The New "Home Improvement" Thread

[Morphinity 2.0]

14 minutes ago, Pete said:

Is the humidistat tied to the humidifier? Because that's what it's for, it makes sure that (based on outside temps) that your inside humidity doesn't go past a certain level (in your case 35%) to prevent condensation.

Yeah it's literally connected to the humidifier

[Pete]

Just now, Morphinity said:

Yeah it's literally connected to the humidifier

Well there you go, it's by design to stay at 35% based on the outside temp.

[Cash or Czech]

How reliable is consumer reports as a resource for buying a new appliance? Saying the best range/oven in my price range is a Samsung and I’m not entirely sold

Edited February 2, 2022 by Cash or Czech

[The Dude]

On 2/1/2022 at 7:19 PM, Cash or Czech said:

How reliable is consumer reports as a resource for buying a new appliance? Saying the best range/oven in my price range is a Samsung and I’m not entirely sold

Stay the fuck away from Samsung appliances  I've had bad luck with them and I've heard many complaints. 

[Cash or Czech]

2 hours ago, The Dude said:

Stay the fuck away from Samsung appliances  I've had bad luck with them and I've heard many complaints. 

Which Samsung appliances have you had. Consensus is that their dishwashers suck. Apparently their gas stoves are some of the most reliable? Just figuring out (which makes sense) that most manufacturers are good at one thing and suck at most others. Got a Whirlpool dishwasher but their stoves suck in ratings

[Keirik]

2 hours ago, Cash or Czech said:

Which Samsung appliances have you had. Consensus is that their dishwashers suck. Apparently their gas stoves are some of the most reliable? Just figuring out (which makes sense) that most manufacturers are good at one thing and suck at most others. Got a Whirlpool dishwasher but their stoves suck in ratings

To be honest, all mine are Samsung when I bought this house. I’ve never had a bad experience between dishwasher, fridge, stove, micro. They are top of the line models .

 

bot saying they are good or bad. Just know I’ve been find with the, with no complaints. 
samsung used to get a bad name but over recent years they have copied a lot of Sonys success  so Sony calls them SamSony or whatever fanboy stuff does. 

[The Dude]

4 hours ago, Cash or Czech said:

Which Samsung appliances have you had. Consensus is that their dishwashers suck. Apparently their gas stoves are some of the most reliable? Just figuring out (which makes sense) that most manufacturers are good at one thing and suck at most others. Got a Whirlpool dishwasher but their stoves suck in ratings

Two fridges. One I bought for my ex house, and the one that came in the house I bought 3 years ago died with a year. 

 

Guys at work have told me about bad experiences with a fridge a microwave and exhaust hood. 

 

The prices on Samsung appliances always seem to be those amongst the lowest ir just always on sale from what I noticed. 

 

Maybe the higher end models are better as Keirik said? Or maybe the newer ones have improved? I don't trust them at the moment.  

[Cash or Czech]

4 hours ago, The Dude said:

Two fridges. One I bought for my ex house, and the one that came in the house I bought 3 years ago died with a year. 

 

Guys at work have told me about bad experiences with a fridge a microwave and exhaust hood. 

 

The prices on Samsung appliances always seem to be those amongst the lowest ir just always on sale from what I noticed. 

 

Maybe the higher end models are better as Keirik said? Or maybe the newer ones have improved? I don't trust them at the moment.  

Sounds good, I will definitely be more wary when it comes to fridges when the time comes. 
 

Which better be no time soon. My current fridge is an odd shape and has built in cabinetry. If it goes, I need to redo at least the cabinetry for the fridge slot and ultimately probably will be the time I do an entire kitchen reno

[Keirik]

Figure I’ll take a stab in the dark. Anyone have an6 experience with an infrared sauna by any chance? Thinking of getting one for the basement 

[Dunny]

Jesus christ, man. If you're looking to spend money that bad, just start spitting out heirs.

[Cr00zng]

On 2/3/2022 at 8:04 AM, Cash or Czech said:

Sounds good, I will definitely be more wary when it comes to fridges when the time comes. 
 

Which better be no time soon. My current fridge is an odd shape and has built in cabinetry. If it goes, I need to redo at least the cabinetry for the fridge slot and ultimately probably will be the time I do an entire kitchen reno

 

Couple of years ego, we had similar circumstances when replacing the fridge, needed a counter depth fridge. It was still a working Whirlpool fridge, but the thirty years old backup GE fridge was on it's last leg. So we played musical chairs, bought a Samsung fridge and the Whirlpool one had became the backup fridge.

