Home Appliance + Lighting Blog

Stainless steel has been the finish of choice for home appliances for many years now, far surpassing the old standards of black, white, and the oh so popular bisque finish.

From high-end designer kitchens to quick renovations, stainless steel has been the choice. When stainless steel prices increased 10 years ago, manufacturers started producing a less expensive stainless looking option like GE with CleanSteel and Frigidaire with Silver Mist.

Let's compare stainless steel to CleanSteel and Silver Mist.

Jenn-Air was a small specialty dealer specializing in slide-ins and downdrafts when Maytag purchased the brand in the 1990s. Maytag was bought by Whirlpool about 10 years ago and Jenn-Air was redesigned for the luxury as well as the affordable luxury market.

Part of their strategy was new compelling products such as their wall oven and professional range. However, the other part was rebates as well as free products like dishwashers and hoods as part of packages in order to capture market share.

Electrolux, Jenn-Air and Bosch are all giant multi-national companies who seem to gravitate to the affordable luxury segment of the market. That niche would be under Sub-Zero and Thermador, but over GE and Whirlpool.

Over the last few years, buying a kitchen of appliances has really changed. Before 2006 you bought the best pieces for your particular needs or application. After 2007, most manufacturers introduced package rebates. So it became your best interest to buy the same company for better prices than single pieces from different companies.

Every month at Yale we offer 4-piece appliance packages that include a refrigerator, a range, an over-the-range microwave and a dishwasher. The pricing on these packages reflect all mail-in rebates and discounts offered for purchasing all of these together. Our recommendation list really intersects overall product preference plus value of rebates. In other words, if the $600 dishwasher is good, the same dishwasher at $450 is better.

Viking D3 vs GE Cafe is an interesting comparison of two of the best affordable luxury brands. Normally these two companies would not even compete, but Viking relaunched their Designer Series as D3 with better features at lower priices. But which is better?