Appliances: brand new or brand name?

[Guest Alphonsox]

Probably the worst idea I've seen in some time.... A coffee making IPhone case, what could possibly go wrong

 

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mokase/mokase-your-mobile-phone-cover-makes-even-coffee

 

[Ferdinand]

Pyrolitic clean single Neff oven with a "slide and hide" door for £377 - hardly more than basic Neff ovens.

 

This may interest particularly @Crofter, who has been looking for appliances suitable for an upmarket holiday rental, just as I am for the Little Brown Bungalow.

 

Currys have a pyrolitic clean single Neff oven with a "slide and hide" door (apparently that is posh) which is flagged as £260 off the £679.99 rrp, plus there is a further 10% discount code, and free delivery.

 

Here is the oven:  http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/ovens/neff-b44s32n5gb-slide-hide-electric-oven-stainless-steel-10143345-pdt.html

 

The price is barely more than non-pyrolitic normal door NEFFs, and comes down to £377 with the discount code BUILT10A for another 10% off.

 

I have ordered one.

 

There are various ebay offers at arounf £400, and John Lewis at £449.

 

If the Voucher expires you can get 5% Topcashback for the next few days, but they do not stack.

 

I have something on hobs too, but that can wait.

 

Ferdinand 

[Ferdinand]

Talking about hobs a bit more specifically as I did the oven in the last post.

 

Extractors are to be had from anywhere for the £60-£90 range, so not much potential for savings above about £15-20. 

 

So I am looking for a set of oven + hob for a faily well equipped rental (Oak Veneer doors etc), to go with a "Greenwich Shaker Oak" Howdens kitchen. I am looking at cheaper but not totally basic package 1 - Fan-assist oven / OK Ceramic hob, and more impressive package 2 - Ceramic/pyrolitic oven and induction hob.

 

Background.

 

* The Howdens own range Lamona were about £430 + VAT for package 1, and quite a bit more for package 2.

 

* Howdens stock Bosch and Neff, but the prices were off the scale. Not their core business, nor a loss-leader; go elsewhere.

 

* Appliances Direct own brand Electronique were £275 + VAT for package 1, and £510 + VAT for package 2 (pyrolitic + induction). I have never had trouble woth Appliances Direct own brand, but if I did their Midlands' Hub is only 10 minutes away.

 

* Boschs and Neffs online can give package 1 for perhaps £550-£600 online, but looking at NEFFs the package 2 can be purchased for under £700, which for me makes it an attractive option with the slight risk that a tradition tenant might not like induction.

 

Items:

 

That leaves the oven as Curry's sale item "Slide and hide" Neff at £419 minus 10% voucher code.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/ovens/neff-b44s32n5gb-slide-hide-electric-oven-stainless-steel-10143345-pdt.html

 

And the hob as something like this NEFF T40B31X2GB at £349 (Currys price for similar model : NEFF T40B30X2GB = £449 minus 10% voucher code)

http://www.whitakers-appliances.co.uk/neff-t40b31x2gb-induction-hob/

 

which comes with a free set of 4 Neff Induction pans (rrp £120 but there has been a general offer from Neff so ebay is heaving with new sets at £30 or so:

http://www.whitakers-appliances.co.uk/free-pan-set-with-neff-induction-hobs/

 

That offer may work for @Crofter, but I am advised to go for a Ceramic due to traditional mores of tenants.

 

Ferdinand

 

 

 

[Crofter]

Thanks @Ferdinand for this, good to have someone looking into the same stuff as I am.

I'm feeling a bit of feature creep coming on here. I initially budgeted only £2k for the kitchen, and have now spent the first half of that on the units alone- still have applicanes, worktop, and splashback to go. Obviously I'm going to end up over budget, but it's a question of how much.

Cheapest option is to go unbranded or generic, and get appliances that feel like they're made of old biscuit tins- ovens at £120, that sort of thing. Could get the package I need (oven, hob, hood, fridge, dishwasher) for under £700 total- but it would feel cheap, look cheap, and maybe prove to be a false economy.

Things like Neff ovens and hobs at £350+ each would gobble up the kitty pretty swiftly. But it is still tempting, because the cheapest I can find a Bosch oven is £270- so if I am determined to go for reasonably upmarket brand names, it's going to cost me way ove my original budget anyway. Might as well go the whole hog, at least on the more visible hob/oven side.

 

My ideal, I think, would be to scoop up something from Gumtree. I will just have to be patient.

 

Still no closer to deciding on the hob, by the way. I love the idea of a touch control induction one, for ease of cleaning, but it's the lingering doubts about ease of use. Everything has to be completely intuitive, and everybody knows what a big knob is for.

[PeterW]

Have a look at Amica - been quite impressed with the quality of them and pricing is good

[Ferdinand]

45 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Thanks @Ferdinand for this, good to have someone looking into the same stuff as I am.

I'm feeling a bit of feature creep coming on here. I initially budgeted only £2k for the kitchen, and have now spent the first half of that on the units alone- still have applicanes, worktop, and splashback to go. Obviously I'm going to end up over budget, but it's a question of how much.

Cheapest option is to go unbranded or generic, and get appliances that feel like they're made of old biscuit tins- ovens at £120, that sort of thing. Could get the package I need (oven, hob, hood, fridge, dishwasher) for under £700 total- but it would feel cheap, look cheap, and maybe prove to be a false economy.

Things like Neff ovens and hobs at £350+ each would gobble up the kitty pretty swiftly. But it is still tempting, because the cheapest I can find a Bosch oven is £270- so if I am determined to go for reasonably upmarket brand names, it's going to cost me way ove my original budget anyway. Might as well go the whole hog, at least on the more visible hob/oven side.

