Where to buy fridge & washing machine

[NormaSears]

Where's best for buying an undercounter fridge and a washing machine please?
Neither needs to be fancy or 'smart'.
I'd like a decent make (e.g. hotpoint) but not expensive, quick cool wash and 'A' energy rate, and delivery within a few days.

Budget is up to £500.
Could I install the washing machine myself?

We usually buy from AO.com

Agree ao.com is good 🙂

AO and if you find cheaper in 7 days they refund the difference instantly! I rang up as noticed a special deal, call handler checked online and credited!

Yep AO is our go-to
Also Argos are actually pretty good
DH always installs appliances himself, including washing machines- so if you’re fairly handy I don’t think it’s too hard. I wouldn’t be confident myself so would pay extra for them to install it if DH wasn’t around!

Use John Lewis - good delivery, warranty etc & you can speak to a human being if anything goes wrong.

Another AO fan here. It is easy to install a washing machine you remove restraining bolts holding drum in place. Normally 3 round the back it’ll come with a spanner. Then just hook up water and waste and plug in. They often do deals though and will take away the old machine, unwrap and install for £20.

What brands do you recommend and are there any that should be avoided?
Any tips?

I could probably get the washing machine fixed but must be about 8 yrs old. My fault it broke (PCB has gone), so I'd prefer to get that model again or as near to it. The fridge was probably 20+ yrs old.
Both Hotpoint.

AO are fab.

Top tip is that AO supply Boots electrical goods but if you order through boots instead you get advantage card points!

AO here too.

I use ao but daughter got a great deal on a local appliance retailer who gets display stock and sells on so worth a look. Having used hotpoitn/zanussi etc tbh I get beko now. Seems to work as well and they all start developing faults at the 8-10 year mark anyway (v old, been through a few :) )

Currys seems to have what I want for the lowest price, so far. I'm a bit wary of Beko. Is Indesit any good?

Indesit and hotpoint are owned by the same company (whirlpool)

I have a beko fridge and I certainly wouldn't buy another one. Meant to be frostfree but constantly needs attention.

My hotpoint washing machine is still going strong after 13 years.

I didn't know that. I'm after a fridge with no icebox. It's tough being without a fridge.

I have a Beko tumble dryer and it’s great so I would think washing machine would be ok.

Fridges are much of a muchness between brands I think, just pick the one you like the look of best

I'm going to deep clean the kitchen before I order anything.
If nothing else, I'm probably saving money by not having a working fridge.

My freezer want a couple of years ago and the electricity bill went down noticeably as did my ice cream consumption.

If you just want a fridge with no ice box then any brand will be fine as long as the size and shelf layout looks like it will work for you. I would keep the fridge as cheap as possible and spend as much as you can afford on the washing machine. In fact I would consider a second hand fridge so I could buy a more expensive washing machine. Cheap washers die quickly but cheap fridges just keep on going in my experience.

That said Currys has a Samsung washing machine for £350 and I've been very impressed with my Samsung, way better than any of my previous hotpoints. https://www.currys.co.uk/products/samsung-series-5-ai-energy-ww80cgc04daeeu-wifienabled-8-kg-1400-spin-washing-machine-white-10257236.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=lmwrrmiwr&istBid=t&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0100+(Shopping+Ads)+MDA+-+Laundry+-+Washing+Machines+-+Generic+All+-+PMAX~~Exact~71700000113261279~&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&ds_kids=&tgtid=0100+(Shopping+Ads)+MDA+-+Laundry+-+Washing+Machines+-+Generic+All+-+PMAX&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20441091080&gbraid=0AAAAAD7JKSLb--C7Y_-lVEGASvhd8NGFc&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5JXFBhCrARIsAL1ckPu9_yD8P0oVTv0z8FPU5llcbRd8oFR0HiGfzx4cwuARW2uAxCWEyYQaAlx2EALw_wcB

What does the AI do?
I'd be OK with a 2nd hand fridge, the broken one was 2nd hand. Washing machine was a special offer in Currys IIRC, and it was my fault it broke.

I think the AI thing is a gimmick to monitor energy use. I've never connected mine as we have solar panels which save us some money anyway.

Indesit is Hotpoint if that would bother you.

Our Beko tumble dryer is brilliant but the Beko dishwasher we have has a stupid gimmick on it which keeps breaking down.

Bosch are meant to be the best if you don't have the budget for Miele. Curry's have a Series 6 for £488 but I haven't really looked at them much.

I've most recently had an AEG washing machine, which was great and lasted about 9 years. Then just changed that for an LG, which I'm happy with - the standard wash is only about 1 hour which is great. Then I can do an eco wash using less energy but more time. The only thing which annoys me about it is that both the main standard wash and the eco wash weigh the washing and decide how much time it needs - so if you want to re-wash a load which is already wet, or wash a load of dirty wet towels for example, it will think there is loads more washing in there and put on a massively long wash for no reason at all. There is no way to turn off the weighing feature 🙄so I have to faff around taking half the washing out, starting the cycle, letting it calculate, then pause it, wait for it to unlock the door, add everything else back in and then unpausing.

It has an app, but the only useful feature of the app is to tell me how much energy recent washes have used so I can test out different cycles and see what they use, which is marginally interesting. However when we moved house it took me about 6 months to bother to reconnect it to the wifi, and then 3 months later I got a new phone and I couldn't be arsed to connect up the app again.

You can set it all up and then start it remotely with the app, but considering the app can't take the washing out or put it in, I have never found a use case for this. I just set the delayed start on the machine if I want it to finish later.

I don't want the remote feature.The current one has it and I've not used it. As it was me who broke the machine, I don't really want to spend too much.
The PCB has gone, so I could get it repaired, but as I think the repair will be north of £150, I might as well get one that's not rusty and missing a panel.

What I liked best about my machine was the 30 minute quick wash.

Well, my old AEG had a 20/30 min wash and this new LG one has a 15 min quick wash which goes up to 25 mins if I set it to an actual spin speed and temperature (low spin and cold water it is still 15 mins).

I don't know if they all have the same settings.

Boots appliances, they use ao but you get advantage card points!!

I rate my local euronics electrical store. I found prices competitive and they can pin the delivery down to a couple of hours. Mine plumbed in my washing machine for me and took the old one away with them. I'm sure they'd do the same with a fridge. It might be worth finding out where your nearest one is?

There's an audio Euronics not far. I think I'll just stick the old ones in the front garden to elevate the neighbourhood.

We always use our local Euronics independent stores. DS bought a washing machine recently for his house. He negotiated a discount on a display model, got them to deliver for free (it was only down the road) and told them he would install it himself to save money (with DHs help). The man in the shop gave him a full briefing on how to install it.

Every appliance we've ever bought has been bought locally ever since Currys mucked us about 30 years ago!