What's the "Speed Queen" of Dishwashers and Refrigerators?

[Anonymous]

After doing a lot of research on a new washing machine and dryer last year, we decided to join the cult of Speed Queen and couldn't be happier. Now it's time to upgrade our dishwasher and refrigerator and I'm back the the hole of "what ever you do, don't get XYZ" or "uugh, let me know when you find a good one... I hate my XYZ."

So what is the "cult classic" dishwasher and refrigerator? What I love about the speed queen is:

- no "bells and whistles", just does what it's supposed to do and does it really well
- built like a tank
- amazing customer service
- Made in America (I like this about SQ, but it's not a 'must have.')
- no "efficiency" features. We live in Northern VA, so we don't have any problems with water conservation/drought issues.

[Anonymous]

Maytag

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After doing a lot of research on a new washing machine and dryer last year, we decided to join the cult of Speed Queen and couldn't be happier. Now it's time to upgrade our dishwasher and refrigerator and I'm back the the hole of "what ever you do, don't get XYZ" or "uugh, let me know when you find a good one... I hate my XYZ."

So what is the "cult classic" dishwasher and refrigerator? What I love about the speed queen is:

- no "bells and whistles", just does what it's supposed to do and does it really well
- built like a tank
- amazing customer service
- Made in America (I like this about SQ, but it's not a 'must have.')
- no "efficiency" features. We live in Northern VA, so we don't have any problems with water conservation/drought issues.

I believe these are EPA mandated. https://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/does-dishwasher-regulations-mandate-dishwashers-that-dont-wash-well/

[Anonymous]

Hmm I wonder who funds the “Institute for Energy Research”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm I wonder who funds the “Institute for Energy Research”

There were lots of articles on it, I just picked the first one. I'm not opposed to my dishwasher being eco friendly. I do hate that it takes 3 hours, but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

We have a new kitchenaid and the regular cycle takes 2 1/2 hours, but there is a speed cycle that uses more water and takes less than an hour to wash the same way. I usually do the long cycle because it doesn’t matter, but if I want to run multiple loads in a day, I use the short one.

[Anonymous]

For fridge. It would be top freezer, no ice maker and no water lines. Those go bad more often than other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm I wonder who funds the “Institute for Energy Research”

There were lots of articles on it, I just picked the first one. I'm not opposed to my dishwasher being eco friendly. I do hate that it takes 3 hours, but it is what it is.

OP here - GAH! This is exactly what I'm hoping to avoid - a three hour wash cycle and the dished don't come out sparkling clean. Nobody has time for that!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For fridge. It would be top freezer, no ice maker and no water lines. Those go bad more often than other things.

That is a really good point. We have an Imperial Berkey water filter - so we have no need for a refrigerator with a filter or ice maker. We actually prefer the ice from old fashioned ice cube trays anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maytag

This is what I thought, too, but not anymore. I bought a nice basic Maytag dishwasher in 2014 and it started out great. But two years later, parts started flying off of it. The top rack started throwing ball bearings all over the floor. Plastic parts started disintegrating. There were many, many similar complaints online, especially about the ball bearings. I tried to buy new parts and fix it but to replace the top rack rails, you literally have to uninstall the dishwasher, pull it out, disassemble the side panels, replace the rails and put the whole thing back together again. I finally gave up and replaced my 3 year old dishwasher.

A big problem is that Maytag is owned by Whirlpool. In fact, ALL of the following brands are owned by Whirlpool: Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, and several European brands. Pretty much the only other option in the US is to get a Bosch, and I really wanted a dishwasher with a heating element which Bosch doesn't have. I wound up buying a Whirlpool and just made sure the top rack was not the same design as the faulty one, which I definitely saw on at least two of the above listed brands. The salesperson knew about the ball bearing problem. My new basic Whirlpool dishwasher is fine so far, but it does a surprisingly mediocre job of cleaning and I find myself having to add extra detergent to get a dirty load clean.

I think for my next dishwasher, I might go ahead and try a Bosch even though I have a mindset that it's overpriced for what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a new kitchenaid and the regular cycle takes 2 1/2 hours, but there is a speed cycle that uses more water and takes less than an hour to wash the same way. I usually do the long cycle because it doesn’t matter, but if I want to run multiple loads in a day, I use the short one.

ALL dishwashers now take 2-3 hours to run a load. Only some of them come with the 1-hour speed wash which is a really nice feature when you have to run more than one load in a day.

[Anonymous]

Dishwasher: Bosch or Kitchen Aid

Refrigerator -- not sure there really is one, but we ended up going Whirlpool for our last 2 fridges and have been very pleased with them (replaced to go from white to stainless steel after 5 years with no issues)

I do have Speed Queen and love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a new kitchenaid and the regular cycle takes 2 1/2 hours, but there is a speed cycle that uses more water and takes less than an hour to wash the same way. I usually do the long cycle because it doesn’t matter, but if I want to run multiple loads in a day, I use the short one.

ALL dishwashers now take 2-3 hours to run a load. Only some of them come with the 1-hour speed wash which is a really nice feature when you have to run more than one load in a day.

This isn’t true, my Bosch has a ~30min quick cycle that is all I use, dishes always clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a new kitchenaid and the regular cycle takes 2 1/2 hours, but there is a speed cycle that uses more water and takes less than an hour to wash the same way. I usually do the long cycle because it doesn’t matter, but if I want to run multiple loads in a day, I use the short one.

ALL dishwashers now take 2-3 hours to run a load. Only some of them come with the 1-hour speed wash which is a really nice feature when you have to run more than one load in a day.

This isn’t true, my Bosch has a ~30min quick cycle that is all I use, dishes always clean.

How long is the "normal" cycle, though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a new kitchenaid and the regular cycle takes 2 1/2 hours, but there is a speed cycle that uses more water and takes less than an hour to wash the same way. I usually do the long cycle because it doesn’t matter, but if I want to run multiple loads in a day, I use the short one.

ALL dishwashers now take 2-3 hours to run a load. Only some of them come with the 1-hour speed wash which is a really nice feature when you have to run more than one load in a day.

This isn’t true, my Bosch has a ~30min quick cycle that is all I use, dishes always clean.

You're saying the same thing as the person above you. Yes you can get ones with a "quick cycle" but the normal cycles are all 2.5-3 hours long. Quick cycles use like 3x more water and power though.