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I've got an upstairs and a downstairs ac/heater, two systems. I've replaced a heater -only thermostat before myself. I want to get some kind of thermostat for each system that I can link to a raspberry pi or something so that I'm never doing something dumb like running ac upstairs and heater downstairs (due to living in Colorado at altitude, the sun is super powerful and heats some rooms up to 90 degrees while other rooms are in the 70's. This didn't happen when I was living at sea level, the entire house would be the same temperature). Also the kids rooms upstairs get super hot because they're smaller and have the same amount of heat piped in. All that to say, what are the alternatives for remote controlled/programmable thermostats? I've seen ecobee mentioned, is that the best?
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Dec 21, 2022 15:40
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If you have an ecobee, check out Beestat. It's an awesome little tool for analysis of your HVAC.
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Dec 21, 2022 15:41
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We’re remodeling our kitchen in Feb/Mar next year and are looking at getting a set of new, matching kitchen appliances. 20 years ago, Maytag, KitchenAid and Whirlpool would’ve been the top of my list for quality. Would that still be a good assumption? We’re not interested in gimmicks, just good quality. Is there any reason not to buy them as a package from a big box store (Home Depot/Lowe’s/etc)?
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Dec 21, 2022 22:52
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Cacafuego posted:We’re remodeling our kitchen in Feb/Mar next year and are looking at getting a set of new, matching kitchen appliances. 20 years ago, Maytag, KitchenAid and Whirlpool would’ve been the top of my list for quality. Would that still be a good assumption? We’re not interested in gimmicks, just good quality. Is there any reason not to buy them as a package from a big box store (Home Depot/Lowe’s/etc)? What level of appliances are you looking for? That really changes things. Bosch makes great dishwashers and everything else is poo poo. You can go from a mid teir to a fancy one. It doesn't make much of a difference past 800 series these days from what I'm seeing. And let's say you're talking high end and if you want to go 5x on your fridge budget and don't mind not having through the door stuff get a Subzero fridge and the package deal with a Wolf cooktop or range. Also, if your timeline is 2 to 3 months from now you should have ordered all of this in October.
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Dec 21, 2022 22:58
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In my opinion, a matching set of appliances is Not Good, because you're absolutely going to make sacrifices on the quality/longevity/performance side in exchange for matching hardware and labels. There is no manufacturer whose full range of appliances are acceptable. They all have one or more appliances that are garbage, which is why they're always offered in a 'buy X, get 1 appliance free' deal. That said, you or your remodel partner might have a requirement of 'They must match', so it's moot. If you're at all open to it, I would really suggest that you buy each appliance individually to ensure you're getting a good dishwasher, a good oven/range, a good fridge, etc. If that's a possibility we can get in to makes and models and price points for each one. If it's absolutely a requirement for them to match, we just want to confirm price points you're aiming for and can pick the lesser of the evils. EDIT - and are you OK with natural gas? This is quite a hotbutton issue at the moment and will influence your oven/range options. GoGoGadgetChris fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Dec 21, 2022 |
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Dec 21, 2022 23:13
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Motronic posted:What level of appliances are you looking for? That really changes things. Mid level, probably. Nothing too fancy. Matching stainless finish. Fridge with an ice maker and filtered water dispenser. Electric range that does the basics with an OTR microwave. A basic dishwasher. We’re not gourmands, and rarely cook anything that requires more than one setting. We looked at Home Depot and Best Buy yesterday, most indicated delivery available in January. However, with supply chain constraints, I’m sure ordering and delivery on time could be an issue. If they don’t come in for a while, it’s no big deal. We have working appliances now that are all standard width/depth that we could use until the new ones arrive. E: ^^^hmm, didn’t realize that about the matching being a potential issue. Honestly, it doesn’t matter, I just thought it would make sense to buy a matching set. As long as the finishes are the same, I don’t care what we get as long as they’re quality.
