[jyl]

I am cranky about new kitchen major appliances. They have too many electronics, are unreliable, models are discontinued often, parts become hard to find, they are expensive to repair, and they don't last more than a decade. If I spend $1000+ for something, I want it to last for 20+ years.

My solution so far has been to buy commercial, or semi-commercial, appliances.

My refrigerator died, I bought a commercial unit (True T23). It is noisy, inefficient, zero conveniences. But is huge inside, should last for a very long time, and when it needs service, the whole compressor unit simply slides out from the bottom panel.

My range died. I bought a semi-commercial unit (American Range open burner gas range). It has no electronics and thus no program, timers, self clean, or other smarts. But it has big heat, big burners, a big oven, all burner adjustments it has needed have required only a screwdriver, and it should last for the rest of my life. I wanted to get a genuine commercial range (Garland, etc) but couldn't get one fast enough (old range died a week before Thanksgiving).

My dishwasher is getting old and falling apart. I'm not sure what to do. Commercial dishwashers really aren't "dishwashers" as we know them in the home context, they are meant to quickly (<3 minute cycle) clean and sanitize dishes that have already been scrubbed down in a sink of soapy water. Plus most of them want to be fed 240V, to drink detergent from a 5 gal bucket, and to dump wastewater into a floor drain. The fancy Bosch home dishwashers take forever to do a load, and are stuffed full of electronics.

The main disadvantage of my method is that the commercial and semi-commercial stuff is quite expensive. Oh, and the wife would really prefer the fancy gizmo stuff.