As part of buying a house, we also get to buy a fridge, washer & dryer. Where did you buy yours? What features do you find essential? What could you live without? What do you wish you had? What about the store – who has the best deals? What about the best service?
We’re going to do some shopping around, but I thought it would be smart to get feedback from other people to guide us too!
25 replies on “Feedback Needed…”
WE got our washer and dryer at Best Buy. They offer replacement guarantees, etc. Not the usual place, but they have served well over the last few years.
I did not buy a refrigerator, but I did buy a washer and dryer. I adore the dryer that has the door that opens down from the top instead of from the left or the right.
I also like it to have air fluff. 🙂 Ooh, and the little thing that beeps when you should get your stuff out, but it keeps going to keep it from wrinkling. Genius.
Washer? Must have water and load size selections. Especially cold/cold and delicate.
If this sounds stupid, I am sorry, I just got my first appliances this year. Heh.
I’ve never bought a washer & dryer or bought a house, but one thing I’ve learned from living in apartments – if your washer & dryer are anywhere near your living area, look for quiet appliances!
Can’t help with this one as the UK market is sooo completely different to you guys in the US.
We don’t really have top loading washers anymore for instance.
I personally get mine at http://www.johnlewis.com, because my mom gets 12.5% off… niiiice. I would say have fun shopping, but it sounds a little too stressful to *have* to get those things rather than want to. Good luck.
Whatever fridge you get, make sure it’s got water and ice in the door. Once you’ve had that, there’s no going back.
When I bought my washer and dryer, I lived in a town without many shopping options. So where I got it is probably not the best… But I wanted to make sure I could get a large load in each as well as the de-wrinkle option on the dryer.
I’m also a fan of Best Buy since they have the warranty and most often the no-interest-no-payments for a year, plus 10% off for opening a Best Buy account. With the new Rewards program, you earn points and can make back some of that money!
As for the appliances themselves, make sure your washer has a pre-soak timer option, and handwash mode. Oh that’s soooo wonderful. As for the dryer, modes for no heat and low heat were important to me, as well as a switch to turn the buzzer on and off.
My fridge is wonderful, but make sure you measure the damn thing. That seems to be my problem… it’s so big that it doesn’t always fit.
We bought our first washer/dryer from Sears. 12 years later we are on the 3rd heating element in the same dryer and our 3rd washer. Stay away from GE washers/dryers, get a gas dryer if you can. Our most recent washer is a Roper, we bought it at Lowe’s. Weird place eh…but great deals! I think they offer extended warranty too. The washer only has what I wanted, water levels and temperature settings. The dryer doesn’t have a buzzer as I can’t stand those. I have held onto this one as it still works pretty well and hopefully when we move we can get a gas one.
I love my side-by-side fridge. It’s a Frigidaire. We have had it for 12 years and it’s our second fridge in houses that have a fridge already. We put drinks, etc. in it. It has an in-the-door ice maker and water. Love it!
Good luck! 🙂
Whatever you do DO NOT, I repeat, Do Not buy a Samsung fridge. They are nifty looking, but the service guy I swear knows us by name. The fridge works great now, but it became a hastle for a while there. They are nice looking though.
We already had the washer/dryer – bought used and not sure of the brand. The fridge we bought was a GE Profile side-by-side. It got good reviews from Consumer Reports and we loved all of the features – adjustable shelves; sliding shelves in the freezer; light in the freezer; water filter; cubed ice, chopped ice, water, light, lock and alarm in the door. We got it at HD and signed up for their credit card so we could get 10% off and no payments/interest for 6 months.
we bought our new dryer at Conn’s b/c they just happened to have the best deal on a Whirlpool at the time. and I’m really picky and wanted one with a lint trap on top and a door that opens down instead of to the side.
Washer: Maytag front-loader. Quiet, cleans fantastic and won’t mangle your clothes. Dryer: Also Maytag and I like it, but do miss the wrinkle-free option that was on an old (Sears?) dryer. Fridge: Have a side-by-side and dislike it. Always seems to be space-shortage. Would go back to a top/bottom combo (or better yet: separate freezer).