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Dec 21, 2022 23:19
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Cacafuego posted:We’re remodeling our kitchen in Feb/Mar next year and are looking at getting a set of new, matching kitchen appliances. 20 years ago, Maytag, KitchenAid and Whirlpool would’ve been the top of my list for quality. Would that still be a good assumption? We’re not interested in gimmicks, just good quality. Is there any reason not to buy them as a package from a big box store (Home Depot/Lowe’s/etc)? Can you clarify what you mean by "good quality"? Also what sort of budget are you working with here? There's been a lot of consolidation in the appliance market the last 15 years or so. Whirlpool (the company) owns Maytag and KitchenAid. Haier is a huge Chinese corp that has bought up General Electric's appliance division and Fisher & Paykel. I have an LG Fridge and matching Whirlpool appliances in the house I bought about 4 1/2 years ago. The gas cooktop and dishwasher from Whirlpool work great no issues. The wall microwave/oven combo I'm not happy with, the oven is trash. The microwave is fine, but the oven sucks. (It's a non convection oven which is why I probably hate it) The LG Fridge has already had issues, we caught it early and avoided replacing the compressor (replaced clogged filter dryer and recharged), but I don't expect it to last much longer than the 7 months of warranty left on it. I'm prepared to replace it when it dies. They really don't make quality poo poo anymore. We just got back from visiting 95 year old paw paw and he has a gas Kenmore dryer from 1960 that is still used daily, and his fridge is also a Kenmore made in 1984. Not efficient by today's standards, but those things are quality built items. My pick these days for a matching appliance set is Frigidaire (owned by Electrolux). I have several extended family members with matching kitchen suites from them and none of them have had any problems and everything seems well built and performs well. I had a front load washer/dryer set from Frigidaire that we probably did 4000 loads of laundry in before we gave them away that never had any issues either. All my limited experience with the brand has been very positive. Runner up would be Whirlpool, but the more basic the appliances the better, except the dishwasher, get the nicest one they sell. Those are my recommendation for big box store, normal people appliances. If you've got the budget for Miele or Wolf, that's a different conversation. It doesn't matter where you buy them from, if they're not on the floor the appliances are coming from a central distribution warehouse that services your area. I could have bought my LG fridge from anywhere and it was going to come out of the same warehouse here in San Antonio where LG stocks them. If you have a Costco membership, they do some really nice deals on appliances packages.
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Dec 21, 2022 23:34
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Brick exterior is done and just in time for the winter storm starting tomorrow. They still need to acid wash it and caulk the window first thing in the AM but otherwise the exterior is done. Interior, vapor barrier is up and ready for drywall and mud. Anyone wanna come over and help?  Pretty happy with how this project is turning out all things considered.
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Dec 21, 2022 23:39
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skipdogg posted:Can you clarify what you mean by "good quality"? Also what sort of budget are you working with here? Good quality as in I want to buy it and not have to worry about needing to service it. The trip to the big box stores last night was to get an idea of the cost. Fridge, we’re probably looking at spending $2,000 - $2500. French door or side by side doesn’t matter, as long as it has ice maker and filtered water. Range, maybe $800-$900 max. OTR microwave, maybe $300. Dishwasher, maybe $800 max. Full kitchen remodel is currently looking to be about $35k at the moment, not including appliances, but if we have to up the appliance budget to get stuff that doesn’t break, that’s fine. Yeah, I expect the appliances not to last as long as my parents, so we’re looking for stuff without gimmicky crap. Basic stuff that does what it’s supposed to do and won’t break for a long time.
