Kitchen Appliance advice please

Jay_Cee_Ooh

Wow! Having spent months choosing a kitchen, flooring, colour scheme etc you get to the point when you think you're nearly there when you realise you need to choose new oven, hob, dishwasher etc. Then it hits you that there's about 6 squillion different appliances to choose from and 5 squillion people to sell them to you. Where to start?

Checking the net I focused on package cooking deals thinking that would save me some money, and I see that Smeg seem to be popular on this "package deal" route. Does anyone have any views on Smeg ovens and hobs, and Smeg appliances in general? Or has anyone gone through this tortuous process in the recent past and can pass any advice they may have.

Many thanks,

Debt_Free_Chick

Smeg? v expensive! But beautiful & well made.

I would check out Which reports, which you can do in your local library, for recommended buys and then source the best price on Kelcoo & Pricerunner

davidriley

It is worth looking on Ebay for package deals. You can search for online traders & put in your postcode so you can buy from someone local to you. There are loads on there. As for brands, we had a Smeg cooker that was fine - but had one large oven instead of 2 smaller ones. This was a pain. When ever wallet allows, I would recommend Miele stuff. Also, a larger hob (eg a 5th ring as a wok burner) has always been a huge help. Neff can be good - also look at Technik who rebrand other manufacturers stuff (such as Neff hobs & Rangemaster cookers).

grumbler

My only Smeg appliance is Smeg DWD409SS 40cm semi-integrated dishwasher bought about 1.5 years ago. I would not recommend it. Quality of electronics is very poor.

aminchom

We had a new kitchen in february. We got a top of the range neff built in double fan oven, a 5 ring (with wok burner) neff hob and a neff cooker hood. We got them throught the kitchen fitters as a package. They, like the smeg, are not a cheap option but asked a lot of friends for their opinions and anyone who had neff was happy - we have now joined that crew and would recommend these appliances.

mrcow

aminchom wrote:

We got them throught the kitchen fitters as a package.

But did you get a good deal on these? I really hope that you did, but when we bought our kitchen last year, we realised that the kitchen companies charged the most expensive prices for appliances that we came across, and that we could get a much better deal doing it ourselves.

IMO, the best thing you can do is to shop around as much as possble, find the makes/models that you are interested in and then go to a comparison site like Kelkoo for that model. At least if you end up back where you started you'll know that you've looked into your options.

We ended up getting all our applicances from theapplianceshop.com (via Kelkoo) and saved hundreds of pounds over all.

damski_2

if you are in or near Preston, I can heartily recommend these people

Euro International Kitchen Appliance Centre
01772 888111
Mount Pleasant Showroom
Corporation St
Preston
PR1 2UQ

they are good price wise and honest, even to the point of turning work away if they dont think they can do you a good deal!!!!

they sent me away when i went to them for a free standing microwave a few years ago, they woould have sold me one but told me i could do better elsewhere............ however on fitted appliances they are great

fantastic showroom and good prices

Jay_Cee_Ooh

Thanks to one and all for your thoughts. What gets me is that in theory you can be spending £1,500+ on items that you may not have actually seen before, if you rely on web alone. I think mrcow has the right idea. I need to try to find a showroom like the Preston one Damski described earlier but a bit further south!!! Guess what I'll be doing over the weekend???

minap

Has anyone had any experience of a Stoves SI500TC or a Stoves SI500SIDL.

Have a dilemma which to go for and I can only go for a 500mm width and I am very limited?

I need urgent advice as my other half wont be fed if no cooker or have burn't food if I use the electric one I already have...

John_M_Business

Hi

I re-did my kitchen and utility room and therefore had SEVEN appliances to buy. I did the research first - trod the streets, read reviews etc. and came to the decision that if I wanted long-term, good quality stuff, then I had to pay a premium for it: which i was prepared to pay.

The advice I was given was this:
Excellent quality: Siemens, Bosch, Neff, Liebherr, De Dietrich, Miele
Good Quality: AEG (improving), Baumatic, Stoves, Belling
Poor Quality: Smeg (form over function, poor quality, particularly fridges), Hotpoint, Zanussi, Electrolux, GE, Indesit, 'Own-brands' and ones you've never heard of before

I then chose exactly the models I wanted... and then went online. Contacted four online merchants direct (Electric Shop, Buyers and Sellers, Biasco and one other... can't remember which one) and gave them EXACTLY what I was looking for. Biasco came out cheapest by a few hundred pounds and so I bought from them. The kitchen was being fitted anyway, so just had to have them delivered at the right time.

Final comment: DOUBLE CHECK YOUR MEASUREMENTS! I was OK, but many other people have been disappointed when appliances don't fit into holes, or line up with surfaces etc.