 

We had trouble with the Samsung fridge from the get go, the freezer kept icing up. They replaced the door seal, but that did not change, the freezer still iced up. The store had replaced the fridge, but the new one had the same issue. There had been 3-5 service call, don't recall the exact number, within 30-60 days. After the last service visit that did not address the issue, we hammered on the store to get this crap out of the house and give me an LG fridge. The LG fridge worked just fine from day one, still does, runs quieter than the Samsung did, purring like a little kitten.

 

A year or so later, the GE wash-machine needed replacement. The sales guy pushed for Samsung, but after our experience with the Samsung fridge, we weren't buying it. We bought an LG front-loader and it's been working fine from the get go.

 

[Cr00zng]

11 hours ago, Keirik said:

Figure I’ll take a stab in the dark. Anyone have an6 experience with an infrared sauna by any chance? Thinking of getting one for the basement 

I do not have one, but awhile ego did research for one. In my view, this is the one of the best site that explains infrared sauna and has ratings for the brands the site reviewed:

http://infraredsaunaexpert.com/best-infrared-sauna-reviews/

 

If nothing else, the site could give you an idea what to look for and help you decide what brand you get.

[Cash or Czech]

10 minutes ago, Cr00zng said:

 

Couple of years ego, we had similar circumstances when replacing the fridge, needed a counter depth fridge. It was still a working Whirlpool fridge, but the thirty years old backup GE fridge was on it's last leg. So we played musical chairs, bought a Samsung fridge and the Whirlpool one had became the backup fridge.

 

We had trouble with the Samsung fridge from the get go, the freezer kept icing up. They replaced the door seal, but that did not change, the freezer still iced up. The store had replaced the fridge, but the new one had the same issue. There had been 3-5 service call, don't recall the exact number, within 30-60 days. After the last service visit that did not address the issue, we hammered on the store to get this crap out of the house and give me an LG fridge. The LG fridge worked just fine from day one, still does, runs quieter than the Samsung did, purring like a little kitten.

 

A year or so later, the GE wash-machine needed replacement. The sales guy pushed for Samsung, but after our experience with the Samsung fridge, we weren't buying it. We bought an LG front-loader and it's been working fine from the get go.

 

 

I appreciate you sharing, this is really helpful. I think, based on the below info, I can't be brand loyal and need to watch out more for quality, performance and reliability by brand by category.

 

From Consumer Reports' testing, here's what I found to be the best brand for specifically reliability of each category:

Refrigerator: LG

Dishwasher: Bosch, Thermador

Washer/Dryer: LG

Gas Ranges: Samsung

Smooth-Top Electric Ranges: GE

Electric Coil Rangers: GE, Amana

Built-In Microwave: Whirpool

 

 

[Cr00zng]

18 minutes ago, Cash or Czech said:

 

I appreciate you sharing, this is really helpful. I think, based on the below info, I can't be brand loyal and need to watch out more for quality, performance and reliability by brand by category.

 

From Consumer Reports' testing, here's what I found to be the best brand for specifically reliability of each category:

Refrigerator: LG

Dishwasher: Bosch, Thermador

Washer/Dryer: LG

Gas Ranges: Samsung

Smooth-Top Electric Ranges: GE

Electric Coil Rangers: GE, Amana

Built-In Microwave: Whirpool

 

 

 

I take even the Consumer Report ranking with a grain of salt and do my own evaluation based on number of different sources. I also extend your "quality, performance and reliability" evaluation by the cost of the item in hand. For example, my evaluation scored the Bosch dishwasher high, but the cost of it was also the highest by a large margin. The KitchenAid dishwasher wasn't too far from from the Bosch' quality/performance/reliability, but its cost was half of the Bosch. We ended up with the KitchenAid dishwasher and haven't regretted choosing it.

 

The Consumer Report usually doesn't rate Kenmore appliances high, rightfully in some cases, but I had good experiences with some of them. My gas dryer is from Sears/Kenmore and it is ~35 years old and still working just fine, without even changing the drive belt. The range is also Kenmore, about ten years old, but had two issues. One is self-inflicted, I fried the control board about five years ego and 120 bucks later, it is back to normal. I am about to replace the "glow-igniter", like this one:

 

 

It's about 110 bucks, but beats buying a new range. The oven still works, but takes much longer than used to to reach set temperature. Calling a service guy to replace the igniter would cost about 500-600 bucks, at which point I'd rather buy a new range. That is why I fix most of my appliances, if I can....