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Dec 21, 2022 23:43
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Cacafuego posted:Good quality as in I want to buy it and not have to worry about needing to service it. The trip to the big box stores last night was to get an idea of the cost. Fridge, we’re probably looking at spending $2,000 - $2500. French door or side by side doesn’t matter, as long as it has ice maker and filtered water. Range, maybe $800-$900 max. OTR microwave, maybe $300. Dishwasher, maybe $800 max. Full kitchen remodel is currently looking to be about $35k at the moment, not including appliances, but if we have to up the appliance budget to get stuff that doesn’t break, that’s fine. You're talking about a budget remodel, just not quite "rental apartment" level. And appliances that don't have gimmicks and last are a subset of the high end ones unfortunately. I've had mid tier stuff that broke and the repair part costs 60% of replace the whole thing. If I wasn't doing my own labor it would be even worse. To give you a specific example I had a cooktop that one of the gas valves went bad on. The repair part was basically the entire piping from the gas regulator to the burners including all 4 gas valves. So the most common failure require you replacing essentially everything. This is how they're saving money on manufacturing and making these things disposable. I'm not sure what to tell you about what/who in the level of appliances you're talking about. Just expect to be disappointed.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:03
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We have a Frigidaire Gallery matching set that is just shy of seven years old. The LED display panel on the fridge started losing some lights after a year or so but it's still usable. Other than that no complaints.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:04
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The cold front is hitting Texas tomorrow and every basket at Lowe’s had a noodle or 4 of foam pipe covering.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:05
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Motronic posted:House Ownership: Just expect to be disappointed.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:26
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I hate to say it but I stayed at an AirBNB this weekend and it had a LG fridge with the gimmicky knock to see inside and half door button so you only open the doors shelving and I loving loved it. I was just really into not opening the whole fridge door to get a drink. My wife and I have either lucked out on things or we just don’t stress our appliances much. We have a GE profile microwave, Bosch dishwasher, Jenn-air range, and LG fridge that are all 12-15 years old and the only maintenance has been the LG had to have a board and compressor changed under warranty and I replaced the mangnetron in the microwave. But yeah we’re slowly going to ramp up planning a kitchen reno and it seems less about specific brands and more so which tier of pricing you can fit in your budget.
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Dec 22, 2022 00:37
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110% with Chris on getting the right appliance for each slot rather than a matching set.
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Dec 22, 2022 01:35
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ChineseBuffet posted:110% with Chris on getting the right appliance for each slot rather than a matching set. This is the only logical decision. Why would you actively choose to spend thousands on new appliances you use every day only to not get the best kind of each appliance you can afford. No manufacturer makes a full suite of great appliances and certainly not all within the same matching model family. As they die you'll replace them individually because it's not like they'll all for at the same time so they won't even match when that happens.
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Dec 22, 2022 02:13
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I'm looking to buy a counter depth refrigerator some time in the next 2 years or so. Ideally fridge on top, freezer on bottom, no internet connection or gimmicky stuff. What brands should I be looking at? And what's the best source of info besides forums- consumer reports? As much as I don't like the idea of the hideously expensive brands (sub zero, viking, fisher & paykel etc) I am willing to buy one of those if the lower end brands all have sufficient quality problems to not be worth it.
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Dec 22, 2022 02:35
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Vim Fuego posted:I'm looking to buy a counter depth refrigerator some time in the next 2 years or so. Ideally fridge on top, freezer on bottom, no internet connection or gimmicky stuff. What brands should I be looking at? And what's the best source of info besides forums- consumer reports? As much as I don't like the idea of the hideously expensive brands (sub zero, viking, fisher & paykel etc) I am willing to buy one of those if the lower end brands all have sufficient quality problems to not be worth it. Do you have a normal width. If no, then your options will be very limited if you’re looking for counter depth French door.
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Dec 22, 2022 02:38
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Not really sure I understand the point of matching sets when they all have the same finish options. Is it just for the logo? Our 4-year-old Kenmore OTR microwave died on Thanksgiving morning and we replaced it with a Frigidaire. It basically looks identical. The rest of the stuff that came with the house is Kenmore, too, so we're looking forward to having to replace all that crap when it dies prematurely and parts are impossible to find.
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Dec 22, 2022 02:44
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Do not get counter depth fridge
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Dec 22, 2022 02:45
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Tiny Timbs posted:Not really sure I understand the point of matching sets when they all have the same finish options. Is it just for the logo? The handles look the same.
