Reno Diary #10: I Lose a Day and Buy Kitchen Appliances
Updated: Aug 31
4 days to close.
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Yes, the previous Reno Diary post said, “Six days to close.”
How did I lose a day?
I was sitting in my condo office when the phone rang. It was my real estate agent.
“Hey, the sellers want to close on the 30th instead of the 31st. Is that OK?”
I thought for a moment. My reno schedule was already balanced on a razor’s edge.
How would losing a day before close impact my reno plan?
Oddly enough, once I thought it through, moving the closing date up actually helped. It gave me a 24-hour head start on the work that had to be finished before I moved in.
I gave my agent the OK for the change, set aside the work and urgent personal items in front of me, and pulled out the inspection report and my reno project list.
The inspection item I wanted to tackle first was the mold in the attic. I wanted it to be gone before any tradesperson (or me) spent a lot of time in the house and potentially got sick.
Another item I wanted to get to quickly was the yard, which badly needed remedial work before winter.
I picked up the phone, called the Mold Guy and Landscaping Guy referred to me by my real estate agent, and made appointments with both for Monday at the house so I could get estimates and schedule the work.
That done, I opened my laptop and took care of the urgent stuff that had been hanging fire while I focused on reno planning.
Six hours later, I was caught up and decided to shop online for appliances.
Selecting Kitchen Appliances
I don’t need all my kitchen appliances to match. As long as they are all stainless steel, I’m good. What I am more interested in is buying the best appliance for my needs at the best price I can find.
In my condo, I could very clearly hear my dishwasher running from every room. Frustrated, I researched quiet dishwashers and found Bosch, then waited for my noisy dishwasher to die. When it did, I replaced it with Bosch, and was so happy with it that a Bosch dishwasher was already on my list for the house.
Also on the list were the LG washer and dryer I bought for my condo, which I loved as much as you could love two inanimate objects, and the microwave I bought when the condo microwave kicked the bucket.
In fact, the only items I needed to add to my list were a free-standing range and a refrigerator. That made selection easier, but it also meant that I couldn’t capitalize on kitchen appliance bundle deals, where you buy all your appliances from one manufacturer and get a significant discount.
I love a deal, but it was more important to me to love my appliances.
First, the range. Most of the time I just cook for myself, so I don’t need a chef’s delight kind of range. I wanted good performance and reliability, I wanted a self-clean oven and an easy-clean glass top, and I wanted to pay less than $1000. One range emerged from several detailed searches—a GE 30 inch free-standing range with good to glowing reviews. The non-convection version was currently on sale from Costco for less than my target price point. Yay.
On to the refrigerator—and here I was in a quandary. I wanted a refrigerator with a bottom drawer freezer but I did not want a French door refrigerator. Those skinny doors don’t accommodate large items, like my summer jug of sun tea.
The problem is that there are not a lot of refrigerator models with a bottom drawer freezer and a single refrigerator door. I started googling and stumbled across a refrigerator satisfaction survey of 5,000 people where LG refrigerators got the highest marks.
Hmmm. I loved my LG washer and dryer. Could I love an LG refrigerator? I went to the LG website. Did they make a refrigerator with a single door and a bottom drawer freezer?
Yes, they did, and it had all the features I wanted. I wrote down the model number.
My Appliance Selections
Here are the 2026 models of the appliances I bought:
How I Saved More Than $1,500 Buying Kitchen Appliances
Now it was time to find the best price on my new appliances.
One thing made this entire process dramatically easier: I wasn't trying to choose appliances while shopping. I'd already done that research. All I had to do now was search by model number and compare prices.
I use price comparison websites as a starting point when pricing an appliance. They are a good way to get a snapshot of pricing and availability. However, I’ve found them to be hit-and-miss, they don’t usually list local retailers (where you can sometimes get the best deal, especially on high-end appliances), and they are vague about availability at big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot.
One interesting twist that I found when attempting to buy my LG WashTower from Lowes and then from Home Depot is that their online ordering systems allowed me to add the washer-dryer combo to my cart—but then wouldn’t allow me to check out because neither store in my area had the appliance in stock.
After a frustrating half hour, I turned to the appliance retailer list I compiled shopping for appliances for the condo. In addition to Lowes and Home Depot, Costco, Sears, and Best Buy were on that list.
Most people think of Best Buy for computers and TVs, but they also carry major kitchen appliances, and I've found their online inventory system to be one of the most accurate. Another advantage is that, unlike Home Depot and Lowe’s, and you are not restricted to buying from a local store.
I added Amazon (free delivery with Prime!) and local appliance dealers to my list. I also added GE for the stove and LG for the refrigerator because, unlike some manufacturers, you can buy direct from each and have the appliance delivered.
I then cracked open a spreadsheet, and went to work, creating a line item for each retailer and noting the model number for my chosen appliances.
I methodically went through my store list, typing my desired appliance’s model number into the Search field. And got a fabulous surprise.
Many of the retailers on my list, including Costco, were having Labor Day sales on the items on my wish list. In total, I ended up saving over $1500 over MSRP thanks to the holiday.
