PCs Aren't the Only Things that Become Obsolete
It's consumer electronics week, with all sorts of new gadgets being announced in Vegas. That means that many of the offerings from last year are finally available—at least the ones that were able to get beyond the prototype stage. One of the more interesting aspects of CES is watching how the various manufacturers update their commodity product lines, in the hopes of enticing people to upgrade. It's sort of like watching people throw things at a wall to see what sticks.
I have a confession to make: my home, in many ways, is a throwback to the last millennium. Which is odd, considering the house was built in 2007 and we've only been living here for three years. The problem isn't so much the home itself; rather, it's my antiquated appliances. Some of them came with the house and are thus only nine or so years old, but even when they were new, these weren't high-end models. Instead, the house was built with some decidedly budget appliances in the kitchen, and I supplemented those with an even more outdated washer and dryer set that probably should have been kicked to the curb years ago.
The dilemma is that all of my existing appliances still work, and until that changes or I win the lottery (which is hard to do when you refuse to play), I can only dream of what I might do given the chance. But with the products being showcased at CES, it got me thinking: If money were no object, what are the coolest new "smart" appliances to add to my home? We haven't had a chance to see what's on tap for 2016 yet, but we can look at previous products that are now actually available—some of which will almost certainly be outdated in the next week.
A Dishwasher Fit for a King
I grew up in a home without a dishwasher, at least for ten years of my youth. I still have the occasional flashback to manually scrubbing, rinsing, and drying each dish, my own little PTSD nightmare. If there's one thing I can truly appreciate, it's a dishwasher that does its job with next to no effort on the part of the user. Even better is a dishwasher with plenty of room and a third shelf for utensils and such.
Now, there are dishwashers, and then there are dishwashers. Miele isn't perhaps as well-known a brand as others, largely because they cater to professional users and the rich and famous—perfect for Technolust! The Miele G6985 SCVi K2o is a lot of dishwasher, with a customizable "3D cutlery tray" at the top that can be used for utensils and other extras. Couple that with a smart arrangement for the two main racks and you get enough room to clean up to 16 place settings. Okay, granted, you're not likely to actually cram in 16 place settings, but it's still pretty roomy.
The cleaning features are top of the line, with 14 cycle options available, a built-in water softener dispenser, and three spray arms. Naturally, the dishwasher is Energy Star compliant, and it's also very quiet—42dB at the default setting or just 38dB with the Extra Quiet setting. As an added bonus, Miele provides a 5-year manufacturer warranty, which is rare in the home appliance market.
What can really set the Miele apart from other offerings is the innovative Knock2Open feature. It might sound gimmicky, but in the right environment it can be a great addition. Many high-end appliances and cabinetry can now be had without handles, and the G6985 comes ready for a custom façade to match your kitchen environment. As you might guess, the P6985 doesn't come cheap. The base price is $2,499, but you should plan on an additional $295 (or more) for the appropriate custom panel.
What does Miele get me that I'm missing now?
As our family has grown, we've gone from running the dishwasher once or twice a week to every other day to nearly every day. And whenever it's time to load the dishwasher, it's like playing Tetris, trying to fit as much as possible into a limited space. That extra cutlery tray at the top would definitely be useful, and as a modern appliance, the Miele should reduce our water and energy use quite a bit. I'd expect it to eliminate the need for prewashing of dishes, and the wash cycle should easily beat the two hours that our current unit requires. We'll also be able to talk in the kitchen while the dishwasher is running, rather than shouting at each other. There aren't any real "smart" aspects to this dishwasher, but I'm not sure I really need anything extra on my dishwasher.
Double Range = Double the Fun!
Sticking with the kitchen for now, next up on the list of appliances in need of replacement is our electric range. It works well enough, so we're in no rush to replace it, but having used a gas stove in the past, we'd love to return to gas cooking rather than electric. Because, fire! Plus gas heats up faster and works better with our large wok, which we like to break out on a regular basis.
There's some debate about whether gas or electric is better for certain tasks, but why limit yourself to just one fuel source? How about a gas stove combined with a state-of-the-art electric convection oven, and for good measure, throw in an Android-powered interface! Then double the fun by including two ovens, for those times when one simply isn't enough.
There are many options out there for ranges, but if you're looking for something truly lust-worthy, check out the Dacor Discovery DRYP48. Dacor is known for making luxury appliances, and the Discovery is very much in that category, tipping the scales at a mere $12,000 MSRP. It sports six gas burners, with an easy-to-clean spill tray and a large cooking area, and the large griddle accessory sits on top of any pair of burners for added flexibility. The burners also provide excellent control, from ultra-high searing temperatures to ultra-low simmering. Four of the burners have an output range of 800–15,000 BTU, while the two SimmerSear™ burners extend that range to 800–18,000 BTU.