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Dec 22, 2022 02:54
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Hadlock posted:Do not get counter depth fridge That's usually determined by the kitchen, yeah? Full depth is better but I don't think you can usually plop a full in a counter sized slot or vice versa brugroffil posted:The handles look the same. Luckily the higher end models and brands have more subtle designs that blend in to any kitchen and mix of appliances. It's an annoying trait of like, Frigidaires and the like that have a highly stylized handle with bright red end caps etc
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Dec 22, 2022 03:17
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Hadlock posted:Do not get counter depth fridge Agreed, if you can help it. The produce drawers are so laughably shallow that you can’t fit much of anything in there if you eat more than one salad a week and some random vegetables. We swore off French door refrigerators for a while because our previous rental had a counter depth one. When we explained it to the salesman, he showed us a normal depth French door which we ended up going with and love.
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Dec 22, 2022 03:32
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Thanks. Perhaps I'll go with full depth then. I was thinking about counter-depth because my friends have one and they say they love it, don't mind the reduced capacity. They do have different tastes than me. I imagine I would mind the reduced capacity. At some point I'll go to a showroom and try out the counter depth fridges. Right now I have a full depth cheapo samsung that I got in a hurry when our old fridge died and couldn't be resurrected. It sticks out past the cabinets, isn't as wide or as tall as the existing hole. I'm gonna do a (mostly, trying to keep the original cabinets as they are original to the house) full kitchen remodel. So I can make the space for the fridge any width, any height I want. In terms of depth I could cut a hole in the wall behind the fridge and get an extra 4 inches that way. With that a full depth fridge might not stick out too badly, or maybe it'll fit flush. Ok so my original question stands: Are any of the the high end fridges of the low end ranges worth it? Or do you pretty much have to go ultra expensive? And where's the best place to research when I get serious?
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Dec 22, 2022 04:02
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My Samsung French-door ridge is still going strong after 11-years. Granted, in 2016 I spent about 8-hours buried in the thing correcting shoddy build issues on the ductwork between the upper & lower zones, and it fires ice cubes all over the freezer drawer...but we still love it. Haven't bought a dishwasher since 1992. On my second trash-picked early 80's Kitchenaid. All of the parts except a handful of screws & the valve solenoid are NLA, so when the motor fails, it'll be time to buy. The gas range is a 1997 Kenmore. I replaced the oven floor in 2014 but, like the dishwasher, everything is NLA except the igniter leads, which are the only things that ever break. Washer is a 2017 Maytag, so far so good. Dryer is a 1993 Kenmore. It likes to heat high-limit switches and flue sensors. As long as the idler pulley, belt, and igniter are still available it'll keep on truckin'. Then there's the 1939 GE refrigerator in the garage PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Dec 22, 2022 |
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Dec 22, 2022 05:10
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I have a bosch fridge that’s counter depth so I guess I am the thread antichrist. So far it has been excellent although the water dispenser is stupid. For us it was our favorite option short of sub zero money which was not in the cards or the character of our kitchen frankly.
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Dec 22, 2022 05:22
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I vastly prefer counter depth refrigerators. My current house I have to have one, but I like the shallower counter depth models as it’s harder to lose track of food in them. I find we throw away a lot less food with the counter depth model. We do have to supplement the smaller capacity with a dedicated beverage fridge and a garage freezer which not everyone has the space or ability to do.
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Dec 22, 2022 06:05
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We have a liebherr counter depth fridge, with freezer on the bottom which is two full width drawers, except the bottom drawer is half depth again because it gives up space for the compressor. And yeah, had to buy a separate freezer, we ended up overbuying and got a 7 cu ft model, probably could have settled for 3 or 4. I need to take up deer hunting or something to fill it Counter depth is just barely big enough for our family of 3. My wife ends up ordering delivery for lunch half the time because there's no room for enough food; indirectly costing us $2-300 a month I might put a 2 cu ft beverage fridge in my office, I had been contemplating that when we moved in here. There's just no room for anything Hadlock fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Dec 22, 2022 |
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Dec 22, 2022 06:27
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Bosch dishwashers are the Golden Path. That is all.
