Tuesday 11 June 2013

kenmore 13922

About 2-3 months ago we bought a new dishwasher. It's a Kenmore Elite, model 13922, as seen here: http://dishwashers.findthebest.com/l/372/Kenmore-Elite-13922

Previous to this we had a Frigidaire something or other. Both models are discontinued so there is little information to be found, and less need for it. But I did want to do a little write-up on the Kenmore, and it is convenient in many ways to do so by comparing it to the Frigidaire.

So, things I like about the Kenmore Elite:
It hasn't broken yet.
The bottom rack slides easily in and out on its track - no lifting or wrestling to get it in place.
The silverware basket is generous and well-designed.
It holds a lot - this morning I ran 9 dinner plates, 12 salad plates, 8 bowls, a 9x13" baking pan with baked on cheese, and silverware downstairs, and a whole mess of glasses, serving plates, measuring cups upstairs. Two large dinner plates can sit side by side.
It gets things clean, with the rare exception.
It gets things dry, which is a bigger deal than you'd think, because reviews on similar models (H.E.) say it it hard to get the dishes dry, and the manual that came with this one said it was designed to work with a rinse agent, and you'd best run the heated dry option.  Well, I use Finish tablets with the Jet Dry power ball (or whatever they call it), so don't add liquid rinse agent. Also, I've always used the "air dry" option to save energy - after all, isn't that the point of an energy efficient machine? Anyway, I crack the machine open at the end of the cycle, and by the time it's cooled off, it's dry.
It's very quiet.

Things I don't like (or liked better on the other):
I miss the cup rack upstairs - I used that almost every day.
The silverware basket is all one piece - the Frigidaire split into 3, so if I had bulky stuff and not many spoons that could be accommodated.  We kept the old basket(s) so we have lots of options now.
The bottom rack does not have adjustable tines. There is one corner that will fit our 1 gallon milk jugs, so we can only wash one at at time.
There is no rinse/drain cycle. This is important in a house with many hands, because when a cycle gets interrupted and everything *looks* clean, I like to be sure the soap is all rinsed off.
 The soap dispenser is a little low, so you have to be careful about what you put in front of it.

Overall, I'm pleased. Mostly, because it hasn't broken yet. :-)

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Reading...
Never having owned a dishwasher I can't really comment.

MamaOlive said...

good to see you again!

Wil said...

Shari, it seems like the new dishwasher is working for you. We thought ours was broken a couple of times, but it was just being temperamental.

I did check using our energy monitor, and the heated dry cycle doesn't use *that* much more energy, and seems to help. But yes, stopping it before the heated dry cycle and opening it to the conditioned air of the house will do the trick as well -- just much slower. :-)