No personal experience other than to say they are a close 2nd behind the more expensive Mieles for me. I've not yet gotten a good estimate on my kitchen renovation project, but if needed, I can save 3K by getting the Thermadors. Generally, they receive really good marks on this forum in terms of reliability from owners, and in my opinion they represent the best value of the fully integrated columns on the market.

I am sure actual owners and other appliance gurus will chime in with more personal experience. There are a fair amount of previous threads on these so hit the search box too if you have not done so already.

The units are well past their growing pains of being a new type of product. They have proven to be reliable and I think you will find most people are pretty happy with them.

As to Miele vs Thermador. They both come off the same assembly line with the only differences being some electronics and lighting.

Glad to hear of good experiences! Thank you for taking time to write. I initially thought I would go with SZ and Wolfe all the way. When I investigated more thoughly, I believe that SZ is not what it was. I also had SZ years ago. For the record, I am not going with Wolfe for my range either.

SZ still makes a great product...however their columns are really only about 18 months old. They have been good but not flawless products.

The thermador's by contrast have proven to be very reliable and are a well established proven platform. In this instance, save the money and get the thermador columns.

I am in the process of a full house and kitchen reno and I too am considering the Thermador columns. I currently have a SZ (came with the house, about 12 yrs old), I like it, not love it. I would like to go with all SS columns (30" fridge and 24" freezer), but I have just realized that Thermador doesn't come with SS (or any other) panels. Can anybody help me guesstimate the cost of adding SS panels to both columns? Thank you so much.

$1000 for stainless thermador panels

$550 for the 30" panels, $500 for the 24" panels. Handles are $100 each. So for your setup you are $1250

Thank you so much for your help!

As to Miele vs Thermador. They both come off the same assembly line with the only differences being some electronics and lighting.

If I recall correctly, there is one more difference: the shelves and bins. It's been a while since I saw them side-by-side in the store, but I believe the Miele has a better freezer layout, especially on the bottom. By better, I mean that it looked like it could hold more. Since 18 inch freezers are pretty cramped for space, this could be significant, though perhaps not enough to justify the price difference. I don;'t recall how the fridge layouts compared. When I tried sliding bins in and out (fridges or freezers), the Miele bins seemed to be thicker and generally sturdier than either Subzero or Thermador.