This first reduction is not a big one and is mainly influenced by feedback from our last post on appliances for the 100K House. After reviewing the choices made in that post, I realized that I really didn’t want a bunch of mis-matched appliances from a variety of vendors. Instead I went back and quoted different configurations from Kitchen Aide, Bosch and ultimately Frigidaire.
Originally, I was skeptical of specing Frigidaire, but once I poked around their site a bit more there were some attractive appliance models to be found for a reasonable price. Frigidaire was also recommended to me by a sales rep at a local appliance dealer.
Here are the new models with corresponding pricing:
New Kitchen Appliances
Refrigerator: 18.3 cu. ft. SS w/ water dispenser GLHT184TJS [$924]
Dishwasher: 24″ SS PLD4375RFC [$529]
Oven: 27″ SS Wall Oven FEB27S7FC [$1,039]
Cooktop: 36″ Gas SS FGC36S5EC [$750]
Total Savings: $447
New Construction Total: $111,215
As I said, this reduction is not too impressive in terms of cost, but it is lower and I think it’s a vastly improved package overall. I did not show the washer/dryer and we still intend to stick with the LG unit.
The next reduction will have to do with the kitchen casework. I bet a few of you can guess the change we are making in this area.
12 comments ↓
Do most new houses come with a refrigerator and washer/dryer? It seems that the buyers could get units that fit them. Then your budget isn’t weighed down with the purchase.
Leon - Technically you don’t have to put in either for new construction, but it’s not common practice to do so in Philly. A refrigerator is a must for new construction in Philly and washer/dryers are thrown in more often than not from the good builders/developers.
I thought briefly about not including the washer/dryer to save on the budget but it doesn’t make sense for two reasons:
1. We are designing the closet space to fit the all-in-one unit only. If someone tried to purchase something else, it would not fit anywhere.
2. The LG unit is one of the most energy efficient models on the market, will guarantee reduced energy usage and just plain fits the theme of the house. I would cry inside if someone bought the house and threw in one of those giant capacity washing machines and dryers that can wash 50 pairs of jeans in one load. Excessive!
If you purchase all your appliances from the same store you can most likely ask for a discount. Stores are constantly having sales on appliances ranging from 5% all the way up to 20% sometimes. Even if there is no sale going on just ask the manager for 10% off. If you’re buying 4-5 appliances they’d much rather make that sale and not make quite as much profit as opposed to not making a sale and making nothing. You might be surprised how often they say “OK”. Everything is negotiable.
brandon - Agreed. The prices shown in this post are actually from a quote from a local appliance retailer. They gave me the “builder discount” but I am hoping that my actual builder will be able to do a bit better.
The next step if successful is negotiating with the actual appliance manufacturers for better pricing in future homes and/or sponsorships.
Chad:
Wow, I am also surprised by the decision to include a refrigerator and a washer/dryer on a house with this budget. I have purchased two homes at much higher price points, one in PA and one in KC and neither had these extra appliances. I have only seen refrigerators included in new condos and they still did not come with a washer and dryer.
It seems like eliminating a few appliances that most people do not expect to be included with a new home would be an easy way to get the budget on target. Maybe you should have a chat with your real estate people about buyer expectations on this issue.
I am also concerned by your LG washer/dryer. I have had two different clients have a lot of trouble with these machines. One of them is on their second lemon. In my book LG is 0 for 3 on this design.
I also think that you effectively exclude any couples with a child from purchasing the house. These machines will simply not keep up with the laundry of more than two people. What if they have a child after living in the home two years. You have given them no options to increase the capacity. They have to leave because they can’t do enough laundry? How sustainable is that?
Could you consider leaving enough space for one of those compact stacking Asko machines? They are twice as tall, but I believe they are the same footprint.
I guess a cloths line could help cut the time these machines take to dry too.
Please take these comments in the positive spirit they were intended. I am just trying to give you my take of a broader market. I completely understand the desire to nudge people to a more energy saving device, but it does not save energy if you have to do twice as many loads. Keep in mind just because you are willing to put up with these machines does not mean that you clients will be. Plus, by including these appliances, you will be the one who gets the call if these things turn out to be lemons.
Sorry to be so blunt.
Maybe you should post these tips from Apartment Therapy to reduce Laundry with every washer/dryer unit.
• Underwear and socks should always be washed after one use.
• Use the “smell test” to see if clothes are rewearable or not.
