Where to buy Appliances

[onrway]

Need new propane cook stove. Any recommendations for most reasonable place to purchase such?
Thanks

[shockwave rider]

"reasonable place to purchase" doesn't exist, choices are Sears, Home depot and Lowes in Kona.

[knieft]

onray,

Not sure if you are off-grid or not.

I'm also not sure what the differences are between Home Depot and Sears on such a purchase, but wanted to point out that you might beware that propane/gas stoves might need to be plugged in. _All_ propane stoves sold at HD and Sears (the last time I was shopping a propane stove a few years ago) had a new electric pilot system. Some sort of heating element was kept on all the time using 2-300 watts. So to conserve electricity with a propane stove would have had to plug the stove and unplug when done. No one seemed to know if it had to be plugged in only to start a burner, or if it had to be one while cooking as well. Absurd for off grid folks.

The only place in town at that time was the propane place in the Manono industrial area that sold an "old-fashioned" pilot light propane stove that was 50% more than Sears or Home Depot at the time.

I decided we can live with our old stove.

Hopefully the tech has been improved, but something to ask about...especially if off-grid.

Cheers,
Kirt

[Lee M-S]

And gas ovens have electronic pilots, too, that come on and off during cooking, using power.

Even if that's not a consideration, you should know that new stoves are sold as natural gas appliances, and you have to have them converted to propane--at an additional charge.

How about used? Smiths sells reconditioned appliances, might have an old-style no-electric-needed gas stove.

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[onrway]

Even if that's not a consideration, you should know that new stoves are sold as natural gas appliances, and you have to have them converted to propane--at an additional charge.

I Had Sears come out and do the conversion one time and the guy launched himself across my kitchen while I watched. He made his excuses and left. Never came back. Sent an older man to do the job. Since then I just do it myself.

[ironyak]

About a year ago, I spoke with Home Depot customer service about shipping in a Premier gas oven/stove that uses battery spark ignition (no need to plug in and no fuel wasted on a pilot light) . It was pretty reasonable - about $40 to ship to store any model they had on the web. I haven't ordered one yet but hopefully this year. Here's a quick example model (with built in propane conversion)

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Premier-30-in-3.../203358112

Editted for clarity

[Rob Tucker]

Boyoboy, I would stay away from Sears unless you like standing in warranty lines.

Sears is great for things that have zero moving parts.

[Lee M-S]

We got a gas dryer from Home Depot; they sold us the conversion kit, said it would be very easy--just pop off the front panel. Got it home, read the directions; you actually had to remove the dryer drum, and...at that point, we took it back.

><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >o>

[Kenney]

We've been using Brown stoves since, well, we're on our third one. Made in USA, Tennessee I think. Hilo Propane and Pahoa Propane sell them. They also do the conversion at no extra charge last time we got one. They don't make them without electric starters anymore, but ours just used a little battery . No need to plug it in. They last a long time even in our climate.

[terracore]

Our home here in Puna is the only house we ever bought without appliances, so we've done the shopping here. This is what we learned. This is a long list because I'm trying to cover everything and I can refer back to this post since this or similar questions come up frequently:

* Before you buy anything, see what qualifies for an energy rebate. The list changes frequently (sometimes, smaller things are free after rebate): https://hawaiienergy.com/for-homes/rebates [website currently has rebates]

* No matter what you buy, always get the longest extended warranty the store offers. If you can't afford the extended warranty, find a cheaper appliance that you CAN afford the longest warranty on. [becomes more true every day]

* Lowes and Home Depot delivers appliances island-wide for free. You can order appliances (virtually any appliance) from Lowes online. In contrast, if the local Home Depot store doesn't stock a particular appliance, you need to go speak to somebody at the store and negotiate whether or not they will order it and what it will cost, and that will depend on what day and time you go in and who you speak with. I never actually had any luck at Home Depot getting things the store doesn't stock. A few times I was able to leave my phone number but nobody ever called me back. Ordering through Lowes was as effortless as buying anything on Amazon though full disclosure: I only ordered a few days ago and the dishwasher hasn't got to Hawaii yet. The Kona store called me within 24 hours and scheduled a tentative delivery date based on if it makes the barge they expect. Not sure about Lowes or Kona Home Depot, but the Hilo HD store usually doesn't have the appliances at the store (they are either in a warehouse or a shipping container on island, or not in stock) so even if you buy something small like a tiny chest freezer, they probably don't have one you can take with you that day. One of the reasons why they have free delivery is because even if you show up to the store with a truck and a moving crew, they can't get you the appliance that day because is not actually there. But we never waited more than a few days before delivery so the appliances were on the island somewhere. [this has happened within the last 2 years]

* Sears has appliances however you can't actually buy them. The sales staff will avoid you like Ebola but if you take a friend or two it's possible, with enough hunting strategy, to separate a new or weak sales clerk from the herd and try to get them to help you. IF you get this far without getting exhausted, the clerk will fake being grossly incompetent. If that doesn't work the clerk will try to frame you for MURDER... or use any other diabolical technique imaginable to eject you out of the store as quickly as possible. Looking at appliances (and yard equipment) at Sears is like viewing at a King Tut exhibit- you can look all you want but there is no way they are going to let you leave the museum with any of their stuff. If you are buying one of the non-appliance items the store actually sells, I think its pretty much only 1880's pants suspenders at this point, after waiting in line for 7 hours to buy it, they will begin to interrogate you with all kinds of questions they claim are necessary to complete the transaction. Name, address, phone number, email address... the list goes on, and the machine they are typing the information into clicks clicks clicks 1990's Mervyn's-style faster and faster the more personal the details are. If you haven't lost your sanity and ran out of Sears bleeding from the eyes at this point, their mind control programming process has been completed and you're one of the few Stepford Sears customers left. Last I heard there were only a few dozen scattered across the globe. They can't even speak in human languages anymore... can only communicate with that register clicking sound. I'm not sure how the Hilo store stays open but I think it has something to do with Nazis or some other horrible antagonist from an Indiana Jones movie. [this has happened within the last 90 days]

* Smaller appliances can be bought through Amazon, often with free shipping and they seem to have good extended warranties through well-rated companies. [this is current]

* We bought a floor model from HD and when it was delivered there was a huge dent that wasn't there when we looked at it. HD let us keep and use it until a new one got shipped in, then they swapped them out for free. Other than dealing with 2 deliveries it was a positive experience and they did go out of their way to try and make us happy. We especially liked that we weren't stuck without a working clothes washing machine which could have happened by refusing delivery of the dented model. And we paid the discounted floor model price for a brand new washer. [this happened in late 2012]

* Not sure what Lowes does but HD includes hookup with delivery, and free haul-away of old appliances. (Sometimes the haul-away is required for some energy rebates, and not all stores are certified by the rebate people). Our stacking washer/dryer had a big problem with the dryer vent matching what was on the house and they took care of everything (it took them awhile) as part of the free delivery. Then they had to do it again after swapping out the washer. [this happened in late 2012]

* We used the extended warranty service on the dryer when the on/off button quit working and although that seems like a minor part they had to replace the entire front panel to fix and it cost us nothing (standard warranty was expired). The cost of the repair would have been more then what we paid for the extended warranty for the washer, dryer, and refrigerator. Definitely worth it. The repair was effortless to schedule online, the guy showed up when he said he would, had the new part in his van, left us the old part, and then he went away without drama or trying to sell us anything. [this happened within the last year]


ETA: Stuff