Until two weeks ago, I had two ways of choosing the appliance that was right for our home. The first (and most important in my book) was the look of the appliance. Was it aesthetically pleasing and would it match the mood of the room along with the other appliances?
The second factor for me in choosing an appliance was the price. My contractor husband is always on the look out for “out of the box” deals at our local Home Depot and Lowes. We were told not too long ago by an appliance repair man that the life span of today’s appliances is five years. He said, “In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how much you spend on an appliance, it will last about five years.” To be perfectly honest, that has been our experience to a tee. In fact, one of the things that bothers me the most about appliances that need repair work after five years is that, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance than it is to repair the old. Recently our dishwasher went up and I was just sick about what we were doing to our landfills. Where do all the broken ones go? Because my husband is in the business, we donated it to a friend who repairs appliances. He’ll use the parts.
When GE invited Chris Ann and I down to Louisville, Kentucky to visit them at the GE Monogram Experience Center, I came armed with some of these concerns and questions. GE not only addressed them, but gave us such a wonderful, “appliance-educational” experience, I left there a better and more discerning consumer.
From the moment we arrived, GE Appliances rolled out the red carpet and ushered us into a world full of modern day solutions. We spent about two hours in each appliance’s home. The range, the refrigerator, the dishwasher and the washer and dryer each had their own showroom equipped with experts ready to share and listen.
They wanted to hear from us, moms. After all, we are the ones who know the purring sound each of our appliances makes and are the first to hone in on a problem. We stock our refrigerators, make our meals, clean our dishes and do endless loads of laundry. I think between Chris Ann and I we do about 20 loads (if not more) a week!
When we met with the experts, they had questions for us. What would help make entertaining easier? What features do you like in your dishwasher? They even wanted to know our laundry confessional.
With each concern, they pointed to the appliance or feature that would take care of that. For example, one of the main concerns of the “soccer moms” in attendance, was the need for a speedy meal. Aside from installing an oven in our mini vans, how can we prepare a meal quickly for our families? They introduced us to the Advantium Oven.
Have you ever heard of it? Neither had we. It can cook a 5 lb. chicken in as little as 33 minutes. It’s like a convection oven, meets microwave on steroids. Seriously, it takes a lot to impress these mamas of 9, but we were impressed.
GE’s appliances are loaded with feature after feature to help make our lives easier. They have a washer and dryer where you can digitally enter in “grass stain” or “sweat stains” and the washer will do what it needs to to get the job done.
One of the demonstrations I appreciated the most was the GE induction range.
I’ve seen them on TV. The chef puts the magnetic pot on the burner and within minutes the water is boiling. By the time the pot comes off the burner, the chef can touch the surface and not burn himself. Clean up on these babies is a breeze as well.
When the tables were turned and they asked us to share some of our concerns, I asked about the longevity of appliances today. They seemed shocked that word on the street is appliances have a “five year life”. Now, they couldn’t give me a definitive answer on how long their appliances last. They did say that all their appliances come with a 1 year warranty. I have to say, it wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for. But, to address recycling questions, they are working hand in hand with Home Depot and Lowes to recycle the old appliances…and even old light bulbs! I’d say that’s progress.
They surprised us with the opportunity to a GE Range in the Monogram Experience Center’s professional kitchen with chefs Joe Castro and Brian Logsdon.
We had a blast preparing this breaded chicken dish. It was beautiful and delish!
There are so many things to think about when it comes to choosing an appliance for your home. Most of the bloggers in attendance realized we didn’t even know what questions to ask.
The GE team lives, breathes and studies all aspects of the appliance, from a producers view point. We live, breath and use our appliances as consumers. I think putting the two “experts” together, gave us both a new way of looking at how our appliance can serve us. I walked away much more knowledgeable about what questions to ask when choosing our next appliance. For sure, I will go with my husband and not let him settle for the “out of the box” cheaper model. Having interacted with the GE appliances, especially the GE Monogram line, they feel sturdier, better designed and well thought out…not to mention, there were plenty that fit my “aesthetically pleasing” standard.
*We were invited to Louisville, Kentucky by GE Appliances for the GE Momsperience weekend. All of our expenses were paid by GE. But, there was no requirement for us to write this post, review or any recap. We wanted to share with you our personal experience. The opinions are all our own.
