KitchenAid Fridges, Dishwasher Filters, and the Gas vs Electric Question: A Checklist From Someone Who Paid for His Mistakes

Here's who I am and why I'm writing this: I handle kitchen appliance purchases for a small property company—about 40 units, maybe 42, I'd have to check the roster. I've been doing this since 2017, and I've made 11 documented mistakes that cost roughly $4,800 in restocking fees, delivery charges, and service calls. I keep a checklist now so the next person doesn't repeat my errors, and this article is basically that checklist.

It covers six things, in the order I'd look at them: the KitchenAid 48 refrigerator, filter removal on older KitchenAid dishwashers, finding the best compact refrigerator and freezer, the gas vs electric stove question, resetting a Sylvania smart bulb, and why the checklist itself became the point.

Step 1: Measure the opening before you fall for the KitchenAid 48 refrigerator

In my first year on the job, 2017, I ordered a 30-inch fridge for an opening that measured exactly 30 inches on my tape. Looked right. The installers wouldn't put it in because the opening was 29.5 once the trim was counted. $890 in restocking and delivery fees, straight into the trash.

Half an inch cost more than the price difference between the two fridges I was choosing between.

The KitchenAid 48 refrigerator makes the same failure easier because it's bigger. The spec-sheet number is the box size, not the install size. You need side clearance for the doors, room behind for the water line, and the handles stick out further than you expect. What most people don't realize is that "counter-depth" on the spec sheet does not mean "flush with the cabinets."

The measuring checklist is short:

• Measure the opening width, height, and depth at the top, middle, and floor. Openings are not actually square.
• Add the clearances from the install guide. KitchenAid's specs usually call for about a 1/8" to 1/4" gap on each side.
• Walk the path from the truck to the opening. We measured a kitchen perfectly for a 36-inch unit in 2022, and the hallway baseboard still made it 35.5 inches of actual space. Nine mistakes in, I should have known better.

Step 2: KitchenAid Dishwasher Filter Removal, Older Model: What Actually Works

What most people don't realize: older KitchenAid dishwashers don't all have the same filter. The newer ones have an "Easy Clean" filter that pops out of the bottom of the tub. But "older model" can mean two separate things. Some older units have a hard food disposer—a round metal disk with blades that grinds food up and needs no manual filter cleaning. Others have a twist-out filter cylinder with a handle, and that one does need cleaning.

If you have the twist-out kind, the sequence is quick:

1. Pull the bottom rack out, or at least unload it, so you can see the bottom of the tub.
2. Remove the lower spray arm. On many older KitchenAid models, you twist it slightly and lift. Some have a small nut. Don't force anything.
3. Grab the filter cylinder by the handle and turn it counterclockwise. It should unlock with a click.
4. Lift the filter and screen assembly out. If it won't budge, don't pry with a screwdriver. You're either holding it at the wrong angle or the cap is still locked. I learned this one after a $140 service call where the technician turned it a half-inch and sighed.
5. Rinse the screen under warm water and scrub lightly with your fingers. Grease and egg bits come off pretty easily.
6. Reinstall by lining up the tabs, pushing down, and turning clockwise until it clicks.

One extra thing: if the dishwasher is draining slowly but the main filter is clean, there's usually a second check valve screen near the lower panel. It gets clogged more often than I'd like to admit. I don't have hard data on how many service calls this 10-minute rinse would have prevented, but based on 40 units, it's several a year. Start with the filter. If you're still getting standing water, look for the check valve screen.

Step 3: Finding the Best Compact Refrigerator and Freezer—Check These Four Things

It's tempting to think a compact fridge is just a smaller version of a regular one. The reviews all say "good for a dorm," which isn't helpful when you're buying several of them for apartment units. Here's what I've learned to check:

• Actual capacity vs. box capacity. A 3.2 cubic foot spec includes the little freezer compartment. Usable shelf space is realistically closer to 2.5 cubic feet. Put another way: bring your actual grocery situation. If you buy half-gallon milk, check that the door shelf fits it. I own a compact fridge that cannot hold a half-gallon of milk in the door. People bring this up at family functions.
• Freezer style. There are two kinds: a separate freezer door, or a little ice box tucked inside the main compartment. The ice box kind eventually frosts over and needs manual defrosting. Meaning one day you'll be chiseling ice in your kitchen. Decide ahead of time.
• Noise. Spec sheets usually don't list decibels for compact units. I wish they did. I had one that sounded like a radiator in an old apartment, and a tenant reported it within a week. We swapped it.
• EnergyGuide label. Per the FTC's appliance labeling rules (ftc.gov), most refrigerators sold in the US have to show that yellow EnergyGuide label with estimated yearly operating cost. I skipped reading it once, and the compact fridge I picked added about $9 a month to the electric bill—$108 a year on a $180 appliance. The label would have shown me which unit to avoid.

Step 4: What Is Better, Gas or Electric Stove? Check the Hookups First

The honest answer to the classic debate is: it depends on what's already in your kitchen. Gas gives you instant heat control, keeps working during a power outage, and doesn't need a 240V outlet. Electric is easier to clean, has no open flame, and induction is genuinely faster than gas in real life. But the first question isn't "which is better." It's "which one can this kitchen actually support?"

If there's no gas line, the cost to run one changes the whole decision. Two plumbers quoted me between $450 and $1,200 to add a gas line in one of my units, depending on crawl space access. That's a big enough number to make electric suddenly very attractive.

I have mixed feelings about the gas-versus-electric argument. On one hand, gas is the classic answer for anyone who cooks seriously, and I get it. On the other hand, the electric units we've installed since 2022 have cut our maintenance calls noticeably—no ignition parts to fail, no gas connection to inspect. For our rentals, I lean electric. For my own house, I'd still choose gas. That's not a cop-out. The difference is whether you're choosing an appliance or working around the building you already have.

One more thing people skip: venting. Gas stoves produce combustion byproducts, and most codes want an exhaust hood over them. If you're switching from electric to gas, verify the hood setup before you commit, not after the inspector shows up.

Step 5: Sylvania Smart Bulb Reset—Follow the Sequence, Don't Improvise

The advice you'll see online is "turn it off and on three times." That works on some newer Sylvania SMART+ bulbs, but it fails on plenty of the older ones, and then you're stuck in a loop of unscrewing the bulb and telling the app to search again.

Here's what actually works for me:

1. Turn the wall switch fully off. The app's "off" doesn't count.
2. Wait five seconds. This part sounds silly, but it's the step everyone speeds through.
3. Turn it on for one second. Off for one second. On for one second. Off for one second.
4. Turn it on and leave it on. On many older SMART+ bulbs, it will flash once and sometimes cycle through colors—that's the reset signal. Wait for it.
5. Re-pair in the app. Put the bulb back into pairing mode and add it like a new device.

This worked in my units, but your exact model might behave differently. The model number is printed on the base of the bulb. I ignored that for two years and spent twenty minutes doing the dramatic version of this process, when the manufacturer's support page had the right sequence all along. What I mean is: check the model first, then decide whether any of this applies to you.

Step 6: Turn the Checklist Into a Habit

Here's the boring part that saves the actual money. After mistake number nine, in September 2022, I started writing everything down. In Q1 2024, I moved it all into a one-page checklist that gets reviewed before any appliance order goes out. Since then, we've caught 14 potential issues that would have meant another delivery charge or another restocking fee.

That's the efficiency part. I'm not smarter than the 2017 version of me. I just have a process now so I don't have to remember things. It cut our exchange and return rate from about 25% in 2022 to under 10% by 2024. I can't give you hard data on how that compares to the wider industry—I've only got my 40 units—but the pattern is clear enough for me.

A Few Things I'd Still Check Twice

Three last notes, in no particular order:

• Prices and specs change. The KitchenAid 48 refrigerator line has gone through multiple updates, and I once ordered based on an outdated spec sheet with the wrong handle depth. Confirm the current spec sheet right before ordering.
• Don't assume the dishwasher filter is clean just because the dishes look clean. Set a monthly reminder. It's the cheapest preventive maintenance you can do to a machine.
• If a smart bulb won't pair, do the reset sequence before you buy a replacement. The failure is usually software, not hardware.

That's the list. Take what's useful, ignore what isn't, and measure everything twice.