Westinghouse v Chef upright stove.

Discussion in 'Repairs & Maintenance' started by beachside, 11th Oct, 2015.

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  1. beachside

    beachside Member

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    I need to replace the upright stove in my IP. I have narrowed it down to 2 models, one Chef, one Westinghouse.

    Some say the Chef is made more cheaper than the Westinghouse, but both seem the same standard other than features, which is different to quality.

    A couple of differences which has me wondering if the Chef might give me less problems.

    Coil versus hotplate. I am told hotplates take longer to heat and cool, therefore not as responsive. Hotplates stoves are easier to keep clean and things cant spill/fall through. The coils no longer have bowls under them to collect spills (and rust) but have a tray underneath and above the griller which slides out for cleaning. Some questions:

    Reliability. Stove coils/oven elements do need replacing occasionally, are stove solid hotplates more reliable? (Within Westinghouse/Chef range, not top notch brands)

    Hotplates rusting. Do solid hotplates still rust today as bad as they used to in the past? I am aware there is a product apparently which can be used to piant? hotplates to recoat/protect from rusting but this is more maintenance and additional cost.

    Stove control/zimmerstats. The Chef stove controls only have about 5 settings. The Westinghouse has variable controls for more precise control, I am wondering if the Chef control might give less problems as basically a 5 stage switch versus variable, or is it the thermostat (zimmerstat?) part of the control which normally fails?

    Also this model Chef is fan forced oven with one element at rear, the Westinghouse has top and bottom elements. So one less element to fail but an additional fan. I have heard that someone had to replace the fan, and the fan forced oven operation was not great anyway, so possibly not a better oven than the non fan forced of the Westinghouse. (The more basic bottom line Chef is too basic for my liking.) The Westinghouse has a separate griller and door, the Chef griller is in the oven and grilling done with door closed.

    FYI the models are WLE525WA and CFE536WA. Any feedback on these two models and the issues I am tossing up between.
     
    beachside, 11th Oct, 2015
    #1
  2. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I honestly think you could just flip a coin. I guess two oven elements might mean problems if it fails, but two elements means the oven still can heat if one fails, until you get it fixed.

    I would go for the cheapest one. Those uprights aren't sold for their good looks, so the cheaper you can get one for, the cheaper to swap it out if something goes wrong. We did that when it was going to be over $100 for the part and we would have had to have it fitted (cannot recall how much over) and we bought a new one for about $500.

    As soon as that tenant left, we replaced the kitchen and sold it to put in a better looking under bench oven. If you might change the kitchen sometime soon, maybe look for a reconditioned one now to get you through.
     
    wylie, 11th Oct, 2015
    #2
  3. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Depends on the market/tenant cooking style. If the market tenant is prone to putting a large pot and slow cooking for 10 hours then solid hotplates can stand up to the task.
     
    Scott No Mates, 11th Oct, 2015
    #3
  4. Magnet

    Magnet Well-Known Member

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    Having been a tenant using both of those models. I preferred the chef for ease of cleaning but the Westinghouse was slightly better to cook in the oven with. It really is a toss of a coin. As a landlord I would buy the cheaper model. There really is negligible difference.
     
    Magnet, 11th Oct, 2015
    #4
  5. beachside

    beachside Member

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    I replaced the kitchen when I bought IP, stove was quite reasonable condition so built kitchen to accommodate that stove. It has now dawned on me, and a little more experienced, that I would have been better off flicking the stove and replacing with under bench oven and cooktop, but at the time it would have been overcapitalizing on house, now it wouldn't be as I have done it up further. The upright will do until next time I do the kitchen.
     
    beachside, 11th Oct, 2015
    #5
  6. Rich2011

    Rich2011 Well-Known Member

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    My advice is shop it around, do a google search for the model you are looking for, might find a seconds model at a small retailer or new at a small elec retailer, you should be able to find cheaper that the big retailers... I prefer the solid hotplates they seem more solid however we have one with the coils in Sydney that must be 35 years old and still going strong. I'd just go the cheapest, look on Ebay too.
     
    Rich2011, 11th Oct, 2015
    #6
  7. beachside

    beachside Member

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    I've shopped around and got much better prices than the usual retailers, although some retailers can beat/match the cheapest online. Its just coils v hotplate, and limited settings controllers/zimmers v variable.
     
    beachside, 12th Oct, 2015
    #7
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