Home appliances are generally a big investment. Because of the high price tag, you want to make sure you’re making a good purchase that will function well for years to come. To get a sense of which brands are best in terms of reliability, check out thishandy chart from Consumer Reports that breaks down how different appliances are expected to hold up over a period of five years.
The CR Appliance Brand Reliability rankings were calculated using data collected from the organization’s members on more than 381,000 appliances bought between 2008 and 2018. Members reported how many times appliances either broke or stopped working optimally over the first five years of use. The magazine published its results in its August 2019 issue.
The chart includes a number of major and common household appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges, cooktops, electric wall ovens, OTR microwaves, washers and dryers from big brands such as Kitchen-Aid, Sub-Zero, Kenmore, GE, Maytag, Amana and more.
Each brand gets an Average Predicted Reliability Score. The rating is an average of the ratings for all types of the brand’s appliances. For example, both front-loading and top-loading washing machines from a given brand would be considered in its overall score for washing machines.
However, differences between types of appliances are accounted for; this makes sure no brand gets an unfair advantage. For example, a brand that only makes top-freezer refrigerators, the most reliable type, won’t necessarily beat out a brand that makes multiple types of refrigerators.
It’s important to note that the ratings are only meant to reflect reliability, and are not a measure of an appliance’s performance. Some appliances that earned high-reliability ratings have also performed poorly in Consumer Reports’ lab tests.
Getty Images | Sean Gallup
“The stakes are high for major appliances,” Eric Hagerman, home editor at Consumer Reports, told MarketWatch. “These are really expensive products that you buy for your home. They’re things you have to have installed and they basically become a part of your home.”
If you’re looking for one brand to turn to across multiple appliances, certain brands stood out for consistently high reliability ratings across different products, including Miele, LG, Thermador and Bosch. On the other hand, some brands had poor scores across multiple appliances, including Samsung, Jenn-Air, Dacor, Electrolux and Viking. Speed Queen, a company that only makes clothes dryers and washers, got the top spot overall. Ikea, which only produces dishwashers and microwaves, also landed high on the chart.
How does your favorite appliance brand rate?
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