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At a Glance
You have far more options for wall ovens than electric ranges. Brands like Thermador, Wolf, and Miele dominate the higher end for ovens with different cooking technologies.
The controls and convection systems are different with steam integration and Smart functionality.
There are probably 80-100 wall ovens at Yale on display in three stores (maybe more, including the wall ovens in our working kitchens).
Before you spend $3,500-$10,000 on a new wall oven, you should consider reliability rates.
Finding a competent technician or any technician to fix a new Smart oven will be incredibly hard.
The best way to avoid that particular nightmare is to buy a reliable wall oven.
Just as reliability and service rates are important for choosing a car, you should consider service when buying appliances, along with delivery and installation.
You won't find many appliance blogs with this type of information because retailers typically do not service your appliances after they are sold.
Consumer Reports and Wirecutter are good sources of features and differentiation of brands.
However, like most appliance bloggers, they cannot provide information on how the wall oven performs in your home.
That is your disconnect.
Every appliance store, blogger, and review site loves every product.
Yet every consumer review is just the opposite. Every personal review is about a bad product or experience.
The main problem happens after you research features and benefits, namely reliability and product service.
You don't think about service because nobody is reminding you - except us.
The following are the service rates of the most reliable wall ovens based on 37,061 service calls logged last year.
The 5 most reliable wall oven brands for 2021 are:
- Samsung - 3.08%
- KitchenAid - 7.17%
- Bosch - 9.3%
- Miele - 8.9%
- Wolf - 9.91%
You should read through this whole article because our recommendations are different than last year's.
Short on time? Get our free Wall Oven Buying Guide
How Wall Oven Reliability is Calculated
Wall Ovens at Yale Appliance in Hanover
We calculate appliance reliability by looking at the products sold compared to the products serviced by brand for one year.
We have 30-35 service techs taking 8-10 service calls a day, five days a week, plus another 110 calls over the weekend.
Our service team completed 37,061 service calls last year alone.
Are Wall Ovens More or Less Reliable Than Other Appliances?
Wall ovens need repair about 10.06% of the time within the first year, which is higher than the average by about 1%.
I would have expected more than 1%.
Many of these are sold as double ovens. You would expect a larger percentage on having two wall ovens than a dishwasher or washing machine.
Then again, how many people use their second wall oven regularly?
There are also more installation and education issues with wall ovens than other appliances.
Read More: Most Reliable Appliance Brands
Most Reliable Wall Oven Brands for 2021
Wall Oven Reliability from December 2019 to November 2020
| Service Ratio | |
| Samsung | 3.08% |
| KitchenAid | 7.17% |
| Miele | 8.90% |
| Bosch | 9.30% |
| Wolf | 9.91% |
| Thermador | 10.72% |
| Bosch Benchmark | 11.32% |
| Café Appliances | 13.56% |
| JennAir | 17.24% |
| Grand Total | 10.06% |
The figures above are based on a minimum of 50 wall ovens sold and over 2000 total pieces from December 2019 to November 2020.
Samsung
Much to my chagrin, Samsung is number 1.
I happen to like the product. However, you should anticipate a torrent of upset Samsung clients from all over the country in the comments below, deservedly so.
Samsung is a great product with almost zero customer support. So, be careful.
Samsung also was sold through our builder channel. Typically builders require less service and support.
I would estimate Samsung would be more in line with other companies for just regular sales.
KitchenAid & Bosch
KitchenAid, Bosch, and Samsung are just regular self-cleaning convection wall ovens. They have basic features with no steam integration for guided cooking modes.
Yet, Bosch and KitchenAid are simple convection ovens worth considering for reliability.
This has been a steady trend for several years.
Both offer better support than Samsung after the sale as well.
Miele
Miele is an excellent wall oven. Their MasterChef controls are the simplest to use. Just input the food and how you want it cooked.
The wall oven will set the time and temperature.
You also have steam assist in this wall oven to bake bread or caramelize the tops of lasagna and other foods.
Again, Miele simplifies the process with 17 automatic bread-making recipes.
Wolf
Wolf has similar controls to the Miele. They even add a system to recommend the proper rack position depending on your recipe.
Although Wolf does not have steam, they have the best convection delivery system using blowers instead of fans.
It costs money for Yale or any other appliance company to repair under warranty. That's why only a few companies have serviced these days.
It's not in our best interest to sell any highly repaired brands.
Learn More: Yale Wall Oven Buying Guide
Most Reliable Wall Ovens: Key Takeaways
Wolf Wall Ovens at Yale Appliance in Hanover
Wall ovens are incredibly complicated to fix even before the advent of these new controls.
You can watch how you change a light bulb in a wall oven by clicking this link.
This video is still kind of funny. I filmed one of our Senior technicians simply changing a light bulb in an oven. What a process!
Remember, what is paramount is finding a service company to support you. The technology is becoming more complex, so service becomes more of a challenge.
If you add all the service rates, cooktops, refrigerators, dishwashers, and wall ovens, you will need service on at least one appliance within 2-3 years.
Service has to be part of your buying process. Check reviews of every warranty service agent. New wall ovens may be able to answer Alexa. That's cool.
However, having a working wall oven is far more important.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the best brand for wall ovens?
It depends. Samsung has the most reliable wall oven. Miele and Wolf have the best wall oven functionality. Bosch, Samsung, and KitchenAid have the best wall ovens for price and value.
Read More: Best Wall Ovens
2. Are wall ovens smaller than regular ovens?
Yes, marginally. A JennAir or KitchenAid slide-in range will give you the most capacity, but most wall ovens can fit a large turkey (except steam ovens).
3. What is the largest oven?
Wolf has the largest wall oven due to their blower convection on the sides rather than the back's fans.
Additional Resources
Confused about Wall Ovens? Get the Yale Wall Oven's Buying Guide with updated features, specs, and detailed profiles of the best brands like Miele, Wolf, Viking, Bosch, Thermador, and more. Over 820,000 people have read a Yale Guide.
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Why Should You Trust Us?
It seems that every appliance review has nothing but glowing comments about almost every product, yet you read customer reviews and they are almost universally bad.
We are here to fill in the disconnect. We'll give you the best features, and the drawbacks as well, including reliability based on over 37,000 calls performed by our service team just last year. Our goal is to give you ALL the information so you know what's right for you.
Please consider subscribing or adding to the conversation in the comments below. We appreciate you stopping by.
A Note About Pricing
Pricing on this blog is for reference only and may include time sensitive rebates. We make every attempt to provide accurate pricing at time of publishing. Please call the stores for most accurate price.