The microwave is a ubiquitous kitchen appliance found in almost every home, as well as in most workplace break rooms! Most people are familiar with the standalone countertop microwave and the over-the-range microwave, but if you're redoing your kitchen or are looking for unique ways to save counter space, you may be interested in a subset of built-in microwaves: the microwave drawer. 

In this article, we go over the details and the pros and cons of this built-in style, and review three models from Sharp, Bosch, and KitchenAid.

If you are in the market for a new appliance or package of appliances, you may be considering the question of whether to shop at a local appliance store or a big box chain. This is definitely an important question to consider. Knowing that you will be spending hundreds to perhaps many thousands of dollars on these products and that you probably intend to keep them for years, choosing the right retailer to buy them from is critical.

As a local appliance dealer since 1953, we certainly know the industry well and compete with the big box retailers every day. In this blog we are going to give you an honest, fair insider's perspective on your two options and try to help you to answer the question - local appliance store vs big box chain - which is better?  

If your previous refrigerator was a top freezer refrigerator or the once-popular side by side style, you might be wondering about whether it's time to try a bottom freezer refrigerator. These models have been around for a while and have distinct advantages over top freezer and side by side styles: first, you don't have to bend over to access the fresh food section; and second, the refrigerator and freezer offer wide spaces for flexible storage. (Before we continue: check out our refrigerator buying guide for more info on choosing a new refrigerator!)

If you are looking for a cutting edge design in a new refrigerator that could save you time, effort, electricity and aggravation, a four door refrigerator may be just what you are looking for. 

Four door refrigerators are like French door refrigerators with the addition of a second drawer, which is usually for fresh food storage above the freezer drawer. This space can be very useful to you if you want to have a separate space for compartmentalizing certain foods at a different temperature or storing drinks or other snacks for the kids, so that they can simply open the drawer and grab what they need without the need to open the large French doors. It can also be a convenient place to store those awkward items like pizza boxes or takeout containers.

Whirlpool is over a century old and a giant in the appliance market today. Despite its age, this appliance manufacturer is constantly coming up with new innovations in consumer appliances. In 2018 it began offering Sunset Bronze appliances on the market (now discontinued in late 2019), and they entered the smart appliance market that year as well. Learn more about the new features of Whirlpool connected appliances for 2020 below!

We've grown to expect that our dishwashers operate quietly at under 50 decibels, but manufacturers are constantly coming up with new ideas. The third rack is one of them! A typical third rack is above the upper rack and can hold flatware and small items - but recently, manufacturers have found ways to expand these third racks to fit larger items like cups and bowls. 

If you want to make the most of your next dishwasher's capacity, this is the article for you! We'll start with a table of which brands offer third racks and at what price points.

At a product show in September 2019, we got to take a look at an interesting new color from Maytag starting in late 2019: Cast Iron Black! As you may be able to guess, it's inspired by cast iron, and it was intended for people looking for something durable and affordable when choosing new kitchen appliances. However, as of April 2020 it's being discontinued.

Two well-known appliance brands available to consumers today are Whirlpool and Frigidaire - but which one is best for you? If you’re shopping for a new freestanding smoothtop electric range, you may want to know more about your options from each of these brands. Whirlpool now owns several other brands, including KitchenAid, Maytag, and Amana. Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux.

So what you can you expect from these two brands? In our Whirlpool vs Frigidaire review, we compare two standard 30" freestanding electric ranges from the Whirlpool and Frigidaire Gallery lines in the $800-$900 price range to help you choose the best electric range for your kitchen. During sale periods these models are closer to $600.

Whatever happened to GE Spacemaker? GE made a bold move back in 1979 when they began offering the first over the range microwaves to the market. They may seem commonplace now, but back in the day, combining stovetop ventilation and microwaves together was a big deal!

If you have a GE Spacemaker microwave, you might be disappointed to discover that GE has discontinued the Spacemaker line. There is no longer a need to distinguish this type of microwave since over the range models have become so common, so it has been absorbed back into GE's main product lines. Spacemaker microwaves aren't particularly compact compared to typical over the range models - most over the range microwaves are about 30" wide (a few are 36" wide) and any over the range microwave should mount into the same spot as an older Spacemaker unit.

If you're looking for a ballpark estimate of the dimensions of upright or chest freezers, you're in the right place! Maybe you need to fit your new freezer through a narrow doorway or have other limitations on the dimensions. Although the overall size can vary, we hope this will give you a basic idea of how much space different freezer sizes will take up.