My wife wants a new dishwasher. When she wanted a new washer, I handed her a bucket. She wanted a new dryer, I handed her a ball of twine. I think if I hand her a sponge she's really gonna kick my butt

So, any advice on what to look for in a dishwasher? I had a plumber at the house this week and he told me to go with the most basic features - all the others are nonsense and said that we're probably never going to use them anyway. He also suggested when in the stores to ask for discontinued/clearance models and we could save a few bucks. Does anyone have anything else to add?

We picked up a Bosch on sale at Sears a few years ago and it is great. It is the quietest machine we have ever had, and it does a great job.

Bosch is the only way to go.

I can't find the thread back from when we bought ours at Sears, it was a previous year model that we got for less than most standard brands (<$300). So your advice about asking for disco or previous year models is good.

Lowes has several models and has been running sales on them every other month or so. Remember that there are 10% off coupons in the USPS mover packs.

We have Kitchen Aid. In Tampa we had Whirlpool. I'm not that impressed with KA's dishwashers. This one doesn't dry the water off the tops of the cups unless it is on a certain cycle.
The newest thing is stainless steel inside. whooopie!

Not sure what I would buy today. There was some reason why we didn't get a Bosch.

The only extra I would absolutely insist on with any new dishwasher is getting one with a built-in water heating option.

Of course, one nice thing about the better models (like the aforementioned Bosch, even on their cheapest models at Lowes, for instance) is the stainless steel tubs and adjustable height dish racks.

All great advice, thanks so much! I never heard of Bosch, but will be looking at it now.

Bosch units are different from the others in that they have a proprietary heater/pump unit that heats the water to 160 degrees (just like in commercial units, 160 is needed to sanatize dishes/glasses) as the water flows through the pump. The stainless tub is designed to retain the heat from the water and then use it to dry the dishes once the wash cycle ends. So you don't need a heating unit for drying. But the best part is the noise level. Bosch are hands down the quietest dishwashers on the market. My first experience with one was while installing the final phone/ethernet jacks on a new construction for a friend. His wife wife had only the top of the line appliances installed and the dishwasher was a Bosch with the hidden controls. He and I were just putting the last coverplate on in the kitchen when the sink started making noise. We both turned around and asked "What is that"? His wife came over and said that it was just the dishwasher emptying into the sink drain. It had been on the whole time not 5 feet from us and we didn't even know it. Now ours is not the top of the line model but still I can lean back against it while it is running and still be talking on the phone with no problem.

I did a lot of research on this a few months ago, and ended up going with a Whirlpool Gold. It has a nice pot scrubber feature I liked, and Consumer Reports rated the Whirlpool models as having very clean dishes (something that was really important to me as my old one didn't get the dishes clean half the time and had to be run again). I concentrated only on features, not bling, so no stainless tub, etc., but it really does clean the dishes, and uses less water than many.

I asked my GF who has 2 dishwashers and she likes Bosch. I might mention her house is worth around 750K so money was no object.

I thought the benefit of a stainless tub was that there wasn't any chance of it cracking over time.

And I second the recommendation for Bosch - my SIL has one and it is super quiet.

plus it will always look cleaner inside with the stainless steel as the finish probably won't wear as much.

not sure if that's true, but seems plausible

As long as it is properly installed, a fiberglass dishwasher tub shouldn't crack -- in fact, it will probably outlast the door gaskets, pump, and motor on the dishwasher itself. My mother's Sears Kenmore Ultra Wash II is 15+ years old and still washes dishes just as well as the day it was installed. However, it doesn't look that pretty on the inside, and recently has begun to suffer some serious rattling in the motor housing. I'll probably just replace it in a few weeks with a similar midrange model, though not necessarily one from Sears.

That being said, I do intend to drop by Lowes and see if they have any closeouts on a lower end Bosch, though. If I can get the stainless steel tub and adjustable racks for about the same price, I won't argue....

Quietness is probably the biggest factor to me. The other day I sat down to watch TV and the diswasher was started. I could take about 5 minutes of the noise and went to another room. So, I guess I want a new one just as much as my wife does

I placed a bunch of insulation around my cheap maytag dishwasher. It's not silent, but it also doesn't bother me when I'm watching TV in the next room.

But yeah, I think I'll price a Bosch when it's time for a new one.

Then you definitely want a Bosch!

We have a Kenmore Elite. First Kenmore appliance that has not crapped out on me in under a year. The repair man told me today (a cable in the door had snapped) it was made by Kitchen Aid. It is quiet, quiet, quiet. No one can hear it when it is running.

Bosch

After going to Sears & Lowes (the only Bosch dealers by me) I think we've decided to go with the Bosch SHE45M0 in white. Actual model# SHE45M02UC.