 

My ideal, I think, would be to scoop up something from Gumtree. I will just have to be patient.

 

Still no closer to deciding on the hob, by the way. I love the idea of a touch control induction one, for ease of cleaning, but it's the lingering doubts about ease of use. Everything has to be completely intuitive, and everybody knows what a big knob is for.

 

Absolutely - horses for courses !

 

The least expensive coordinated OK but not brilliant collections of all 5 I have seen are probably Ikea Lagan, but that would not be cool these days depending on your customers. They used to have noticeably good warranties, but that has I think gone. 

 

II think I will be going with a ceramic with control by knobs, just in case of poor eyesight etc.

 

My original kitchen budget was a hands-wavy £1500-£2000 plus appliances, but I will be above that as I am aiming for a slightly higher level rental with oak-veneer doors etc.

 

For me the price difference is small enough that it is worth it for the oven - plus I have a stash of Currys gift cards to use.

 

F

 

Edited May 17, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Crofter]

Just a quick thought- what do people make of glass cooker hoods? Are they as much of a nightmare to keep looking clean as I suspect?

[Ferdinand]

51 minutes ago, Crofter said:

Just a quick thought- what do people make of glass cooker hoods? Are they as much of a nightmare to keep looking clean as I suspect?

 

Just ordered one :-).

 

I find fingerprints on the ally parts to be a bigger issue for me.

 

At home we have not cleaned our smoked glass hood parts in about in 4 years.

 

It hurts if you bang your head on the corner of it, mind. Tends to be a man problem due to height.

Edited May 17, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Crofter]

By way of update, I am now committed down the Bosch route- if I want everything to match, that is! Picked up a couple of bargains (oven and hood) on Gumtree. Oven is a couple of years old, looks brand new, and the (glass) hood is still in the packaging. £110 total spend so far. Holding out for a matching hob if possible now. My £2k kitchen budget suddenly looks much more achievable

[Crofter]

Added a dishwasher- although it's a Siemens, but that's not a bad thing!

Well under budget for now, which leaves me able to consider a brand new hob, possibly induction if it's a cheaper brand.

 

Hotpoint induction vs Bosch ceramic... hmmm....

[AliG]

Ceramic hobs are a nightmare to clean compared to induction

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, Crofter said:

Added a dishwasher- although it's a Siemens, but that's not a bad thing!

Well under budget for now, which leaves me able to consider a brand new hob, possibly induction if it's a cheaper brand.

 

Hotpoint induction vs Bosch ceramic... hmmm....

 

For not much more (+£100) than a Bosch ceramic or Hotpoint induction you can get yourself a Neff induction with free set of correct pans.

 

Here it is still at £350.

https://www.thewrightbuy.co.uk/neff-t36fb41x0g-60cm-built-in-low-consumption-plug-in-induction-hob-free-pan-set?gclid=COzU6aLUn9QCFYU_GwodqD4I6w#fo_c=166&fo_k=2d8cee218f54a4797ca745455dcec7b7&fo_s=gplauk

 

How is your budget ?

 

Ferdinand

[Crofter]

Just to update, bagged a Bosch induction hob for £215 inc delivery off the Curry's eBay store. Nice!

Just got the fridge to go now. I'm looking for a small undercounter integrated fridge with ice box, which is a fairly unusual requirement (fine for my wee holiday let, but not really enough fridge space for most people's needs). I may finally have to go brand new on this one to get what I need. Also I'm quite fussy about how much noise it produces.

[dpmiller]

We've both an underbench integrated larder and freezer from Bosch and they're pretty quiet; at the time of purchase they were much better efficiency-wise than any other reasonable options.

 

based on that i don't think you'd go far wrong with the likes of this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSCH-Classixx-KUL15A60GB-Integrated-Undercounter-Fridge-/263226903686?hash=item3d498bcc86:g:0BUAAOSwviBZx-dy

[ryder72]

Bosch/Neff/Siemens do just one option on the undercounter fridge with icebox. They are the same product and very quiet/efficient. You wont go wrong with it. Get whichever you find to be least expensive.

[Crofter]

Ah b*llocks, Curry's eBay store sent me a refund because the hob was apparently damaged in storage. So it's back to square one!

[Crofter]

Patience is a virtue...

Bagged a brand new Bosch induction hob for £200, this time it actually arrived.

So that's my hob/oven/hood all sorted out, all in Bosch, for £310.

 

For testing purposes, I've whipped the ceramic hob out of my freestanding cooker and shoved the induction hob into its place (not wired in- it just plugs into a 13A socket). Holy moly I am converted! Going to keep using it right up until I have to install it in the new house.

[Stones]

Good buy, well done! How many hours do you think you have spent searching online before finding? - just interested in the effective hourly rate of your searching time based on saving (£400 - £600) made.

[PeterW]

We’ve gone for Ikea appliances as I’ve not had any issues with them and they have a 5 year warranty. 

 

They also do offers for Ikea family card holders, so far that’s saved us £320 off £900 of appliances which is pretty good in my book ..! That’s for induction hob and pyrolytic liner ovens. 

[Crofter]

12 hours ago, Stones said:

Good buy, well done! How many hours do you think you have spent searching online before finding? - just interested in the effective hourly rate of your searching time based on saving (£400 - £600) made.

Hard to say really- the oven and hood were picked up whilst we were in civilisation for a weekend, so that was just a quick trawl of Gumtree. That hooked me into Bosch (I have it in my head that my guests will be more impressed if everything matches, probably overthinking this) so the search slowed down a bit after that.

It's all time spent unwinding sat on my arse, half watching the telly, so you can't really discount it from productive time. But even so, I imagine it's got to be in the region of £100/hr.