I'm looking to buy a new range. Gas. Around $500 or less. The salesman
had me sold on Kenmore 75862. But come to think of it, I don't know
anything about ranges. Couldn't find any websites with reviews.

Any thoughts / opinions / recommendations?

Thanks.

In article ,
(Futures Guy) wrote:

I'm looking to buy a new range. Gas. Around $500 or less. The salesman
had me sold on Kenmore 75862. But come to think of it, I don't know
anything about ranges. Couldn't find any websites with reviews.

Any thoughts / opinions / recommendations?

Thanks.

Many of Sears' mid-ranges (pardon the pun) are made by Frigidaire, and
have been solid performers. Things you might want to think about:

- where is the broiler? With the oven or underneath? Do you broil
enough to make it a pain in the lower regions to bend down to the
floor to move food in and out?
- sealed burners: somewhat easier to clean up (at least most people
think so), but less thermally efficient than open burners. At your
price point, you may still have the choice. Personally, I'd go with
open burners.
- how powerful _are_ the burners? If you like to stirfry or heat up
gallons of water, you want at least one burner that can provide
12,000-15,000 BTUs. Similarly, a "simmer burner" is nice if you want
to cook stuff (BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc.) "low and slow."
-If you care about such things (and the ranges in the store are set up
to allow this), try setting the timer and oven thermostat. We had an
Amana that defaulted to 30 minutes and 350 degrees every time you
cooked, and changing that required pressing membrane switches
repeatedly. Time-consuming and not fun. The Whirlpool we bought after
that was far more user-friendly.

I'm sure other posters will have other ideas. As for Web sites that
review appliances, I'm not sure why even the simplest Google search
didn't find them. But there is at least http://www.epinions.com
(though not every model gets reviewed and some of the reviewers seem
particularly, um, "public-relations oriented" to me);
www.consumerreports.org (a source whose priorities don't always match
mine, but good for posing questions worth thinking about or mentioning
"gotchas"; you may have to pay for access to certain info); and
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/appl/ , the Appliances forum at
GardenWeb (which features appliance information and reviews from
people who've shopped for them and bought with their own money).

HTH,

sd