Best Appliances Recommended by a Repair Technician

I have been in the appliance industry for 29 years now, repairing appliances. We're going to be covering a few different appliances, actually all the different appliances, to be exact. We'll be covering laundry. We're covering refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves and ranges. We'll talk about what's the best and what's not the best, and what's not to look for an appliance and what would be best for your needs. So let's quickly talk about microwaves. Now with microwaves.

honestly, I would look for a microwave that the features you like. With any microwave, they use lots of the same components and parts. For example, in a Sharp, you may find an LG Magnetron in it. You might find a GE. You might find a Samsung magnetron in it. The best for microwaves is to go find the look you like, the features you like on it, and that would probably be the best one for you, because they're all basically about the same. A very common question that we get on microwaves. You know, as far as failure rates, what fails, what doesn't fail. The biggest failure rate on the microwave is actually user-induced.

Door Switch Issues on a Microwave

If you really think about that, we have high voltages going through the door switches on a microwave. The door switch is what determines what the microwave knows: the door is closed and when it can properly apply power to the right things and to safely operate. We do have high voltages going through these switches, so a lot of times people make the mistake of pulling the door and pulling it open because oh, I've got five seconds, I'm going to check it. They grab the door and they pull it open. What happens is the door switches in there. They spark when they open, just like you've seen the light switch and you flip it on, or your drill. When you run your drill, you see this spark in there. Well, that's what happens to these door switches. They spark when they open. When that happens, it creates burn marks on these switches.

They fail, and they fail pretty quickly because you start getting carbon buildup and so they don't make contact like they should have. That's why, whenever you want to open the microwave door, if it's during the time that the microwave is counting down or being process of using, what you always want to do is you want to press the Pause button. If you actually look, it says start, and it sayspause on it. Just press thatpause button, open the door, check your food, put it back in, press start, but again. That way you're going to save yourself a lot of hassle with having door switch issues or other issues, strictly because you're urgent and want to open it up. For all you people that like to sit and watch the microwave and wait for that one second left, so you can open that door before it beeps at you, because you don't want to wake somebody up in the other room where you just want to beat it. Don't do it. Just press the Pause button and, like I said, you'll save yourself a lot of hassle with the microwave and possible failures with it. All right.

Stoves – What Are They?

So now let's talk about our friendly stoves that everybody has in their home. Now, a stove is a stove. I mean there are different types of stove. We have induction stoves. You have radiant type soves. That's where you see the glow underneath. You have your gas ranges. They're your three most common ones.

For the most part, they are very reliable, they work. They work well when you start getting into the commercial stuff- Vikings, wolves, thermodores–that is where we seem to have more problems with. The range is strictly because they are very large, complex. They work fantastic and they're great commercial ranges, but typically we have more problems with those than we do just the standard range. So with your standard range, where it goes in most homes, I would just pick whatever you know features you like. Look at how hot the burners get, and that's the stove that I'd be buying. The best fit your needs for your family. Certain things have to happen, for a say, a gas burner for it to fail, 'suff like boil overs where it gets into the burners and gets into theignors and they don't want to ignite properly.

Talk about pans with the pans aren't flat, sitting on a regular radiant-type cooker. Pick the appliance that you like, the features. That is the most important as far as my opinion goes. And if you do want the big commercial ranges, which are fantastic, expect more problems. That strictly because they have more components and it's much larger. So it does take a couple of guys to come out there to actually slide it out to work on it. So you know, usually there's a bit more repair costs involved if you ever run into problems with that down the road.

Boss Dishwashers Are the Best Dishwashers on the Market

Now we're going to the category of dishwashers. Now I'm going to be honest with everybody. I am pretty biased when it comes to dishwashers. I've been doing this for a long time. I have seen lots of different manufacturers. I have worked on a lot of different manufacturers. They all work and they all clean. Where it comes to is how well they clean and how long they will last, and how quiet they are.

In my opinion, boss dishwashers are by far the best dishwasher on the market. The other ones are good, but the bosses have everybody beach, they work well, lost a long time quiet, and they do a fantastic job. Most of my problems that I have with boss dishwashers. If I have a problem with boss dishwashers, it's either a use and carry issue or it's something outside the dishwasher,causing the failure. Now, I'm not saying they're 100% foolproof because they're not, and I'm going to tell you that straight up, but they are, hands down, the best dishwashers on the market. Now to everybody, if you can't afford to boss in–and bosses are expensive, and I'm not going to say that they're not, but they are worth the investment in your home. There's a lot of good other manufacturers out there.

Whirlpool Dishwasher – Is It the Best?

The Whirlpools are great units. Electrolectures are great units. The GE's are great units when you start getting into the contractor grade ones, then you're going to get into. You know we can start picking a more part of saying, well, this one's better than this one, or this one's better than this one. But you know most of them are just a good dishwasher, and they will, you know, provide you good service. One thing I don't want to be amis in saying with this: the BSH Corporation, their three manufacturers, Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau. Now, now, Thermador is the higher end of the Bosch line. Their dishwashers are exactly the same for the most part. They have a lot of the same working parts, but those have a lot more features, a lot more functions.

