I'm in the process of getting quotes for redoing our kitchen. We're pretty limited in terms of space, so are after the following appliances:
600mm Oven Electric
600mm Gas Cooktop
600mm Slide out Rangehood
600mm Dishwasher
I don't know a lot about these types of appliances, so I'm trying to do some homework and get as much information as possible to make the most informed decision. I'm not set on any particular brand either.
Background This isn't going to be our lifelong house, and we're redoing it to increase the value on the property when we sell it in ~5-10 years time. As such, we don't want to spend huge amounts of money on the top of the range appliances, but we also don't want anything to break down and need replacing in the 5-10 year time frame (general maintenance is expected)
Rangehoods seem like the easiest of the four to assess. Extraction Rate (cubic metres) and sound (dB), so I'm planning on comparing those two measures as well as price. Cooking for 2 people, so won't need the best of the best.
Gas Cooktops seem to vary in price, but I don't know how to distinguish between a good gas cooktop, and a bad one (Aside from the makeup of the burners) They have a pilot light, ignition, and ensure the gas flows through correctly. Do cheaper ones have a quicker failure rate of some of these components?
Oven I don't know much about Ovens. Looking through some catalogues, some seem to be self cleaning (an extra expense we can probably do without) and there are manual ones vs those with an LCD Display (which seems to increase the price by $100-$200). If the functions are the same, I'd prefer a manual controlled one. The LCD Display is another component which can break down.
Dishwasher Again, similar to Ovens. Are all the bells and whistles worth it, or just used as markup?
Appreciate any feedback or experience that my fellow ozbargainers can give.
All Slide out Rangehoods are shit.
Can you fit a regular rangehood?
Gas Cooktops are pretty much all reliable except for the ignition and the knobs. Make sure there is a strong output, I think rated in Mj.
Oven Electric- don't worry about self cleaning. good ones cook much more evenly.
Dishwasher. Good ones are worth the price if you use it regularly.
To save you the hassles, just get all Bosch. Not too expensive but reliable. Make sure the Bosch dishwasher is made in Germany and not Turkey.
Westinghouse ovens are (were? not sure today) Australian made and reliable, well priced too, so consider it.
Otherwise, you can't go wrong with all Bosch.
PS Slide out rangehoods are shit.
PSS Slide out rangehoods are shit.