Gas hob reviews requested

[malcontent]

Ariston normally provided two sets of orifices. One for each as MD mentions. I'm on my 2nd Aniston (it's now around 10 or 12 years old. The first one also lasted the same and I had to hunt all over Singapore to find the replacement as I wanted the same model stainless freestanding stove, for 5 burner stoves with bottled gas (no city gas in our estate). Aniston had the largest non-commercial oven available in a freestanding stove at an affordable price. And yes, after many years, mine is starting to have issues with flame control (which I put down to corrosion in the piping possibly as the big burner works fine but the two mediums & one small only have low<->medium heat flames. The 5th burner is electric hotplate type and the oven is also electric. Mine is definitely not an orifice problem though.

Our two smaller burners had flame issues until I cleaned out the tiny hole (maybe 2mm wide or less) in the middle of the burner under the plate using a needle — I learned that on YouTube and it fixed those, they are like new.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I got one of the pin type tools for orifices with different widths. I'd forgotten about that (used during the stromberg rebuilds on my mini cooper many years ago. I remember seeing that somewhere recently. Will have to find it and give that a try. Tks for that.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Our two smaller burners had flame issues until I cleaned out the tiny hole (maybe 2mm wide or less) in the middle of the burner under the plate using a needle — I learned that on YouTube and it fixed those, they are like new.

Mal, I owe you a beer or maybe two. Worked like a champ. Now my helper will burn all my steaks for a week until she gets used to all the firepower again. Like a new stovetop.

[MOCHS]

Speaking from a local Singaporean’s POV, the Japanese brands Fujioh and Rinnai are the go-to for hobs.

Ariston is good for water heaters while Fisher & Paykel, Elba, (insert other western brands here) are good for their washing machines, dryers & dishwashers. We don’t go to these brands for gas hobs.

[malcontent]

Speaking from a local Singaporean’s POV, the Japanese brands Fujioh and Rinnai are the go-to for hobs.

Ariston is good for water heaters while Fisher & Paykel, Elba, (insert other western brands here) are good for their washing machines, dryers & dishwashers. We don’t go to these brands for gas hobs.

DO NOT buy Ariston brand water heaters… each one of the 3 we bought in 2011 ended up not working after around 7 years, which coincidentally is just after the warranty expired. The worst part, each one of them ended up leaking all over the place (you’ve got to turn off the water line at the tank to stop it). One of them decided to stop working while we were away on vacation (it wasn’t even switched on) and we came home to a real mess!

Joven is “the brand” for water heaters locally and we have had good luck with them in the past. We replaced all 3 of the lousy Ariston with Joven, no problems since. I wouldn’t buy anything other than Joven.

For air conditioners, major Japanese brands (Mitsubishi, Panasonic) are pretty good, but Daikin is best.

Our experience with washing machines, European brands like Bosch are among the worst, despite the high price, Samsung is decent but wears out in as little as 10 years. We currently own a Panasonic front loader that I got on sale for under $400 a few years ago, it has been good so far. We’ll see whether it can outlast the Samsung we had before it.

[MOCHS]

Interesting… My parent’s Ariston heaters have no issues so far. It only died around the 15th year when it stopped heating (no water leakage though) and they replaced it with another Ariston. My home’s previous owner used Joven and I never heard of the brand before but I kept the water heater and it’s working well.

For AC, don’t buy obscure brands even if they’re cheap ‘cos once they spoil, you’ll have a tough time finding spare parts. Mitsubishi & Daikin are indeed the top two and spare parts can be easily found.

My dad doesn’t recommend Korean brands, he doesn’t explain why though my parents miss the National and Sanyo brands from the past ‘cos those were truly lasting.

I do agree on the Bosch washing machine not being long lasting, parents had two Bosch washing machines before settling on Hitachi.

My hob & hood is Bosch ‘cos there was a promotional package. Maybe I fell for the package lol but so far so good. My own washing machine & dryer are Elba. My house has a mix of Japanese and European brands. I make an exception for stick vacuums & electronic mops by using Xiaomi or Supor ‘cos they have the same features as high end brands but at a lesser price point. Look for sellers that sell it with the SG plug.

My understanding is that appliances these days aren’t built to last long ‘cos the companies gotta make money so you can expect them to deteriorate after the 5 year mark and you are forced to get a new one.

My dad uses National & Sanyo as an example, they were way too good that no one bought new ones ‘cos their products never spoiled. And they lost money ‘cos they were apparently not selling anything and closed down, it seems. Correct me if I’m wrong.

The Sanyo fridge in my parents place was bought when I was in primary school. It’s still working and I’m in my 30s now.

[malcontent]

And therein lies the problem. Quality brands in the past have often compromised on quality and started using cheap junk from China. That is certainly the case for Ariston water heaters. As a consumer, I expect durable goods to last at least 15-20 years at a minimum.

Korean brands used to be horribly bad in the not so distant past. Even now they are still not up to Japanese or Western standards in many cases. If you go back even further, Japanese brands used to be horrible too. And I don’t even know where to put brands like Philips… really hit or miss with them, but when it’s a miss, it’s a big miss. I’m amazed they are still around.

[MOCHS]

We probably can’t hang onto the past definition of “long lasting” any more and have to adjust and manage our expectations that the appliances will have a shorter life expectancy. Sad but it is the way it is… unless some company becomes a game changer.