• As long as your body stays clean, your clothes generally won’t smell after one wear.
• Clothes get dirty more quickly in summer (from sweat) and more slowly in winter.
• Heavier clothes like pants or jeans can be worn several times before washing.
• Washing clothes less frequently extends their longevity and saves money.
• Doing one big load of laundry uses less resources than multiple small loads.
• After wearing clothes, check for stains, then fold or hang to keep them neat.
• Mist clothes with ironing water or fabric conditioner to keep them smelling fresh.
• Use sachets in your drawers or closets to keep clothes smelling good longer.
For more green laundry tips, see this post and this post from Re-Nest.
http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/cleaning/easy-green-lighten-up-on-laundry-057916
modern,
First of all, great comment and no offense taken whatsoever. Let me see if I can address your issues one by one.
We are not building in PA, we are building in Philly. My wife and I are both realtors and specialize in new construction. Developers are putting fridges in every home and washer/dryers in most. If they don’t include the washer/dryer people get irritated. This is more important now more than it was in the booming RE market of a few years back.
We are trying to be a different type of developer that provides maximum value to our clients and then takes that about 5 steps further. This will become our brand, our identity, our culture. Including appliances, organizers and gifts will be a big part of that.
I actually have one of these exact units and there are six other people in my building that have one as well. They have been great for us and we have had no problems to date. We probably do a load once every two days and it is never an inconvenience. In fact, we prefer it as we never get a large pile of dirty clothes that need to be washed and thus can not be worn. If we had two kids I guess we would do a load every day. Again, no big deal.
Leaving space for a stacking unit is certainly a consideration but I would much prefer shelving and organizers above the unit for laundry stuff.
Are we excluding couples with kids? Yes and no. First, we are building a 1,000 sf, 2 story loft home with an open floorplan. This is just not done. It was never intended for a family. The 100K house is not intended to be all things to all people. I do however think that a family could adapt and live comfortably in this home. There are plenty of examples of four person families living in smaller homes.
The 100K House is a case study and a challenge to build the greenest and most modern house possible on our pathetic budget of $100,000. We just can’t fit everything in that everyone wants and it would be irresponsible to try. We would end up with a $150K plus house if I tried to put half of the things back in that we have taken out and readers demanded we put back in.
I hope I’m not being too harsh, I just want to make sure I thoroughly address your concerns as I do think they are valid. A key aspect of this project and developing brand is and will continue to be asking people to “Live Small.” More on this in the future. We won’t convert everyone, but we’re not trying to and that’s not the point…
Thanks for the laundry tips also.
Nice to see that you stuck with the smaller oven. It goes well with your “Live Small” idea. In addition I completely agree with your analysis of the laundry issues. Its not for everyone, but if you can start to convert a few, especially at a house this inexpensive, you could really start to change minds.
How about NOT splitting the oven and the cook top? You could save a bunch by going with a range, probably $1000. I love cooking, and love the idea of a gas cook top and an electric oven, but for our new house currently under construction (a LEED Platinum project) we’re going with an electric range (30″). We can then keep to our goal of not having gas or oil for our house and keep to everything being electric so down the road we can install the micro-hydro system I’m dreaming about. For you, going all electric will leave you open for a photo-electric system which will be very cheap in the next 5 years due to tech advances. This will also keep your options open for when the oven and/or cook top need to be replaced, there will always be a replacement in the 30″ size…
Rob - Thanks for the comment. Modern makes good points and we will definitely use a different washer/dryer for a larger 3bed/2ba home.
dream - Not splitting the two is a good cost reduction idea that we grappled with for a while. We ultimately decided that we needed them separate to beef up the design factor in the house. This is an inexpensive house, so we need great design to compensate for cheaper materials inside and out…
For more info on the electric vs. gas dilemma, check out these earlier posts where we discussed the issue in more detail:
http://100khouse.com/2008/04/07/hers-index-rating-initial-evaluation-results/
http://100khouse.com/2008/05/13/pv-solar-panel-quote-for-100k-house/
http://100khouse.com/2008/06/19/appliances-for-the-100k-house/
Just thought I’d mention that I’ve installed that dishwasher in two different houses (one of them being my own) and have been very happy with them. Just a vote of confidence in your choice, that’s all.
[…] me are the kitchen modifications. It was suggested by a reader (dream) to make these changes in our previous post on appliance budget reductions and I had replied that we had considered but really wanted to keep the separate oven and cooktop to […]
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