So when I say Bosch is the best, Bosch is definitely in that category. There it is. I've been a little above what a normal Bosch would be. All right. Now, the exciting category of refrigerators. Everyone loves their refrigerators, especially when they're not working. Actually, they really hate it when they're not working because they lose a lot of food. And if you've been to the supermarket recently to have you lose that food in there, especially that pack of eggs you just bought of 12 eggs, you know that's a lot of money really fast when they're not working. So we have a couple different types of refrigerators.

We have your basic top freezers, French door, bottom freezers, and we have your side by side. They're kind of all in a different category as far as which one's the best, which one's not the best in each category. When you break it down to nuts and bolts, the less features that's on the refrigerator, the less problems it's going to have, because there are less working parts in it. The biggest issue that we have with anybody's refrigerator–and this is across the board, any category you want to talk to side by side. Bottom freezers, top freezers, the ice maker, and the water and ice distribution system–is the number one problem with anybody's refrigerator. It doesn't matter who it is. That is just the facts. Now, if you look on consumer reports, they will list every year from manufacturers when they're talking about the problems that they have. So for the dishwasher, they have washability issues, not draining, you know, so on and so forth, and they list each one of them across the categories.

until you get refrigerators, the complaints generally run anywhere between 99% to 11% across the board. as far as problems. Now, when you jump into refrigerators, you're in that category and tell you jump into ice maker, not making ice or dispensers not working, and then your problems jump into the 25% to 30%. And this is what I tell all my guests. I've been telling them for years, and I've been looking for an answer, and if somebody can answer this for me, it'd be great. Put it in the comment section. We'll look at it. There's nothing else in the home that I have found that I can think of in an appliance that runs 24 hours a day, working in a subzero climate, dealing with water, electronics and electricity.

Is It Better to Have an Ice Maker?

We have all these factors working against this ice maker. So, of course, you're going to have more failures with it because you're placing it in a harsh environment, expecting it to make ice. Yeah, it's great, you know, but the alternative is what's filling up ice tubetrays and sticking your freezer? Well, so, with ice makers, yeah, you're going to have more problems. Is it more convenient for you to have that ice in there and risk a higher repair cost or repair rate because of that? To most people, the answer is yes.

They love that ice and they want that ice. Not having an ice maker, is it going to be less expense for repair or repair over the life of the product? Absolutely. Is it going to make the refrigerator quit because your ice maker's not working? No, all is going to happen, is you're not going to have ice. You know some people are lucky and they never have Ice maker problems, and some people are lucky and they have them all the time.

The Best Refrigerators Out There

With that all being said, let's talk about the best refrigerators out there. In my personal opinion, when it comes to a side by side, honestly, they are all decent. I have some reservations with the LGs. We've had some problems with the LGs over the years with their compressors and some other things. You know they've changed to a new refrigerator, which is R600. The jury's still out because with the last batch of failures we had with a bunch of compressors failing, they were the older compressors, and they were, you know, a year back, and it took years to show up. So I can't say 100% for sure that it's going to be better or worse. But I know they've changed them and that's a different refrigerator, so that's one I would definitely be afraid of. Samsung's are very technologically advanced. They try to do a lot of cutting-edge things with their appliances.

So in doing that, those have a little bit problems, but everybody else. honestly, I'd go back to what you like, as far as it doesn't have the features that I like. The Ice Makers that I like. The shelf set up the way I like. That's what I would look at, mostly in the side by side. Frigidaires are great, the ges are great. The only ones that I would probably be a little reluctant are, like I said, are LG and Samsung. Now, bottom freezers again, I'm going to put my bias hat on again now, when I mentioned as a bottom freezer. Now the new terminology for a bottom freezer is a French door bottom freezer. We have two doors.

Frigidaires are my favorite bottom freezers. By far they are my favorites. They work well, and they work well for a long time. That is what I would recommend to everyone and that's what I recommend to all my guests if they ask what to buy currently. Now things can change, but right now they have been very solid for a very long time. So again, ice maker issues, yes, everybody does, but functionality of it, it's fantastic. It just runs and runs and runs, and I have very few problems with stuff not working or not cooling on it. So that is a very good brand. Another good refrigerator is the GE. Bottom freezers are actually a very good bottom freezer.

also very few problems with them. probably awhirlpool unit, probably after that. Everything else in the bottom part of my category, LG and Samsung. same story as the side by sides. They're having some issues. We don't know if they're fixed or not. We're going to hope they are. But again, that's something you need to know up front and ask yourself: Do you want to take this risk? Because I don't know and I'm not going to say they're going to be fantastic when they're not, because they may have issues.

Wash Machines – The Best On Top Load

So let's talk about wash machines. There are two categories of wash machines. We have top loads and we have front loads. Everyone has their personal preferences on what they like as far as a top load or front load. They both do a fantastic job. They do it differently.

