Appliance Shopping Tip of the Day
Walking into any appliance dealer and you will see rows and rows of fridges, dishwashers, dryers, and ranges. The first step when buying kitchen appliances is not to be distracted by the big ol TVs. You're here for the kitchen, and no you don't need a 56" plasma in the kitchen. What you do need is stuff to cook, cool and/or clean your food and dishes.
It can be a daunting process, so that is why you need to enter Appliances R Us with a plan. The first step is determine what you need. You can literally spend anywhere from $300 to $3,000 on a single appliance. So the best thing to do is to determine what you need and want in an appliance. If your stove is broken, you probably need a stove that works. Any other amenities you want? In the next few days we'll be talking about specific things to look for in the different appliances, but you probably already have a pretty good reason why you're buying new appliances. So list want you like and don't like about one's you've used in the past and most importantly, why you're getting new ones anyway. If could be as simple as you are moving into a new house that doesn't have any appliances, so you just need things to cook, cool and clean.
Secondly, don't get a brand that sucks. For all the reputation about the Maytag repairman, a leading consumer magazine that asks their readers every year to report maintenance problems, Maytag is always near the top of the list as being the least
Third, do you really need/want stainless steel? Stainless steel has a reputation for smudging easily, but some brands or sub-brands have a clear coat that greatly reduces that problem. Luckily this is really easy to test, just bring your fingers shopping with you. Also stainless steel does carry a premium price, but there are ways to reduce that premium, we'll talk about that in the last part of our appliance shopping series next week.
It can be a daunting process, so that is why you need to enter Appliances R Us with a plan. The first step is determine what you need. You can literally spend anywhere from $300 to $3,000 on a single appliance. So the best thing to do is to determine what you need and want in an appliance. If your stove is broken, you probably need a stove that works. Any other amenities you want? In the next few days we'll be talking about specific things to look for in the different appliances, but you probably already have a pretty good reason why you're buying new appliances. So list want you like and don't like about one's you've used in the past and most importantly, why you're getting new ones anyway. If could be as simple as you are moving into a new house that doesn't have any appliances, so you just need things to cook, cool and clean.
Secondly, don't get a brand that sucks. For all the reputation about the Maytag repairman, a leading consumer magazine that asks their readers every year to report maintenance problems, Maytag is always near the top of the list as being the least
Third, do you really need/want stainless steel? Stainless steel has a reputation for smudging easily, but some brands or sub-brands have a clear coat that greatly reduces that problem. Luckily this is really easy to test, just bring your fingers shopping with you. Also stainless steel does carry a premium price, but there are ways to reduce that premium, we'll talk about that in the last part of our appliance shopping series next week.
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