appliance selection for reno esp. fridge help!

10 years ago

Hi! I have been lurking on this site for the past few weeks and have found the advice invaluable. The aim here is bang-for-the-buck appliances. I don't care about matchy-matchy handles, etc. I feel fairly solid on everything but the hood and fridge.

Thermador Masterpiece 30" cooktop SGSX305FS -- the one with the fancy lights in the knobs because we didn't go with the pro line

Electrolux Wave-Touch 30" double oven EW30EW55GS

The Sharp drawer microwave 24" (I don't have the number handy)

Possibly a Faber 30" hood. 600 cfms should be fine, as this vents directly through an exterior wall.

The fridge is giving me a headache. DH and I have finally settled on counter depth because we lose so much food in our current huge fridge (came with the house). We don't feel we'll actually miss the volume and we have a good mini-fridge downstairs to pick up the slack. Given the dimensions of the kitchen and location, we feel that those few inches are worth it.

We've kind of settled on Electrolux and KitchenAid. It needs to stay under $3,000. We do not want a dispenser in the door but like an ice maker in the freezer. With the KitchenAid, I'm concerned that the interior volume is smaller than the Electrolux. However, some people really seem to like the solidity/mechanics of it.

The second question is whether it's worth it to step up in price to the $3k fridges. With Electrolux, that gives a semi-built-in look. With KA, it seems to be some style but also height and thus extra fridge volume (though the freezer is the same).

My current fridge is an old KA that is a behemoth but it works really well. I have owned a Sub-Zero and my last fridge was a GE that has been an absolute nightmare and I will never go there again. This last experience led me to fear lower priced appliances if they are considered so disposable. Maybe it really IS worth it to shell out for the SZ that is repairable, though it seems like an outrageous price at first.

From a design standpoint, all I really need to know is that it will be counter depth, though there are definitely some height considerations as well. I'd appreciate any input on these issues.

Sorry for the lengthy diatribe on fridges, but it's the most vexing part of this process.

Thanks!

PS -- I have a decent dishwasher that we're keeping

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Comments (2)

pber2025
10 years ago
Hi

This is my first post, but I did a ton of reading on this site so I guess it's time to give back! We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel and the major appliances are installed since July 5th.

In our new kitchen we choose the Elux Wave Touch oven EW30EW5CGS (single 30 inch) based on the feedback we read on this site.

I can only assume the double oven you are looking at will be as nice as the single one we purchased. The wave touch control works very well and is not so hard to use or to keep clean. The single oven takes about 7 minutes to go from room temp to 350F using the rapid preheat or 10 minutes if using normal mode. The two easy glide racks are very smooth, Interior lights are also very good. But most important it bakes very well.

For the refrigerator we also decided to go counter depth for many reasons. First, we have a large freezer in the basement and another full size refrigerator in the garage. Second, our kitchen is small and the fridge and oven are on the same wall, so going counter depth makes for a nicer layout in our case.

We looked at many refrigerators from LG, Samsung, Jen-Air, KitchenAid, GE etc, but my wife fell in love with the Elux French Door counter depth model EW23BC85KS also with Wave touch. It's not too small at 22.6 cu ft for a counter depth fridge, but still fits nicely in a 24 inch depth cabinet unlike some models we looked at that are advertised as counter depth but have a 28 inch depth.

The Elux refrigerators received many bad reviews in the last few years because of the many problems with the ice maker. However the new models released this year have new ice makers and so far they seem to work very well. The only negative on the fridge, the water coming from the dispenser is not cold. But for us this is minor since the fridge produces enough ice (dual ice maker) to please a polar bear or to keep up with a family of six (4 kids) during the hot summer weeks we just experienced. In this model all the drawers are self closing, also a nice touch.

Good luck in your decision making process it's not easy...

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stmoluag
Original Author
10 years ago
pber2025, thanks for the response. I was surprised that more people didn't pipe up, but I've already gleaned a lot from past posts.

I am leaning toward the Electrolux for the fridge, though a different model than you got (we don't want an in-door dispenser) and not Wave Touch. We're going that way on the oven but it seems less important in a fridge.

One thing I like about these fridges is that they do seem to have made efficient use of the inside space at counter depth.

I appreciate your input but it's good to know that you have had a good experience. I don't think we could go wrong with the KA either, though.

Thanks again!
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