Appliance recommendations and fridge question

gwennythepooh

So our dishwasher is dying a painful death and we're looking to replace it soon. DH commented we should also investigate just replacing our fridge, stove and dishwasher at the same time so we'd be good to go for awhile (we have NO idea how old any of our appliances are as they came with the house - we just know they're old). So questions/requests:
1)  Recommend your dishwasher and/or any features on a dishwasher that you love in case we do just replace the dishwasher. 

2) I'm in lust with the refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom. Thoughts on these? I don't necessarily need French doors on the top, but I like the idea of being able to have my fridge items at eye level. Or is the lower level freezer more of a pain in the butt than I'm realizing? We currently just have a standard fridge/freezer and I'm ok staying with that if need be (we have cabinets above our fridge - so we are limited on space and I absolutely do not want side by side fridge/freezer).

kris356

We haven't had to replace a dishwasher yet, so no recommendations.

I want to get rid of our side-by-side in the worst way. I absolutely despise it. While it is the same as our old one, it is the smaller size and nothing fits. My parents have the bottom freezer french door. I love it. The only thing is the fact the drawer kinda ends up like a chest freezer so you need to have organization. Theirs does have baskets and drawers but the main space sometimes is like a treasure chest.

Meghan&Rich

We just replaced our appliances - I will have to look to check on the brand/model.  We've only had them for about 6+ months now, so I can't comment on them from a long term perspective, but so far so good.

We went from a side by side fridge, to one with the freezer on the bottom (one door on top).  People seem to hate the side by sides, but it never bothered me.  It's easier to see items with the style of fridge we have now, but I found it easier to organize with the side by side since there were more shelves. 

Ditto Kris on the bottom freezer - it does take some organizing because it is basically a freezer chest.  I can't say I'm a huge fan of the freezer style, but I do like having the main fridge at eye level.

Our appliances were pretty old as well.  We went with pretty basic appliances, so I can't think of any specific features that I love about our new ones, other than they all match and look pretty!    I also love the fact that you cannot hear the dishwasher when it runs.  You could hear our old dishwasher throughout the house, it was so loud.

AmandaJLewis

Quiet dishwashers rule! We got a low-end bosh from Lowes and it has a light on the floor so we know when it is running and done.  It isn't 100% quiet, we hear it drain (cause it goes through the sink drain) but even still, so much quiet.  awesome really.

I have a freezer on the bottom, french door fridge from Samsung. I have one minor issue with it and it causes water to condensate and pool in my crisper drawers. So I cannot recommend it specifically. However I do really like the set up. The freezer drawer doesn't bother me. I am no more likely to loose something in it than I am in a standard freezer. 

MrsAmers

I prefer the freezer on the bottom when cooking because I don't have to bend down to get ingredients and put them away. The only downside is that it is harder for the kids to serve themselves. Now that they are getting old enough to get themselves a cheese stick or yogurt tube, a bottom fridge would be better for that - but in a few years they will be tall enough. ;-)

amyjoy18

MrsAmers said:

I prefer the freezer on the bottom when cooking because I don't have to bend down to get ingredients and put them away. The only downside is that it is harder for the kids to serve themselves. Now that they are getting old enough to get themselves a cheese stick or yogurt tube, a bottom fridge would be better for that - but in a few years they will be tall enough. ;-)

I love our freezer on the bottom fridge.  Ours has a shallow pull out drawer at the bottom of the fridge section that I use to store the kid's snacks--yogurt, cheese sticks, pepperoni, etc. And the bottom shelf on the door below the ice maker is the perfect size for their cups. 

As far as brands, we went with GE when we built our house last year, and the fridge is the only one that we HAVEN"T had a problem with.  So I do not recommend GE appliances. 

kris356

GE-we have had no issues with the higher end GE appliances, I think they are called Gallery. But any low-end we've ever had sucked. We got our GE Gallery stove for a steal at Sears a few years ago. I love that stove. We have the lower end model at the new house and I hate it. It will be replaced soon, but first I need a new washer.

sarahandtim

Don't forget to check out the Sears scratch and dent!! I swear by them when we look into new appliances.

amyjoy18

kris356 said:

GE-we have had no issues with the higher end GE appliances, I think they are called Gallery. But any low-end we've ever had sucked. We got our GE Gallery stove for a steal at Sears a few years ago. I love that stove. We have the lower end model at the new house and I hate it. It will be replaced soon, but first I need a new washer.

Ours are the GE Cafe series.  So they're not the top of the line professional series, but they're not the lower level profile or artistry.  :-(

lishie

I had a freezer on the bottom freezer, and I thought I would love it, but I ended up disliking it.

I didn't like the fact that the freezer was a chest freezer, meaning that I had to often hunt around to find what I was looking for. It was easy to forget what I had in there. I spent a lot more time trying to find what I wanted in there than I did with my regular style fridge.

I don't use the bottom of my fridge that much, mainly for produce, so I'm okay with bending down to get that, and it was easy to find. The things I'm hunting for are already close to  eye level most of the time.

denalea

I agree with the comments that the bottom freezer with drawers can be disorganized.  (My parents used to have a bottom freezer with door.  I liked that much better, but did not see any like that when we were looking.  I believe now even theirs is a drawer, as the door one used to be my great-aunt-Dorothy's and was OLD!)

We have Kitchen Aid appliances and are reasonably happy.  No major issues.  The dishwasher is pretty quiet.  Everyone once in a while I can hear it, but that is more likely because I am lazy when I load it and don't set everything in there properly, and then things shift and rattle.

denalea

I agree with the comments that the bottom freezer with drawers can be disorganized.  (My parents used to have a bottom freezer with door.  I liked that much better, but did not see any like that when we were looking.  I believe now even theirs is a drawer, as the door one used to be my great-aunt-Dorothy's and was OLD!)

We have Kitchen Aid appliances and are reasonably happy.  No major issues.  The dishwasher is pretty quiet.  Everyone once in a while I can hear it, but that is more likely because I am lazy when I load it and don't set everything in there properly, and then things shift and rattle.