September 21st, 2023 | 5 min. read
Learn how to find the perfect kitchen products with our Appliance Buying Guide
New appliances are shown at KBIS in January with big splashy displays every year. You can also see new appliances in September during the NECO Fall Expo.
This year's show was interesting as products like heat pump dryers and induction ranges are finally becoming more prevalent in our quiet industry.
This article will teach you about the appliances you may be using within the next five years.
Also, a few innovations were painful and should have been avoided.
Let's get started.
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The Best and Worst New Appliances of 2023
New Induction Ranges
Induction cooking is a magnetic heat, so it bypasses the glass cooktop. Instead, the induction burners excite the molecules in your metal pan, and the pan cooks the food.
Induction ranges were available in the 1970s. I sold induction cooktops in the 1980s, but induction only became popular recently.
Why, might you ask?
Many cities like New York City, San Francisco, and Boston, among others, banned gas ranges from use in apartment and condo complexes.
Induction is the only alternative, especially for high-end, upscale developments.
KitchenAid
KitchenAid added touch controls to the stovetop of their induction ranges. KitchenAid induction ranges are among the largest for induction range ovens.
However, the cooktop surface is one of the smallest because of the location of the control panel on the top instead of the face.
Monogram
Monogram adds to the list of manufacturers producing 36-inch induction ranges. Why are so many in the 36-inch range business?
Professional ranges can no longer be sold in these high-end developments.
Monogram induction ranges have decent output and the option to merge burners, allowing for the use of larger cookware on an expanded burner surface.
GE was the first to sell an induction product in the 1980s.
Fisher & Paykel
There is nothing unusual about this half-professional, half-induction range. Nonetheless, Fisher & Paykel will launch a similar-looking all induction range in 2024.
Read More: Induction vs. Gas Cooking
New Heat Pump Laundry
Heat pumps were first invented in 1856. They became popular in the 1970s for their efficiency, especially as energy costs increased during the OPEC Oil Crisis.
The first heat pump dryers were invented by Electrolux in 1977 (yet they don't have a heat pump on the market in the US today).
Heat pumps have become more popular in the last three years due to their increased efficiency and ventless operation.
You can put a heat pump dryer and washer anywhere now.
Unlike a regular dryer, which constantly pulls air into the drum with heating elements and expels the heat, heat pump dryers recycle heat and save energy.
LG Heat Pump Laundry
They may look like a regular washer and dryer, but in 2024, LG will have two washer and heat pump dryer combos in compact and full-size models.
Hopefully, both machines will have filters to remove the lint like the GE Profile UltraFast Combo Washer & Dryer does. Otherwise, you will have unsolvable repair problems within five years of owning a combo washer and dryer.
GE Profile UltraFast Combo Washer & Dryer
The GE Profile UltraFast has been introduced previously.
We covered the UltraFast for almost three months. It is the first combo to wash and dry while removing lint.
With a capacity of 4.8 cubic feet, the GE Profile UltraFast is the largest combo washer and dryer on the market.
You can read or watch more about the GE Profile UltraFast by clicking the links below:
- The GE Profile UltraFast Combo Washer and Dryer: Tough Questions for the Creator
- Frequently Asked Questions about the GE Ultrafast Combo Washer & Dryer
- GE Profile UltraFast Combo vs. Regular GE Washer & Dryer Comparison
- The Best Front Load Washers
Electrolux Stacked Washer & Dryer
Electrolux introduced their own "WashTower" concept with the controls in the middle instead of stacking two units.
They also added sky blue to their finish options if you wanted an alternative to white.
Read More: Should You Buy a Heat Pump Dryer?
LG Styler Steam Closet
The Styler is not new, but it is a good idea. You hang up your clothes, and it steams out odors and wrinkles.
New Colors
The hot new color is white. Samsung introduced theirs in the Bespoke Collection. LG will have white in theirs.
Why this desert bronze pinkish handle? There are better choices than this, but you will also have handle options.
