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Hello all. Firstly I would like to say that this is a very informative site and that as Gas Safe registered plumber I echo everything that I have read so far written by the experts; you get what you pay for. I would like some advice/opinions on future purchases.
Washing Machine
My current Hoover Nextra 6 is currently approaching seven years of age. It has had two minor faults, but I know the end is fast approaching. When I bought the machine I was renting and estimated that me and my efficient wife would be using no more than 120-130 cycles a year. I took the risk that a machine in this price bracket should hopefully last five years, performing 600 cycles. Well ignoring the faults it has done that, though since the arrival of my son we now use 300 cycles a year and as we hope to have more (please God), this figure will increase. Since the last year the machine is now performing as many cycles in a year as it used to do in nearly 3! I have considered models from Miele, Siemens and ISE. To be honest it is the ISE that I desire, though the recent news regarding the movement of production has me concerned. As a tradesman and car nut, I know this ‘movement’ is always based on cutting costs and nowt to do with quality issues. This nigh on always results in not only quality issues but also heralds, more importantly, a change in company ethos. Can any of you allay my fears regarding this decision, cheers.
Fridge Freezer
Just shy of two weeks before moving into our first home, our Frigidaire packed up and was correctly deemed B.E.R. My wife received vouchers through some sort of policy she had had that would allow us to get a replacement from a limited price range. Our current kitchen needs extending at some point in the next five years, so a long term buy will have to wait until then due to the space restrictions. We ended up with a Beko, sigh. After searching around for white goods I have noticed Beko’s name and the words fire risk/safety/recall in the same sentence more than the average manufacturer! So, for when the kitchen is done, who do you recommend and if my hand is forced before that, what else do you recommend.
Tumble Dyer
I am tempted to buy a White Knight eco 86a, does anyone have any experience of these regarding durability, or the manufacturer and its gas side of the business.
I spend my days giving advice so it would be nice getting some back, ta
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
Firstly. Miele over rated and don’t last as long as they use to. If you think about it, Miele price £1500 and last about 6 to 8 years when an Indesit last about 5 to 7 years and costs about £300. So if you do the maths I’d going for that. My fav is lg direct drive
Short term if your Beko fridge packs up. I’d say get Beko again for the short life they have, But for long term lg side by side American Fridge Freezer (R600a gas)
And yes to white knight, they are really good.
The machines that I have listed are very good but at the same time all have there little faults in one way or another, ever your lucky or not but if you look after your machines the machines will look after you.
hope this helps
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
leedata1979 wrote:hope this helps
Indesit, LG & White Knight eh? A somewhat disjointed, distorted view of today’s marketplace choices I must say. :rolls:
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
Indesit, low end, low quality with sealed drums and suspect electronics that are expensive to repair.
White Knight, budget brand, vented dryers quite decent for the money with reasonable spares prices, their condenser dryers are not as good. I would not class them as ‘very good’ though.I have an ISE washing machine. 8)
You can but a Miele for well under £1500 and as it will in most cases come with a ten year warranty it makes your statement invalid.
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
10 year guarantee against the breakdown of the washing machine drum, outer tub, axle, bearings and * brushless motor. does not say if that include engineer visit and only fixed by Miele? not being funny but the look of a Miele washing machine isn’t the best looking in the world.
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
Thanks for your replys.
I must point out that due to my trade and the customer base I have built up, I cannot fault Miele on build quality/reliability. As for the Indesit group, their washing machines and Tumble dryers will not cope with my demand/future demand. For the washing machine I am not really interested in anything from Bosch downwards. I am well aquainted with a vast array of their products to the point that I will say that there is a Bosch, then there’s a Bosch and then there is a Bosch. I know Siemens are part of the group but the Germans are strange. A lot of their conglomerates/groups allow the individual companies to run their own affairs, though naturally there is pooling of resources; The Vaillant Group is an example. I have always found that when Siemens and Bosch compete in the same theatre, the Siemens product is superior.
I mention the White knight gas dryer for both my personal use and business possibilities. If it won’t last 12-15 years based on average use allowing for 1-2 breakdowns, then I will not be interested.
The Fridge freezer I really do need advice as I am not sure of what is good and what is not; the American side by side style is not my main concern honestly; build quality and storage capacity is for the future. The manufacturer I have heard mentioned quite a bit is Liebherr, are they that good?