Other Ways to Save on Kitchen Appliances
Scratch-and-Dent
Scratch-and-dent appliances are usually brand-new appliances that were damaged in shipment or delivery. They are most often sold by a 3rd party retailer that liquidates scratch-and-dent appliances from brands or large retail stores.
You can find great deals at scratch-and-dent stores. In some cases the damage is hard to spot, so you can save a lot of money on a major appliance that’s front-and-center in your home. I once got a great deal on a high-end refrigerator because it had a long scratch on the top, which was covered by one of my kitchen cabinets.
The major drawbacks are that inventory is hit-or-miss, you’re probably not going to get the same return policy terms as you would for a new appliance, and the store may charge for delivery, or simply not offer delivery.
Plus, if you’re in a hurry, the chances are slim that you’ll find the exact appliance you want when you want it. Also, you’ll need to shop IRL because you need to see the damage to determine if the flaw is acceptable to you and that the damage doesn’t affect performance.
Holiday Sales
With my reno, I inadvertently stumbled over the wonder of major appliance holiday sales. These events come around every so often during the year. If you can wait for an appliance, you can really save.
Here’s a list of the best time for major appliance sales:
Major Holiday Sales
Black Friday/Cyber Monday (November): Often the biggest discounts on a wide range of appliances. I’ve noticed in the last year or so that Black Friday deals often start well before Christmas, so start checking your target stores’ websites in mid-November.
Labor Day (September): Great for bundling deals on ovens, ranges, and A/C units. I also found great deals on individual products, too.
Memorial Day (May): Kicks off summer with deals on refrigerators, washers, and grills; also "Maytag Month".
Fourth of July: Sales on dishwashers, microwaves, and smaller items.
President's Day (February): Good for general appliance savings.
Seasonal & Model Changeover Sales
Fall (Sept-Oct): Best for dishwashers, washers, dryers as new models are released and retailers clear old stock.
Spring (Apr-May): Good for refrigerators and laundry pairs when new models debut, creating markdowns on older models.
Off-Season: Buy air conditioners in winter or heaters in summer when demand (and prices) are lower.
The Appliance Question No One Asks—Doorway Size
Most people double-check to make sure that their new appliance will fit in its designated spot. What’s often forgotten is that the delivery guys need to get your new appliance into your home first.
Furniture can be moved and interior doors can be removed from their hinges, but if your doorway isn’t big enough for that six burner stove or that 26 cubic feet side-by-side refrigerator, you’re completely screwed.
When your appliance is delivered, the delivery guys will remove the packaging prior to bringing it in your home. So, before you buy a major appliance, write down the listed measurements for your exact model. Then, measure the exterior and interior doors through which the delivery guys and your appliance need to go.
Choose the exterior door closest to where your appliance will be placed so it doesn’t have to be transported too far once it’s inside. Remember to measure your interior doorway opening sans door.
I was especially concerned about my stacked washer-dryer combo’s height, so I called LG Customer Service to double-check that the combo could be tilted at a 45-degree angle when brought through the door (it could, thankfully).
Kitchen Appliance Delivery Dates and Installation
As I checked appliance pricing and availability, and compiled my findings on my trusty spreadsheet, I added each seller’s price for each appliance plus notes on delivery. For example, some retailers provide you with time-and-date windows in which they’ll deliver based on when you buy, so you need to call to get a later delivery date after purchase. To my delight, because I was buying major appliances, all deliveries were free.
Alas, I ended up buying from four sources to get the six appliances I wanted. A little more to manage, but getting exactly what I wanted and on sale? Yes, please.
Looking at my timeline and project plan, I scheduled delivery for the third week of October after the kitchen was complete but before I moved in. That would give me a bit of time to regroup if disaster struck.
Keep in mind that “delivery” means different things to different people. For my condo refrigerator, “delivery” meant moving my new refrigerator from the truck to the bottom of my exterior condo stairs, leaving it there, and driving away.
For my condo washer and dryer, “delivery” meant taking away my old washer and dryer, carrying the new washer and dryer up the condo’ exterior stairs, and installing the new washer and dryer in my condo.
Those are two very different definitions of “delivery.”
When arranging for delivery, read every detail provided about delivery, installation, and removal of old appliances before clicking the Buy button. Push comes to shove, you may need to arrange some of the post-purchase details yourself.
In my case, I didn’t need any appliances taken away. The house came with a non-working range and a working refrigerator with ax marks on the door. Both appliances were eventually moved into the garage, the range destined for the dump and the refrigerator for beer, wine, and food overflow (beer refrigerators are a family tradition).
My new handyman could install the range, refrigerator, microwave, and washer/dryer after delivery, and Home Depot, which did have my dishwasher in stock and on sale, would provide installation services for a nominal extra fee.
I glanced at the clock and realized that it was bedtime. Already? Buying the kitchen cabinets had taken less time than buying the appliances! Cabinets were mostly a design decision. Appliances turned out to be a logistics exercise.
I made my purchases, added the appropriate action items and delivery dates to my reno time line, patted myself on the back, and went to bed. Tomorrow I would run errands.
Sunday I could relax and watch a couple of preseason football games, then hit the ground running on Monday with the Mold Guy and the Landscape Guy.
Helpful Large Appliance Installation Tools
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