Top load machines are a little more aggressive on your clothes. They run a shorter wash period. Front load machines are actually gentler on your clothes because they can use more of a tumbling action. Let's talk about top loads. As far as the best on top load. Now, the very best on top load, in my opinion, is the Speed Queen top loads.

Speed Queen Machines – The Best

Speed Queen has been around forever. They have two different versions. They have the newer version and they have what's called the classic version. The newer version is a little more gentle on your clothes, and you have the classic version. That's a lot more aggressive on your clothes. They are the best. They've been around forever.

They have fantastic warranties. Again with those, we don't have a lot of problems with them. Most people have them. They just run forever. I've been working on these machines literally the whole time, almost the whole time I've been doing a client's pair. They've been around.

LG Top Load Machines

So they are fantastic top load machines. After that we step into other manufacturers. Now, surprising enough, is where I liked LG on refrigerator category. They're wash machines. Top loads are fantastic washing machines. I would not have a minute's hesitation buying one for my home.

The ges are right on par with them. I think they're a fantastic top load machine. After that, you know, Whirlpool's a good manufacturer, Frigidaire's. Their top load machines are not my favorites on all the new wash machines, and I know what I'm saying this. I'm throwing this in the top load category.

Washing Machines – The Normal Cycle is the Eco Cycle

But the normal cycle is the eco cycle on every one of these washing machines now. So if you use the normal cycle, it's going to use the least amount of water it possibly can use, and it's going to use the coolest water it can possibly use, no matter what you select, because it is the eco cycle. If you wanted them to fill with more water and use the deep fill options, or you wanted to actually give you the temperature of water you want, you'd want to select something other than the normal cycle, because that is the eco cycle for most of the new washing machines.

Electrolx Front Load Washers – The Best Front Load Washer on the Market

So now let's talk about front load washers. I like front load washers. Many people don't like front load washers because they smell and they're stinky, and they're hard to clean out, have to do maintenance on them. They have to run wash machine cleaners, and they don't want to have to bother themselves with these, these trivial things about taking care of their stuff, just like when you don't take care of your car, and then it falls apart. Well, same thing with the wash machine. But with front load wash machines you do have to ensure that the door is opened after. Unless you have one that vents out like the GE's. Do ensure that you run a cleaning cycle with a cleaner or bleach or whatever the manufacturer recommends about every 50 wash cycles. Do help it clean out to get rid of that smells and stuff.

The smells are basically from the concentration of dirt and everything that's actually between the drums. That basically is not getting cleaned out because it's just sitting down there because there's not much water in them. So what's the best? Well, my opinion, the best front load machine on the market is the Electrolx front load washers. They are fantastic, they just work. I have so few problems with them. Did they break? Yes, again, I'm not going to you, but the failure rate is very low on these. So don't let that scare you when I say yes, they're going break because yours may never break.

those people broke once is a terrible machine. Well, that's like saying your car broke once, and it's a terrible car, or I broke my finger. So I'm a terrible person. I mean, sometimes I hear this stuff and I just scratch my head and I'm thinking: Well, you've had one problem with it and I understand it's not the end of the world. The machine works still. It's taken care of, it's fixed. You're not. You know this was a fluke type thing. So don't fall into that trap, because if you have one and it breaks, that it's a terrible machine.

It's really not. It's a fantastic machine. It works great. Number 2 choice again LG. surprise, surprise; They're a fantastic washer. I don't know how they can get the washers you know so right and the refrigerator so wrong. It still baffles me.

Washer and Dryer – My Top 3 Choices

My number three choice would be the the ges. After that, I would probably go the Whirlpool units and everything else. After that, in my opinion, but those are the products that I would definitely be looking for if I'm buying a washer today. My first choice would be an electrolyx. It would even be a second thought in my brain. That's what I wouldn't buy.

So, for dryers, this is my recommendation for you. Okay, my recommendation is: whatever washer you buy, buy the matching dryer to make your wife happy. Because if you have a mismatched washer and dryer man, you're in for a lot of trouble because you're going to hear about it until you buy your wife or your spouse the matching set to it. So just buy the matching dryer to the washer you pick.

Everything Will Be Good

Everything will be good. Well, thank you for watching this video. I hope this video has been informative. I hope this has been helpful in making some of your decisions on what to buy. As far as what you're looking for in a category, there are some great units out there. What I recommend is strictly my personal recommendation, and this comes from my experience of repair these. It has nothing to do with repair rates, with.

This person on this YouTube page said this, and this person on this YouTube page said that I understand that, "I am basing this strictly on my experience, and I want you to be happy with your purchase, and I want you to make the best decision." So I'm trying to arm you with the best information you can have to make the purchase that you're going to be happy with, because if it breaks, you have to come see me. And if you buy the wrong thing and I say buy this and I have to come see you, you're not going to be happy with me. So I want you to get something that's going to last and it's going to work.