Anyone have info on my ISE concern?
Many thanks.Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
Miele are good machines in the main.
General trade opinion seems to be that, like most, they’ve had to make changes to keep the machines within the reach of normal people and not hit stratospheric price points. But, still way better than most all.
The only competition, IMO, is ISE and V-Zug. Pretty much everything else falls into the “also ran” category with perhaps the exception of the rare German built BSH Group stuff which border of the same prices anyway.
My personal opinion is, if anyone tells you any others are close on quality they probably don’t know very much.
The Swedish production is moving for several reasons but, from what I understand speaking directly to the Swedes, the biggest reason is that the plant needed either a serious makeover or a new one built. I can get that having been there and seen the restrictions on space that they have.
Given that the current facility not far from Vara is in an environmentally protected region, building a new plant would be incredibly difficult and hugely expensive. If even possible in the region.
To bring the old plant up to the standard required would have also proved to be both difficult and expensive.
Elsewhere in the group there was a big empty silo. It just happened to be in a different country.
The logical approach was what has been done to keep the costs from getting stupid and the entire plant, every last nut and bolt, is currently in the process of being moved. And, trust me, you wouldn’t like the bill for that let alone the alternatives.
Same materials. Same plant used. Same pressings. Same components barring any updates in time. Same dedication to quality. Same testing. Same all round really, just the location is changed and the staff obviously bar key people. All the development is still in Sweden, unchanged.
Whilst we, the Americans, the Australians and the Swedes among others understood the reasoning we were also pretty persistent in the retention of it all. 😉
K.
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
kwatt wrote:
Same materials. Same plant used. Same pressings. Same components barring any updates in time. Same dedication to quality. Same testing. Same all round really, just the location is changed and the staff obviously bar key people. All the development is still in Sweden, unchanged.we were also pretty persistent in the retention of it all. 😉
K.
Thanks for the reply, I shall keep my fingers crossed. Is the current line up set to remain or are new additions expected?
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
Isnt it nice to see advice from someone else, its a shame its the opposite of every one else and wrong.
Miele overrated? I nearly fell off my chair! Indesit a better choice? If i was the op i would ignore that advice.
White knight dryers are only good because they are cheep to fix.
ISE and Miele are the best machines on sale today, when you consider performance and running costs. All this info has been discussed in these forums many times and Ken has written plenty of info on his website.
Having looked inside a new Miele i can tell you that they are not much different to the way they have always been built.
Also dont but a LG, these are overated and seem to have a different service company every year.Sent from my iPhone
http://www.kitchenkitsw.comRe: Advice and opinions appreciated
Gas dryers are commonplace in the USA with Whirlpool being a front runner over there ( judging by most I’ve seen anyway). Here in the UK the demand fell flat leaving just White Knight and Creda to ‘bear the flame’ so to speak. Mr Macaroni Indesit soon stopped production of the Creda leaving only White Knight to ‘fan the flames!’ So with the choice so limited it isn’t any wonder then that the prices of the WK is so flaming high yet the quality of the product down in the ashpan. I’ve no burning desire to own one I must confess. What with the present day price of gas anyway it would burn a hole in my pocket in no time at all I should think…?
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
TBH domestic gas dryers never really took off in the UK for several reasons.
The first is that they require installation by a registered fitter which is not cheap.
Second, it’d take an age to recoup that cost as well as the initial premium in terms of savings.
Third, they must be vented and require a big hole in the wall behind it.
So, fourth, moving one is a royal pain if the need should arise.
Fifth, they cost more in the first place and are no greater quality really than others available for a lot less.
Sixth, repairs are extremely hard to get and service tends to be very, very limited.
Seventh, most of us that have ever worked on one hate them passionately. They’re hard to work on as space is limited inside them even after you finally manage to get them out to do so.
So there you go, lots of reasons not to buy one and why that, for domestic use, a gas dryer really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in a Euro box.
Of course in the US, appliances tend to be a lot larger making it more viable to a degree I guess and in commercial where the volumes are much, much higher it makes sense commercially to a degree. But, even in commercial, they seem to be shifting more to heat pump now.
K.
Re: Advice and opinions appreciated
kwatt wrote:The Swedish production is moving for several reasons but, from what I understand speaking directly to the Swedes, the biggest reason is that the plant needed either a serious makeover or a new one.
Will the new plant be integrated within the existing plant in Slovenia?
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