ᐅ Planning kitchen appliances: How to approach it. The market is overwhelming.

Created on: 11 Sep 2017 12:34

G-Star1988

Hello everyone,

I have an appointment at the kitchen studio next Saturday and I’m preparing for it. Specifically, I’m looking for the appliances I want to have later in the kitchen. I’ve been researching a lot from brands like Neff / Siemens, Miele, Bora, etc., but I’m not making much progress.

For example, the current selection at Siemens looks like this:

Dishwasher IQ300 SN636X03MD
Oven IQ700 HB634GBS1
Microwave IQ500 HF15M264
Cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor EX801LX34E
or
2 x Cooktop IQ700 EX375FXB1E with extractor IQ700 LF16VA570

(The cooktop with integrated downdraft is the only fixed requirement, unfortunately I don’t have any influence on that ^^)

I actually value quality, energy efficiency, and a balanced price-performance ratio. But how can I find out if what you pick is really good? Or if there are possibly cheaper but equally high-quality products from other manufacturers. For example, the cooktop with integrated downdraft extractor from Miele—according to the catalog, it’s cheaper but just as good or even better?

How do you approach this?

kbt0916 Sep 2017 17:30

#85

Even Blum doesn’t reveal everything

Alex8516 Sep 2017 17:38

#86

Nothing that costs nothing is worth anything... and anyone producing for the Swede probably only makes low-quality junk.

And because this idea is so ingrained, rumors are spread that the Swede gets lower quality, which is then used to justify higher prices for other customers. The more likely explanation is that IKEA simply gets a great price because they keep the factory 80% busy for years. Setting up a separate production line for that is completely absurd.

But we will never know.

kbt0916 Sep 2017 17:55

#87

There are several production lines at Blum, that much I can say because I have seen them. However, who exactly is sold to from which production line is, of course, a trade secret.

Tego1216 Sep 2017 18:05

#88

Tego12 schrieb:
People who buy IKEA kitchens often like to tell themselves they got top quality at a low price.

- Fittings are above average
- Soft-closing mechanisms are below average
- Hinge mounting is poor
- Final fine-tuning for optimal use is not possible since several options simply aren’t available in the range
- Cabinet carcasses are good
- Front panels look comparable to the lowest price category of good kitchen manufacturers but are far from higher-end classes (which is understandable)
.

I’ll quote myself here: IKEA hinges are okay, but it doesn’t help if the rest is partly subpar. What good are high-quality hinges if their mounting is useless?

Besides, with IKEA you always face the problem that if you want a high-quality front panel, it simply isn’t offered. If you’re satisfied with the IKEA front, fine, but for an open kitchen with lots of light, their options just don’t meet my expectations.

Grym16 Sep 2017 18:07

#89

kbt09 schrieb:
There are several production lines at Blum, that much I can say because I have seen them. However, which specific line supplies whom is, of course, a trade secret. .

It should be clear, though, that IKEA receives the lowest quality.
Maybe other discount suppliers are sourcing from there now – OK, that could be possible. The information is also two years old.

Grym16 Sep 2017 18:17

#90

Alex85 schrieb:
And because this idea is so ingrained, people spread rumors that the Swedish customers receive lower quality, using that to justify higher prices for others.

Now, putting kitchens aside: Even regular IKEA furniture isn't really top quality and can't be compared to what you get from a decent furniture store.

ᐅ Planning kitchen appliances: How to approach it. The market is overwhelming.

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