[Cash or Czech]

1 hour ago, Cr00zng said:

 

I take even the Consumer Report ranking with a grain of salt and do my own evaluation based on number of different sources. I also extend your "quality, performance and reliability" evaluation by the cost of the item in hand. For example, my evaluation scored the Bosch dishwasher high, but the cost of it was also the highest by a large margin. The KitchenAid dishwasher wasn't too far from from the Bosch' quality/performance/reliability, but its cost was half of the Bosch. We ended up with the KitchenAid dishwasher and haven't regretted choosing it.

 

The Consumer Report usually doesn't rate Kenmore appliances high, rightfully in some cases, but I had good experiences with some of them. My gas dryer is from Sears/Kenmore and it is ~35 years old and still working just fine, without even changing the drive belt. The range is also Kenmore, about ten years old, but had two issues. One is self-inflicted, I fried the control board about five years ego and 120 bucks later, it is back to normal. I am about to replace the "glow-igniter", like this one:

 

 

It's about 110 bucks, but beats buying a new range. The oven still works, but takes much longer than used to to reach set temperature. Calling a service guy to replace the igniter would cost about 500-600 bucks, at which point I'd rather buy a new range. That is why I fix most of my appliances, if I can....

 

You're basically describing the issue I had with my GE Monogram range when we bought the house. Ignitor is busted, repair was going to cost $800. I know nothing about gas ranges, stoves or anything and rather not blow up my house. At that price, going to replace it for something that isn't from 2007, since the parts aren't easy to come by either.

[Keirik]

2 hours ago, Cr00zng said:

I do not have one, but awhile ego did research for one. In my view, this is the one of the best site that explains infrared sauna and has ratings for the brands the site reviewed:

http://infraredsaunaexpert.com/best-infrared-sauna-reviews/

 

If nothing else, the site could give you an idea what to look for and help you decide what brand you get.

I’ve watched some of this guys YouTube’s videos. He’s great. Thank you again! 

[The Dude]

10 hours ago, Cr00zng said:

 

I take even the Consumer Report ranking with a grain of salt and do my own evaluation based on number of different sources. I also extend your "quality, performance and reliability" evaluation by the cost of the item in hand. For example, my evaluation scored the Bosch dishwasher high, but the cost of it was also the highest by a large margin. The KitchenAid dishwasher wasn't too far from from the Bosch' quality/performance/reliability, but its cost was half of the Bosch. We ended up with the KitchenAid dishwasher and haven't regretted choosing it.

 

The Consumer Report usually doesn't rate Kenmore appliances high, rightfully in some cases, but I had good experiences with some of them. My gas dryer is from Sears/Kenmore and it is ~35 years old and still working just fine, without even changing the drive belt. The range is also Kenmore, about ten years old, but had two issues. One is self-inflicted, I fried the control board about five years ego and 120 bucks later, it is back to normal. I am about to replace the "glow-igniter", like this one:

 

 

It's about 110 bucks, but beats buying a new range. The oven still works, but takes much longer than used to to reach set temperature. Calling a service guy to replace the igniter would cost about 500-600 bucks, at which point I'd rather buy a new range. That is why I fix most of my appliances, if I can....

Look on Amazon for that part. I had to replace one years ago and found it much cheaper on Amazon.  Make sure you are replacing the correct one.  

[Cr00zng]

14 hours ago, The Dude said:

Look on Amazon for that part. I had to replace one years ago and found it much cheaper on Amazon.  Make sure you are replacing the correct one.  

 

I do have Amazon prime account and probably spend more there than I should, but...

 

You can find it on Amazon, even for a third of the price. It might be a compatible igniter, the connection may not fit that's why it comes with ceramic wire-nut, may stop working after two weeks, etc. There are are lot of Chinese knockoffs at Amazon and their rating system is tilted toward knockoff sellers. I prefer specialized parts store, where you can search by model and/or part numbers. I did search Amazon by part number and it listed the price as 10 bucks less, than from my favored parts supplier online.

