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tksignal75

GE Monogram

tksignal75
11 years ago

My wife and I are looking to build a new house and we are trying to figure out appliances for the kitchen. I enjoy cooking and she is the baker. I was looking for some opinions on GE Monogram stuff. I can a pretty good discount on GE appliances through my employer, which is one reason I am thinking about them. The other reason is there is a $1000 rebate on the them. Here is what I am thinking about:

GE Monogram 30" Double Wall Oven

Model #ZET958MSS

GE Monogram 36" Gas Cooktop

Model #ZGU385MSS

GE Monogram Dishwasher

Model #ZBD7920VSS

I have seen that, for the most part, GE Monogram cooking appliances have been favorably reviewed. We are also considering Thermador(they have a promotion currently, dealer is 90 miles away) and Kenmore Elite(Sears is local and they always have a sale). The discount and rebate on the GE Monogram stuff puts it almost in the Kenmore Elite price range.

The DW is another story. I haven't seen any real positive reviews of GE Monogram DW's. Which means that it would get me a $1000 rebate, but I might hate the thing. We have had a Bosch DW for 10 years and love it. We are also thinking about Thermador, Kenmore Elite and Bosch DW's.

We are aren't opposed to a mix-and-match kitchen, because we really like the LG LFX31935ST fridge. LG also builds the Kenmore Elite #72053 fridge. We just want some quality items. We are figuring on about $8000-$10000 for the kitchen appliances and another $2000 to $3000 for the laundry. Sears had a sale a few weeks ago on Kenmore Elite appliances, it was 25% regular prices.

I found GardenWeb and have enjoyed the posts and information on here. I have been looking at reviews and pricing on numerous websites and things are clear as mud. Thanks for any advice or help.

Comments (12)

  • mydreamhome
    11 years ago

    We have GE Monogram 36" 6 burner Pro Rangetop & the 30" Pro Wall Oven. From what we were told, the difference in the different GE Monogram double wall ovens was the exterior appearance and the controls. All the rest was pretty much identical. We are very happy with our ovens. I like to bake and have had no problems with either standard or convection. We've roasted and broiled with and without convection as well with nice results. We like our rangetop too, but don't know how that compares with the cooktop you're looking at.

    As far as the DW, we went with the KitchenAid KUDC10FX. We have 2 of them and they have done a great job, they're quiet and much more reasonably priced than other brands with the same features. Our backup choice on the DW was the Samsung 600 or 800 series--very similar to the KA (800 series had a lower dBa level) at the same price point. We had narrowed our decision down to those 2 brands and went with KA due to immediate availability and a scheduling issue. The Monogram DWs look nice, have a nice list of features, but as you say the reviews are a mixed bag. Plus the price point is up there. I know you're thinking about that $1000 rebate, so why not buy your range hood from them instead? That's what we did and it pretty much came out to 'Buy the rangetop & ovens, get the hood free'. Then select the DW that best suits you needs and price point--unless you opt for another high priced brand (like Miele or Thermador) or a high priced model with all the bells and whistles, you will end up saving some $$ when all is said and done.

    Thermador-wise, all I can tell you is to ask about the simmer on the cooktop. On the rangetop, the burners ignite and extinguish, ignite and extinguish, ignite and extinguish over and over and over to achieve a simmer temp. That means you hear a constant clearly audible 'click-click', 'click-click' about every 20-30 seconds until you turn the burner off or up. Our sales guy said the clicking sound has gotten less audible, but I didn't hear a difference--maybe you just get used to it after a while, I don't know. What I do know is that I didn't want to deal with it, so we opted for Monogram. The Thermador ovens bake & roast beautifully but after about 5 yrs, the digital readout on the control panel dims gradually until you can't see it anymore and you have to replace the panel. Additionally, issues with the ovens actually working and keeping up temps occur. Plenty of threads on this board about it + thats what DM is experiencing as we speak.

    Hope this helps!

  • sophie123
    11 years ago

    I have the cooktop that you are looking at. It works great - the center burner is very large and gets very hot (18K btus). The other burners are plenty hot (it think 12K btus). all have very low simmer capability with no clicking. Its very substantial with heavy grates. I had a problem with one grate chipping and ge sent a replacement. My house cleaner seems to be working away at the GE monogram writing on it so thats starting to fading but otherwise looks great after almost a year. Its very easy to clean and any boil over gets captured below and hasnt affected the flames. So i think its a no brainer. We also have the advantium 240 and the monogram hood if you have any consideration of those.

  • tksignal75
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for your input mydreamhome & sophie123. Which Monogram hood do you have sophie123? I did like the looks of the ZV950SDSS hood. It will work with ceilings to 9ft without a bunch of accessories. Some of the duct covers get pretty pricey. It has a blower rated at 690cfm, which I think will be a must. I also like that GE has been investing a large sum of money to build plants here in the USA and creating jobs for American workers.

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    I suggest reading this thread about Monogram and the two threads linked within it.

