maytag). Sears had a good rebate on it. I think we got it for $600. What I liked is the controls are on top of the door - hidden away once the door is closed. So curious little baby hands can't get to them.
Ribster at 4:56AM on 04/15/09
Do NOT buy an LG - we replaced our kitchen with all stainless LG in November and have had service calls on each appliance - the dishwasher twice (the latest being this week when the entire motor was replaced). Terrible experience for the $$$
dharmon at 9:25AM on 04/15/09
Went to the Sears Outlet last night... we have one in town, so I thought I'd check it out. They had all kinds of droolworthy ($$) dishwashers (and other appliances)... From Fisher & Paykel drawers to Bosch to Whirlpool to Kenmore. The markdowns seemed great, if you can live with some cosmetic damage.
Mind you most of this is from the helpful saleslady there... She said the middlle of the road Kenmores have a TURBO function, with grinders so that we wouldn't have to rinse the dishes before we put them in (whaa??? - remember my old DW was 17 years old and a lower end Maytag, at that). I even asked what if we didn't run it right away, since there were only the two of us? She said the diswasher soaps today are enzymatic, which will take care of the food bits and the Turbo function would blast away the "dirt". She said I could get by running the DW only twice a week, and still come out with clean dishes.
The Kenmores she showed me also had an easily adjustable top rack, so if I had a tall thing to wash in the lower rack. The comparable Whirlpool had the comparable Turbo function (called something else), but the racks were not so easily adjustable. There was also another tempting Kenmore with a stainless interior for about $150 more.
When I got home, Mom had sent me a Consumer Reports report that listed the middle of the road Kenmores quite favorably. They also reported that the higher end dishwashers didn't necessarily clean any better than lower priced models, just a LOT more quietly. They also said that the plastic interiors on the lower grade models, while perhaps prone to staining, would definitely last the life of any average dishwasher.
I'm going to get the mid range Kenmore with the plastic interior - has some scratches on the bottom of the door, which I can live with or touch up myself. $610 marked down to $450 (Chicago 'burbs)
More than you probably wanted to know about dishwashers... but there you have it.
sarajane at 11:23AM on 04/15/09
I had a Kitchen Aid (purchased about fifteen years ago) which worked marginally better than hosing the dishes down in the backyard, and my parents currently have a KA that is not much better (despite being one of their "best" models).
I now have a Miele which was around $850 and works very well, but it has been repaired twice- those two repairs amounting to about the half the cost it was to begin with. Both times I was told that I was using too much detergent which built up and caused the pump to not function properly. This is despite my using less than the recommended amount of detergent in the owner's manual. (The 1st repair was to remove the buildup and the 2nd was to replace the pump a year later.)
It's possible I just got a bum pump as I have not had a problem since it was replaced, but given the cost of a Miele technician (who carry laptops and tools that are color coordinated), I wouldn't go this route again.
I know a few people who have Maytag and Bosch DWs and are very pleased with them. One note about Bosch is that the drying cycle tends to be much hotter than most and should not be used for fine china.
CatBoy at 1:29AM on 04/16/09
If your husband is on board for the $1500 Electrolux, I say go for it! Half the battle is usually convincing the SO (husband or wife) that the cost is worth it!
I also agree with the Bosch recommend; they are a top of the line company.
DO NOT go to the Sears outlet or any Sears store. We have done that several times in the past 4 years, and we regret every single purchase (especially if the appliance was a GE or Kenmore; both horrible!!!).
One thing I've found out through experience (and these boards - thanks to all you SE-ers!) is that regarding kitchen stuff, you usually get what you pay for. Also, sometimes the little things, like a really good dishwasher, can mean so much in intangibles (no hassles, no rewashing dishes, no spotty glasses as you're hurrying to set the table, etc.)
serious1 at 2:29AM on 04/16/09