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Dec 22, 2022 06:38
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Infinotize posted:I have a bosch fridge that’s counter depth so I guess I am the thread antichrist. So far it has been excellent although the water dispenser is stupid. For us it was our favorite option short of sub zero money which was not in the cards or the character of our kitchen frankly. I too have a Bosch counter-depth fridge and I'm quite happy with it. The PO had a full-depth fridge in the same spot when we looked at the place and it was hilariously deep for the room available. I am probably going to buy a chest freezer for the garage at some point, though.
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Dec 22, 2022 07:47
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I do actually really like having the garage freezer; we sat out a potential hurricane, was really nice peace of mind to have a weeks worth of frozen trader Joe's food banked in there, and a generator to run the microwave off of, just in case. Didn't end up needing it this year and haven't needed to buy frozen food in a couple months. Also nice to be able to bank tortillas and other bread items my toddler likes but don't want to drive across town every week to stock up 7 cu ft is so large you can organize the food with all the labels pointing up in the same direction, like having a food library 
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Dec 22, 2022 08:02
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skipdogg posted:I vastly prefer counter depth refrigerators. My current house I have to have one, but I like the shallower counter depth models as it’s harder to lose track of food in them. I find we throw away a lot less food with the counter depth model. I have been pondering counter depth for an eventual replacement for this reason, food gets tucked in the back and forgotten. It gets tucked back there of course because the fridge is full so clearly I need the space. Full height counter depth fridge and separate chest freezer feels like maybe a good combo assuming I can find space for the latter.
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Dec 22, 2022 14:30
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We have a counter depth fridge simply because it was the only thing that would fit and never really had too many problems with size, partly because we have a chest freezer in the basement.
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Dec 22, 2022 15:20
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The Dave posted:After 8 years of no issues the drain pump on our LG washer just died. Was contemplating if I should go about fixing it myself but I also always read that working on washers/dryers is a nightmare. Update on this if it could ever help someone. Welllll my wife said she looked at everything and it turns out the reason is wasn't draining is because there was a nipple pad stuck in the filter (she's currently breastfeeding). That seemed to clear up any draining issues but there was then a persistent issue of the cycles getting stuck and not continuing to countdown, which according to google can be a million things. The repairman said it was probably the control board and it would be $400 to fix and we should just get a new washer, but he also didn't seem to really want to work on a LG. Getting the exact part number wasn't super easy (I should have removed the old one and looked for a part number) but I got one on ebay for $60 and it's a super simple plug and play that is really easy to access so we went for that and it seems to have cleared everything up . Soooooo don't leave you nipple covers in the washer I guess.
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Dec 22, 2022 15:28
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Why would I ever want to cover these glorious things up anyways?
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Dec 22, 2022 22:17
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Milk stains, mastitis
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Dec 22, 2022 23:57
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Qwijib0 posted:I have been pondering counter depth for an eventual replacement for this reason, food gets tucked in the back and forgotten. It gets tucked back there of course because the fridge is full so clearly I need the space. Full height counter depth fridge and separate chest freezer feels like maybe a good combo assuming I can find space for the latter. Consider a free standing freezer with shelves and drawers if you're having problems with things going to the back. Chest freezers you just get things going to the bottom. It's much easier to keep organized. Mine is currently full almost to bursting with half a calf.
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Dec 23, 2022 00:02
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House Ownership: Don't leave your nipple covers in the washer
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Dec 23, 2022 00:07
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Bosch dishwashers are the Golden Path. That is all. SO LONG as you wipe the rubber seals (especially the bottom seal) regularly and keep them spotless. Otherwise they’ll get schmoo buildup and leak down the front, behind the panel and into the catch pan underneath tripping an E5 error and you’ll go nuts trying to figure out why.
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Dec 23, 2022 01:05
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I'm so glad I've introduced this to SA.
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Dec 23, 2022 01:10
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