The two ovens offer 8.0 cu ft of total capacity; the larger right oven is 5.2 cu ft while the left "cell" oven is 2.8 cu ft. Rather than the usual slide-out racks, the ovens are equipped with two ball-bearing "gliding" racks and one chrome rack, and the doors have soft-close hinges. Both ovens feature convection heating to improve cooking times and provide uniform temperatures, and the right oven has a 3,500W 8-pass radiant ribbon element to rapidly and evenly broil foods. The oven also has a GreenClean steam cleaning feature that helps clean up light build-up in just 30 minutes.
While the ovens and burners are the real story, the Discovery also comes with an Android-based tablet and control mechanism called Discovery IQ. The panel pops out so you can easily follow recipes, watch cooking videos, or just browse the web. It could be a cool feature, but it's arguably the weakest link, since the tablet hardware and software have inevitably become outdated. When it was announced, the Discovery IQ control center was based on Android Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0); in the past two years, Android has moved on to Jelly Bean (4.1/4.2/4.3) and now Lollipop (5.0/5.1), but it's not clear if Dacor has updated their software during that time. The hardware meanwhile uses a 1GHz Exynos processor, which is now well behind the times. That's the unfortunate part of all "smart" appliances, as technology has a rapid cadence compared to the usual home appliances.
What would the Dacor Discover get me?
Really, it's all about the size and quality features: I'd have gas burners, and a double oven. I find gas burners are far better for cooking, but the bigger factor is that double oven. We do homemade pizzas at least a couple of times each month, and when each pizza takes about 15 minutes to bake, it's a pretty serious bottleneck. Think of it as upgrading from a single-core processor to a dual-core processor, only instead of running programs I'm cranking out food. What's not to like?
Keeping It Clean
I'm skipping the refrigerator for now, since that's the one appliance we already had to replace since moving in. Considering we're still using a top-load washer and dryer that are at least 20 years old, that's a far higher priority for replacement. We've passed by the fancy new front-load washers and dryers many times, gazing on in wistful appreciation of something we can't quite justify purchasing (yet). Much like the dishwasher, however, getting a "smart" washer/dryer isn't really important. We don't need to remotely start the washer/dryer, or receive alerts telling us the clothes are dry; what we need is better cleaning and more efficient water and energy use… except, we can get both so why not?
LG makes some great washers and dryers, and their latest-and-greatest model is the WM9000HVA. This is a 5.2 cu ft capacity front-load washer, and as you might guess, a higher capacity washer and dryer would definitely prove useful in our family. It's amazing how quickly kids can pile up the dirty laundry, making it a daily chore. But there's more than just the main washer.
When LG announced their new Twin Wash system last year, I admit to chuckling a little—it's like your washer is a kangaroo with a little baby down below!—but I'd still be able to find a use for the 1.0 cu ft mini washer. Colors and whites and towels accumulate quickly, but there are always a few items that don't fit neatly into one of those categories. Plus, teaching our kids to wash their own freaking clothes and not treat mom and dad like laundry slaves means that little mini washer might get a decent amount of use from our teenager.
The WM9000HVA comes with a ton of features, most of which we'll probably never need, but the 30-minute TurboWash technology isn't one of those meaningless extras. And of course, all of the cleaning is done in an energy efficient manner, so not only can the new washer finish a load of laundry in half the time, but it will likely use less than half as much water and probably one fourth the power of our current dinosaur.
But a new washer isn't enough; we also need a new dryer, which would naturally match our washer. LG's new DLGX9001V dryer is every bit as capable as the washer, with an awe-inspiring 9.0 cu ft capacity. Besides all the usual features you're used to seeing on a dryer, LG has some extras like a 10-minute TurboSteam that helps to quickly remove wrinkles from clothing—perfect for when I don't have the time or inclination to pull out an iron! And I know I said I didn't need a smart washer/dryer, but both LG units are Wi-Fi enabled and can communicate with your smartphone. So if you have a load of laundry in the dryer and you want to touch it up on your way home from the gym, you can do that.
What can LG give me that I'm currently missing?
Really, this is about making the laundry more convenient and energy efficient. I'm all for being ecologically minded, and getting better and faster cleaning is an added bonus. The combination doesn't come cheap, obviously, with MSRPs of $1,800 for the washer and $1,900 for the dryer, but over the next 10 years, the power and water savings alone could probably justify the expense.The reality is that I've always been something of a cheapskate when it comes to appliances—it's really hard to justify spending $7,000 for a washer and dryer when you can pick up something that works decently for less than $1,000, or hop on Craigslist and you might even find some freebies that people are offloading. But you generally get what you pay for, and it would be a nice change of pace to have some truly high-end appliances in my home.
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