Read More: Best Alternatives to Stainless Steel for Your Kitchen
New Refrigerators
Manufacturers have yet to learn how large 33-inch-wide refrigerators are. Most premium brands cover only 30- and 36-inch widths.
Samsung dominates along with GE to a lesser degree.
That Samsung 33-inch refrigerator was the fourth-highest search term on our website just a few years ago.
LG 33-inch Counter-Depth Refrigerators
LG will have three 33-inch refrigerator options: A base model, a model with a dispenser, and an InstaView door (touch the glass display to see inside the refrigerator).
GE Profile Counter-Depth Refrigerators
GE Profile will introduce their refrigerators with new interior lighting from the back.
New Dishwashers
Beko
The world's most underrated dishwasher introduced their new CornerIntense dishwashers covering the edges.
When you look at the wash arms, they wash differently.
KitchenAid
KitchenAid dishwashers will soon fit within a 24-inch-deep cabinet so that they won't protrude from the cabinet.
When you place a custom cabinet panel on a KitchenAid dishwasher in the future, it will look seamless to the cabinet, not like a protruding dishwasher.
So, why wouldn't KitchenAid make a panel-ready model first?
I guess it will be way in the future.
New BBQ Grills
Most people are looking for an alternative to Weber for a decent grill between $800 to $1,000.
Napolean BBQ Grill
We have looked at Napolean, but it takes work to assemble.
However, this grill is different because of the infrared burner.
Infrared is a directed heat unlike a gas burner. Usually, infrared burners are only available in professional outdoor grills that are easily over $3,000.
New Commercial Laundry
GE is finally leveraging the functionality of its SmartHQ app for its commercial washers and dryers.
Your customer can pay using a QR code. The cost will be adjusted per cycle.
If you want more energy efficiency, you raise the cost of the more expensive cycles and lower the costs of the shorter wash cycles.
In addition, the SmartHQ app allows you to track revenue per machine and any needed repairs on your phone.
The Worst New Appliance (Probably) Ever Introduced
I have seen a lot of bad appliances in my 37 years at Yale. Most were well-conceived yet poorly executed.
For example, I loved the idea of the TurboChef oven. It promised half the cooking time with better results and worked in commercial kitchens.
That's good.
But TurboChef never worked residentially.
That's bad.
The Maytag Neptune, the first front load washer in the US, was a good idea until it developed a non-stop mold issue with no clear fix.
It killed the company after selling many units to unsuspecting customers.
However, this new over-the-range microwave is just a bad idea.
Over-the-range microwaves typically have inadequate ventilation despite having depths of 15-16 inches.
The front burners you primarily use are 22 inches deep.
Therefore, all the toxic gases from burning fats like Nitrogen Dioxide, Formaldehyde, Carbon Monoxide, smoke, and grease will never be fully exhausted.
This new over-the-range microwave takes an already bad idea and makes it worse.
At only 12 inches deep, it is flush with the top cabinet yet even less functional than the already unfunctional over-the-range microwaves.
I will remove the company name, hoping they don't bring this to the market.
The Best and Worst New Appliances of 2023: Key Takeaways
It's a pretty sparse lot of new appliances.
Hopefully, KBIS will be better in January. We will have some prototypes at our trade-only event in October.
Hopefully, I will have more to show you.
I was the most excited about the 33-inch-wide refrigerators. You now have a choice.
The commercial laundry is the most innovative, and I don't even own a laundromat. Some of that functionality may be incorporated into the home.
The industry is moving faster than the normal glacial pace for heat pump dryers and induction ranges.
At this rate, my daughter will have a few worthwhile products to sell. She just turned seven.
Happy Birthday, Kiddo.
Additional Resources
Want more information on the worst renovation mistakes to avoid? Get The Book of Bad Renovations to learn how to avoid a renovation failure. Well over 1 million people have read and trusted a Yale Guide.
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