Sears has it for $778.99 + free shipping and an extra 10% off. Comes to $746.66 + $65 delivery = $811.66. Sears does not install dishwashers, so I'd need to get a plumber, cost not known right now.

At Lowes it's $748 + free shipping and I have the 10% coupon from the Post Office. Total comes to $716.96 w/o installation. Lowes will install it & haul away old washer for $109 which I'm considering. The total will be $825.96 with taxes & installation.

$811.66 w/o installation from Sears
$825.96 w/ installation & haul away from Lowes. I may wait until Lowes has a sale on this model also.
Hmmm, tough decision. Don't see how Sears can compete on this one. I can't believe I'm considering spending over $800 total for a dishwasher either. That's crazy. I'd imagine I can buy a whole lot of sponges & soap for $800

A licensed plumber will be costly, unless that General Contractor has an associate that does side work. Plus, those big box chains usually hire subs who agree to to a job at 'cheap' prices. I would want a few names of folks who had the work done to avoid problems later.

Alan, if you are replacing an existing dishwasher, putting the new one in is a piece of cake. There is basically just a couple of wires, an input hose and an output tube to conect that are already there on the old unit. I can probably talk you through it in 30 minutes.

I'd go with Lowes w/o the installation.

Awww....You can't really count the soap, you have to buy that either way. You COULD buy a whoooole lot of sponges for $800

Alan also I would stop into Sears and ask a friendly salesperson to check which Bosch models they physically have in the back. It looks like some of the models on Lowes are new and that could mean that there are some of the earlier models still in stock that may not be out on display. That is how we got ours at such a great price. It wouldn't hurt to ask one of the appliance area managers at Lowes either.

I may take you up on that
Ask me to rip apart a computer & put it back together, no problem. Don't ask me to connect a hose though Oversimplifaction, but you get the point

Alan, time to check Lowes again:

Lowes current promo:
20% Off ENERGY STAR® Major Appliances!

Shop now and get 20% off ENERGY STAR® major appliances priced $397 or more (before taxes) OR 10% off all other major appliances priced $397 or more (before taxes).

Offer valid 7/1/09 through 7/6/09.

Details Link

Oh Cool, thanks Wings! Was thinking of looking this weekend thinking there would be some sales. Will be even better if Lowes takes the 10% coupon too

that would be an awesome deal! now I want one!!

Alan, keep us posted on what you get and if they take the exta 10% !!

If the appliances ring up automatically with the 20% discount included then the extra 10% will work, especially if you use the self check out. But if the 20% discount has to be added manually at the register then scanning the 10% will revert all already scanned prices back to their regular price.

(I found that out when buying all of those Klein tools that were clearanced. They had manually entered the 50% off of the clearance price for each tool. When I gave them the 10% off coupon everything changed back to the posted clearance price and had to be entered all over again.)

I plan on trying it out on a new fridge. We've been looking for a scratch and dent deal weekend mornings at Lowes when they put them out but if the 30% off works we may just get a nicer one than we have been looking at.

Speaking of which, does anyone here have a Samsung refrigerator? They have a bottom freezer 26cf model on clearance in the store for $1119 and I wonder if it would be worth it.

We have LG fridge but I would not buy LG again.

Today we bought Alan's dishwasher! It is not in stock so we expect a few weeks wait.
Got the 20% off, (I believe it rang up 20% off) then opened Lowe's card to get 12 months no pay, then had to insist they take a HD 10% that expired yesterday (a postcard from snail mail). They said only 1 promo for the CC but our argument was that if we had already had a card they would have taken the 10%. Manager approved it.

Price was $598.40 before 10% and tax and install.

We had to pay the installation ($79.00) up front but that is reimbursed with rebate printed from register.

Math: ($748 - 20% = $598.40) - $59.84 (10%) = $538.56 + 79.00 delivery => Subtotal $617.56 + $36.36 tax = $653.92. - $79 delivery rebate = $574.92. hmmm looks like we pay tax on delivery.

THANKS for this thread Alan!!

My brother in Dallas has this. He is happy with it, but hasn't had it many years yet.

I'd go for it!!

Cool Deja. I hope I can get the same deal you got. I can't get to the store until Saturday.

If the item you want is in stock at your local store based on the store you select online, you will get the 20% off price shown on the product page and your shopping cart. If you enter a moving 10% coupon code in the cart it will take off an additional 10% for free delivery or in store pick up.

you will get it.



I guess I need to visit the post office again...I didn't realize the Lowe's coupons were expired.

BTW, at Lowe's there are some black garbage bags with a $10 off $50 inside the box...specially labeled boxes. It's sneaky to steal those coupons.