    If you run a search on the forum, you'll find lots of other reading.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Monogram thread with oven complaints

  • charliemac
    10 years ago

    We built a new home six years ago (a rather large home) with a main gourmet kitchen and three additional kitchens (one in the guest house, one in a garage apartment, and one in the basement bar area). We chose GE Monogram for the main kitchen. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!! Every single GE Monogram appliance has had problems and repair parts are grossly overpriced. A condensate pump for the undercounter icemaker went bad and the replacement was over $500. A control module in the TriVection ovens went bad during warranty (fortunately), The 48" refrigerator has had a couple of repairs, the garbage compactor has had two separate repairs. The under counter dishwasher has flimsy roller wheels that keep coming off and the front door sags because the springs are too weak. Recently a small simple off-on switch for the downdraft vent hood quit working and the replacement is over $100. Don't buy Monogram appliances. Forget the rebates. I will never own another GE Monogram appliance--ever. And by the way, we purchased Frigidaire appliance packages for the other three kitchens (refrigerator, range, dishwasher, microwave) and there have been absolutely no issues with a single item. And I had no particular fondness for Frigidaire--we bought those simply because a friend was the local dealer and we wanted to do some business with him.

  • Laura-L
    10 years ago

    GE Monogram was the WORST purchase that I ever made. The first problem that I had with the range (36" gas with griddle) was that the lettering on the range flaked off ... repairman replaced the panel. Next, the glass in the oven door fell out ... dropped between the door walls. When the repairman came out to replace it, he couldn't replace just the glass but had to completely replace the whole door. After he took the old door off, I saw why ... the glass is held in place by what appears to be double sided tape. I'm not kidding. Next, the hinge on the oven door dropped and now has completely broken inside the oven. Oh, I forgot to add that 2 of the knobs that control the burners are broken. My repairman said that he is constantly working on the Monogram appliances. His words "they are junk". I would have thought that maybe I just got a "bad batch" had it not been for the fact that all of the Monogram appliances that I purchased were all junk. The under the cabinet ice maker NEVER worked properly. GE even sent out representatives from the company to assist the repairman (who, by the way, we got to know on a first name basis). GE finally decided to completely replace the ice maker ... in less than 2 months, it quit working. I called the company and had to fight with them to come and get it out of my house and refund my money. The dishwasher lasted only a few years and the racks rusted and broke ... I was so fed up I just threw it in the trash and bought a Whirlpool. I thank my lucky stars that I didn't buy the refrigerator. My advise to anyone thinking about buying the GE Monogram products is to THINK AGAIN! They look pretty but if you like to cook, this isn't the appliance for you! GE Monogram is CRAP!

  • PNWhs
    9 years ago

    Wow! I have all GE Monogram appliances in my house - it came with them I did not pick them. I'm not wild about the icemaker in the side by side I have. The side by side also has a minor cosmetic thing with the padding on the inside of the doors, but the doors close and seal fine. The DW has been great and I would actually buy another one. The range has a grill which is completely useless. Other than that - everything has run perfectly for 3 years with not a single repair needed. Sorry to hear my experience is not shared by the previous posters!

  • plllog
    9 years ago

    I have a 4-5 year old Monogram dishwasher. It's fine. Not brilliant, but fine. What I do like is the user ability to customize the settings for wash style and heat. On the plastics cycle, my plastics get dry (not counting whatever pools in the rim, which is inevitable), however, little bits of lettuce don't come off. They don't on the regular wash either, though they might on the scrub cycle. If you do a good job scraping, it's not an issue. The racks aren't over customized for dishes I don't own like Miele and KitchenAid are (the two most popular brands). It's still not a great design, especially for cereal bowls and big bowls, but you can customize the tines and make do. Much better for my own dishes than the others. And it works fine. (I just miss my ugly old Whirlpool.)

  • I Keeling
    8 years ago

    I have a fairly new GE Monogram wall oven and the problem still exists with the back left corner getting hotter than the rest of the oven. We do bacon in the oven and the back left ones will burn before the rest is even ready to flip. Perhaps it works as designed but this is a major design flaw. Everything else works great, but having had many different GE Monogram appliances I recommend a SubZero over their built in fridge, and a Meile dishwasher over anything else (AMAZING, BEST DISHWASHER EVER, don't believe the Bosch hype). I'm currently reviving this thread to see how people like their GE Monogram ranges as I have to decide between Wolf and GE Monogram and both have several detractors. Thanks for any input!


  • Chuck Morton
    3 years ago

    My wife and I recently purchased a complete Monogram kitchen -Range, refrigerator, etc. We have had nothing but issues with the range and at this point, cannot even use it. The last technician actually scratched our new wood flooring and we still don't have a working range. Had the range for 2 months and have yet to use it..... I have been on hold for over 3 hrs today alone trying to reach someone. Monogram/GE has the WORST customer support!!!!

  • Architectural Notice
    3 years ago

    I saw a youtube video where someone bought a complete set of GE Monogram appliances for their kitchen and had problems with every single one of them. It kind of turned me off on the

    GE Monogram brand.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlqB9Fb7K7w