 

Most of the parts listed at the supplier site also have videos, or a short instruction for replacing the part in question. While I have diverse background, these instructions are helpful. Knowing the steps/tricks in replacing the part is half of the battle for doing the job right, doing it only once is the preferred way fixing the appliance. I don't mind paying a little extra for sites like that...

 

 

 

 

[The Dude]

6 hours ago, Cr00zng said:

 

I do have Amazon prime account and probably spend more there than I should, but...

 

You can find it on Amazon, even for a third of the price. It might be a compatible igniter, the connection may not fit that's why it comes with ceramic wire-nut, may stop working after two weeks, etc. There are are lot of Chinese knockoffs at Amazon and their rating system is tilted toward knockoff sellers. I prefer specialized parts store, where you can search by model and/or part numbers. I did search Amazon by part number and it listed the price as 10 bucks less, than from my favored parts supplier online.

 

Most of the parts listed at the supplier site also have videos, or a short instruction for replacing the part in question. While I have diverse background, these instructions are helpful. Knowing the steps/tricks in replacing the part is half of the battle for doing the job right, doing it only once is the preferred way fixing the appliance. I don't mind paying a little extra for sites like that...

 

 

 

 

Oh totally. I was suggesting using the exact part number you found. I did one for a GE about 7 years ago and I found it quite a bit cheaper.

 

But definitely make sure you are getting the right igniter, and make sure you are taking out the correct one as I believe most have 2 and they look similar. 

 

One for the broiler and one for baking. Might even be another for the cleaning feature. Just double check. It'd suck to take it all apart and put it back together, only to realize you replaced the wrong one, like I did. lol

 

 

[Cr00zng]

15 hours ago, The Dude said:

Oh totally. I was suggesting using the exact part number you found. I did one for a GE about 7 years ago and I found it quite a bit cheaper.

 

But definitely make sure you are getting the right igniter, and make sure you are taking out the correct one as I believe most have 2 and they look similar. 

 

One for the broiler and one for baking. Might even be another for the cleaning feature. Just double check. It'd suck to take it all apart and put it back together, only to realize you replaced the wrong one, like I did. lol

 

 

 

There are certain part #s that I purchase from Amazon, like car, bicycle parts for a tuneup, brake, etc., after these parts are cross referenced with OEM, parts stores, etc. And yes, there are some good deals for those at Amazon.

 

The gas ranges do have two igniters, one for the boiler and the other for baking, they are interchangeable on mine. In addition my stove has a the draw warmer, that uses electricity. The cleaning feature actually fires up both the broiler and the oven to reach high temperature to burn up most of the spilled and semi burned stuff. This feature works pretty well, even after thanksgiving where spills are inevitable.

 

On my range, it took an hour to install the new igniter, most of the work was getting to the part. Tested the oven and it works like when it was new. The original part lasted for 11 years and chances are that the OEM replacement part will last about the same.

 

One thing about the igniter... It also serve as thermal-electric switch, that opens up the gas valve once the internal components in the igniter reach the required temperature. This is where most of the aftermarket igniters fail, even when the outside looks the same as the OEM part. I've learned pretty much the same way as you did, that if looks the same and cost half as much may not work the same way, or as long as the OEM parts. The old saying of "Burn me once...." is quite appropriate in this case... 

[josh]

On 2/3/2022 at 9:04 PM, Keirik said:

Figure I’ll take a stab in the dark. Anyone have an6 experience with an infrared sauna by any chance? Thinking of getting one for the basement 

like seriously, wtf

Do people actually use these at home other than escaping from the kids for 10-20 minutes?

[Keirik]

11 minutes ago, josh said:

like seriously, wtf

Do people actually use these at home other than escaping from the kids for 10-20 minutes?

Yeah, it’s been recommended for me for some back pain relief. Figured it might be worth the investment 

[SaveByRichter35]

In infrared sauna?  You mean a tanning bed? lol

[josh]

2 minutes ago, Keirik said:

Yeah, it’s been recommended for me for some back pain relief. Figured it might be worth the investment 

 

OMG I didnt realize you were that old where you buy up 15 different things to fill the basement because they were all supposed to help your back. I'll just send your my parents basement.

[Keirik]

2 minutes ago, josh said:

 

OMG I didnt realize you were that old where you buy up 15 different things to fill the basement because they were all supposed to help your back. I'll just send your my parents basement.

Lol, I’ve been recommended a two level spinal fusion from an injury that is forcing my eventual retirement so I have a vested interest to try and avoid surgery.