However, today I saw some freaky (squiggly CFLs perhaps) light bulbs (like a 6-pack) with a white $10 off $50 coupon on the outside of the package. I didn't swipe one so didn't see the fine print...but they are out there.

I looked at those french door types on Samsung web site and came up with 3 concerns. One is the cost to repair the "bells and whistles" after the one year warranty. Hate to spend big bucks to repair that electronic display. Next is the lost of freezer space, since that pantry box now takes up part of the bottom section, along with the included ice maker unit and ice/water dispenser. Finally, as one get older, bending over to fill or remove stuff from the bottom section might become a chore.

We are having space problems with our LG side by side...have a huge capacity one (we had to remove the cupboard doors above to fit it in) but it just doesn't seem to hold enough food. (we have 2 kids left at home)

We thought the French door version might be better. LG had big recalls on their versions of this model, so I would stay away from that brand.

We should measure and compare freezer space for these things....

Mom and Dad have had the Maytag version for the last few years and theirs has lots of room. The bottom freezer with it's two drawer sections holds almost twice what a standard top freezer will hold.

Funny how the bottom freezer is making a comeback. The first refrigerator I remember as a child was a yellow Frigidaire with a bottom freezer that had a step on pedal to open the freezer door. We replaced it with a new top freezer unit in the early 60s.

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/...d=RF268ABWP/XAA

Since a 26 cu. ft. size was mentioned, my research led me to believe the freezer is on the left side, not the bottom. Looks like no chain or store handles this model around here.

Now in the good old days, being the bottom man on moving an icebox up or down stairs could be dangerous. You just hope the person above could keep the dead weight from 'killing' you.

kas, you said "icebox".

Those of my parents generation grew up in households where the family first cool storage unit in the kitchen required a block of ice. I think more folks now use the term 'fridge' instead of 'icebox'. Even when refrigerators first ran on R-22 freon, someone was still required to empty the drain pan when necessary. Those made in America units were built like the cars before the '73 oil embargo. heavy and some are still running after decades.

Well at least with the old two parts metal ice trays, mom could make cheap pop-sicles from Kool-Aid.

Who pays full price for dishwasher detergent??? I have boxes & boxes I've gotten for free or nearly so...Too bad I don't have an automatic dishwasher...But I do have a retired husband with time on his hands...

yeah~ we used to make those!! I liked Cherry.

those ice trays were a b^#^@ to release.

Lowes didn't have the SHE45 model I wanted, not even for special delivery in my area. Sears has it, but I don't feel like running around to stores for a dishwasher. We were told by the Lowe's guy that Bosch discontinued the model and there will be another model replacing it, but it's not in their system yet.

We went with the SHE43 instead. The SHE45 has some features that the SHE43 doesn't, but I'm not concerned about it. The guts are the same. However, if they had the SHE45 available I would have gotten it.

Price was $478.40 with the 20% off. We also needed a flexible water supply line and a power cord. I'm really surprised the dishwasher doesn't come with these accessories. I didn't want to use the power cord or water supply line from my old dishwasher as they're 15-16 years old. The small cost for these items is nothing compared to an electrical problem or potential water leak.

We didn't go for the credit offer (free delivery, hookup & haul-away after rebate). I'm not getting another credit card to save $100 on a deal due to my stance against getting more credit cards (don't need or want them).

Bottom line - my wife is happy, so it's a great deal

For the same money I still think we could have gotten a lifetime supply of soap & sponges

Any good deals out there on kitchen ranges?

More details, please. Free standing gas or electric type stove? Counter top units that can be Halogen, electric elements or even gas. Built in ovens that could even function as convection type.

While commerical grade stoves for the home can output high BTU per burner, that excessive heat made require a 'real' hood system be installed. That job can't be done by many homeowners to pass code and last I heard, it's over a grand a linear foot ( > $3,000).

Alan that's the same model we ended up with except back when we got ours I think it was SHU43 without the half-load option.

On the frige front, we were able to get them down to $700 for the 21cf Samsung and $934 on the 24.8cf Whirlpool using the 30% off online trick and bargaining on the in store clearance items. I really didn't want to go higher than $700 but the extra space would be nice with 3 kids.

looking at this model from home depot but just started looking. trying to stay around that price and features
Low end price
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...03+90401+525295

high end price

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...4946245#reviews

I just ruled out the first one. not self cleaning..ugh

Iam, the best thing to do is go to Lowes early on Sat and Sun mornings to look at the clearance, return & scratch and dent stuff. They put it out on weeknds usually in the middle of the back main aisle. My Mom and Dad got theirs that way after I told them about it. They had to go back on two weekends before they found theirs but they got a brand new $648 unit that was unused for ~$328.

Thanks for the info Alan...I guess we need to get the cord and water supply line also.