Built-in Kitchen appliances

[Lamb]

Hi,

I am looking at refitting my kitchen and notice that the price of built-in appliances vs. the freestanding equivalent appears to be extortionate and really puts me off built-in appliances, i.e.. built-in dishwasher £700, freestanding is £250 for Zanussi with equivalent performance.

Is there any reason why they are so expensive? Aren't they the same with a little bit less metal (sides) and no feet? Or are the manufacturers or DIY sheds just making money on the fact that they are built-in?

Do you know of any keenly priced sources to get these built-in appliances? I am looking at Wickes B&Q prices at the moment and wonder if they're making a lot of money on the appliances. I'd like to get a reasonable quality - Zanussi or thereabouts.

Any advice on this would be welcome, as well as other areas of fitting a new kitchen where I should be wary of costs or getting ripped off.

Thanks Mike

[Toby]

You can get a Smeg DWI612c fully integrated build in dishwasher for

[Lurch]

It is because there is not so much demand for integrated as freestanding. As you may well already know, the more appliances that get built the cheaper they can be produced. i.e. mass produced. Integrated are not as common so cost more to manufacture. Although the innards are the same they are built differently, on some models. Some are entirely different on both types.

I personally would go for freestanding appliances with deeper worktops and standard door fronts, because of the price difference on the appliances but mainly because of reliability. Integrated are not able to get the same air circulation as freestanding and therefore overheat, basically.

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

[Paul King]

Its all down to cosmetics - built-in LOOKS nicer, flush doorfronts hiding the appliances underneath. Its still a pig when it goes faulty!

Having been the owner of both styles at various times, I can say that *I* prefer standalone, but *SHE* prefers built-in! Since I prefer to keep my sanity (and hot meals and offers of sex), she gets her way!

[Jonathan Pearson]

We got all our Zanussi appliances from

but there are loads of other oline places too, but take your example of a dishwasher from wickes / B & Q, ZDT6252 fully integrated dishwasher, wickes / B & Q = £600, freenet = £357, likewise Oven ZBS663 - B&Q = £600, freenet = £389, hob ZGF642 - B&Q = £200, freenet = £132, remember that you'll have a delivery charge from the online retailers, but if you get your appliances from the same manufacturer then you only pay one charge which in the case of zanussi is £33.

Good luck Jon

[Christian McArdle]

It's worth shopping around and NOT buying all the same make, as the performance and price of various integrated appliances varies wildly, with some manufacturers being good at a particular thing. A careful perusal of kelkoo should tell you all you need to know.

I ended up with an Ariston dishwasher, a Smeg 1600 washing machine and a Bosch sensor dryer, as each appliance had the best price/performance ratio. I found it was the dryer with the biggest markup over free standing like with like. The dishwasher had the smallest differential over freestanding. I bought it because I had a couple of previous similar Merloni models, which I found to be excellent in operation. All appliances are 'AAA' rated.

Smeg WM: ~500 Bosch dryer: ~600 Ariston d/w: ~300

It was the dryer that really hurt, but it seems very difficult to source a cheap condensing integrated dryer. However, I must say, it is really excellent, much better than any free standing dryer I've used. The sensor really works. The amount of water it collects in the tray is about 3-4 times what my old one used to. The old one was drying after a 1200 spin instead of a 1600 spin, too. The 1600 spin gets the clothes pretty dry to begin with. I'll be plumbing it in soon, as I can't be bothered to empty the tray every single time.

Christian.

[Lamb]

This advice is really fantastic. Two more questions.

What do people think about buying all the same brands of appliance vs. different brands? Where can I find some modern stainless steel sinks and kitchen taps that look designer but are budget on the pocket?

Thanks

[Lurch]

I personally would 'group' appliances. For instance have WM and TD in the utility matching, DW to match appliance next to it, if not directly next to each other try and match colour. But put quality above matching appliances. I have a Bosch WM & TD next to each other in the utility, Bosch DW on one side of the kitchen, all white. Then on the opposite side of the kitchen I have a Zanussi fridge in a colour matching the door fronts of the units. It's not all an exact match but looks tidy when done logically.

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I'm impressed by the IKEA sink I bought -- nice low profile edge which is better than I've seen on all the others I've looked at, and cheaper too. Of course, the Swedish waste bits needed some hacking to fit onto UK waste going out through the wall (looks like Swedish wastes go out through bottom of cupboard).

Also bought an IKEA monoblock tap which looks OK, but badly needs a nossel or airator, and the rotating joint flexes in directions it probably shouldn't, so I wouldn't recommend that in particular. Having looked at the taps mounted in the sink on the display and seeing how they move around, I mounted my tap in the worktop behind the sink, which I would strongly recommend.

[Christian McArdle]

But then, with integrated appliances, appearance isn't an issue.

Christian.

[Lurch]

Good point! In that case have whatever you want. ;-)

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.