For top performance try mixing, not matching, your appliances

When it comes to big-ticket items, seven out of 10 home improvement shoppers say they are not brand loyal, according to a new survey from the Complex Shopper. "Considering it may be three, five, even 10 years between purchases … it's not so surprising that shoppers turn to new brands when it's time to replace or upgrade," said Frank Maher, whose company, the Integer Group, conducted the study. Shopping for top-performing products at the best price is something Consumer Reports has long advocated even if it means your appliances won't sport matching logos.

Say you want to replace your out-of-date kitchen appliances with stainless steel models and upgrade to a French-door refrigerator. The Kenmore 7160[3] tops our Ratings of bottom-freezer refrigerators with French doors. At $1,600, its scores for temperature performance and energy efficiency were excellent and it's so quiet you don't have to raise your voice if you have an eat-in-kitchen. Our top-rated top-freezer is the Frigidaire Gallery FGUI2149L[P], which at $800 is a CR Best Buy. Its temperature performance is very good and it's excellent at saving energy.

If you want an electric range, our top-rated model is also a Kenmore, model 92163, a smoothtop that sells for $2,000. It aced every one of our range tests with the exception of baking evenness but was still very good on that score. You'll have to brand swap, however, if you want the best gas range in our Ratings—it's the GE Profile PGB910SEM[SS], $1,500. By most measures, it was very good to excellent with the exception of broiling, which was only middling.

The top-rated Bosch Ascenta SHX3AR7[5]UC dishwasher is also a CR Best Buy with a price tag of $700. It was a champ at getting dishes clean while saving energy at the same time. And it's quiet, although not the most quiet. To fill out your stainless suite, our top-rated over-the-range microwave is the Samsung SMH9187[B], and at $270 another CR best Buy. It was excellent at heating evenness, defrosting and also easy to use. It was a tad noisy when run on high but nothing out of the ordinary for a good microwave.

In the laundry room
Used to be when the laundry room was down in the basement that consumers cared little about whether the washer matched the dryer. And that way you can replace each one when you need to instead of at the same time. If your laundry room has been elevated to the first floor, you might want to consider one of our top-rated laundry duos. But for those who want to replace one white machine with another, here are some good choices.

The Whirlpool Duet WFW94HEX[W], a CR Best Buy priced at $1,100, is our top-rated front loading washer. It has excellent washing performance and skimps on both energy and water in ways that'll save you money. The capacity was ample and with low vibration the machine was acceptably quiet. If it's a top loader you need, the Samsung WA5451AN[W] is a CR Best Buy for $950. It's also excellent at saving energy and water and has very good cleaning performance. It vibrates less than the front loader and is also pretty quiet. And the capacity is commodious.

For a non-matching dryer, try the top-rated LG DLEX3885[W] for $1,400. Its drying performance is excellent and it has a large capacity. It's also fairly quiet and easy to use. But for half that much you may want to consider one of two CR Best Buys—the Kenmore 6800[2] or the LG DLE2240[W], which each sell for about $700. Both models had excellent drying performance in our tests.

—Mary H.J. Farrell