I was going to get a side by side fridge and foundout there wasnt enough room. so I got a Whirlpool fridge with moveable glass shelves. I also got a matching set os Kenmore washer/dryer large load 7 years ago and both are running good with no problems (knock on wood).
On the fridge: We talked about the top/bottom style, but we both want the water/ice dispenser that only comes on the side by side style. So we’re still deciding on that one. I would like a light in the freezer. I am going to be sure to measure it before we buy. We were leaning towards the Kenmore, but also looked at a Kitchenaid and … something else.
Washer/Dryer: Man, you guys brought up some *really* good points that I never would have thought of! I’m really glad I asked! I want a buzzer on a dryer – and one that goes off for a long time, not just a “beep!” and then stops. I thought the top down opening dryers would be annoying – the side opening ones looked easier to access, but now I’ll have to give them more consideration. We thought Best Buy was more expensive then the other stores, but I didn’t think about the rewards option – we would get a TON of rewards! Whoo hoo! I had also suggested Loews and Conns, so we may hit there today.
Man, you guys ROCK! Thank you!
consumer reports. start there and see what the people who do this for a living think. 🙂 if you need login info, let me know.
we got an AWESOME deal on our fridge at home depot closest to our last house. it’s a ge profile with stainless front–they had it for several hundred dollars less than any other store, even other home depots in our area. each staffer in appliances got to choose their fave model to highlight and mark down even more. then we got an extra 10% off because it was some special day at that store. and then we got another 10% off because we HAD to have it that day or we wouldn’t have a fridge for two weeks, and we bought it right off the floor–no scratches or anything. Pretty much, we got a $2200 fridge for $1200. it’s beautiful, or favorite appliance by far–and even more so because of the deal we got… 🙂
we got a basic washer and dryer at the local sam’s club. all the cycles and settings i need (or if i had more, the only ones i would use…)they have some good deals at costco, too. my suggestion for regular stores is to look out for store specific special shopping day discounts and things like that–lots of stores have them regularly, you just have to figure out the pattern! i can’t praise my automatic ice maker enough!!!
We got our washer, dryer and (first) fridge from Best Buy. The fridge (3 years old) died last weekend. So we replaced it with one from Lowe’s. The new fridge doesn’t have ice & water on the door, but we’re on a well so the water on the door bit was too painfully slow to be of much use. Also, with a side by side fridge (our first one), you couldn’t put a frozen pizza in there easily.
As for washers & dryers, if you can afford them, I’d say to get front loading. Those are nicer to your clothes.
not sure where you live (haven’t dug around on your page)…but here in chicago we have abt electronics, home depot, home expo, and a few other places. i’d say the best thing to do is read reviews online and then go shopping. i’ve always had good luck w/maytag. get front-loading machines, they’re more expensive but worth it in the end.
Some decent advise (especially if your shopping Sears) is to see if they have an outlet or location that sells the floor models. Seriously, you can save $400+ on a great Kenmore fridge. Houston should have a location, or you may be able to buy them right off the floor (even better!)
Spend a little more on your fridge. Believe it or not, you’ll have it a while. We figured our “starter” fridge would be history long ago and (five years later) we’ve still yet to upgrade it. Had we just spent the extra $200 back then….
Some great tips already here for washers and dryers. For me, number of cycles aren’t that important, but capacity is. Find one that suits your family’s lifestyle. The difference between six cylces and nine is moot, but the difference between six towels and nine…now that’s a real difference!
I got a wonderful whirlpool side by side fridge at best buy – but now i’m regretting not getting the water in the door thing. Great deal though. It was rated really well in consumer report – they had an article last month all about fridges. I’m going to have to buy a new washer soon. eek.
http://www.fisherpaykel.com/
These guys are based in NZ but have outlets in the USA. Highly recommended, good design, reliable 🙂
Why don’t you just go pick up a copy of consumer reports? They usually have great reviews on models, things to avoid, etc.
Do not buy a samsung refrigerator. We have had nothing but problems with ours after owning it for less than two years. We would have been better off keeping our old one!
I always read as many reviews as possible before buying any appliance. It’s good to know that the handle doesn’t drop off easily or that your milk won’t drop out each time you shut the door.