GE vs Kenmore dishwashers: an incident-report comparison

What this GE vs Kenmore comparison is based on#

These are the two largest [dishwasher](/blog/repair-or-replace-dishwasher) records in this comparison set, and they are almost exactly the same size: 433 CPSC SaferProducts filings naming a component on a GE dishwasher between 2011 and 2026, and 461 doing the same for Kenmore between 2011 and 2025. Neither column is thin, neither is reading through a narrower lens than the other, and the noise floor that constrains most pairs here barely applies.

They also disagree more completely than almost any other pair. That combination — deep evidence on both sides, and an inversion between them — makes this the firmest disagreement the set contains.

The inversion, with counts attached#

GE's filings lead with the heating element at 33%, which is 141 separate reports. In Kenmore's column that component is third at 6%, or 29 reports. Kenmore's filings lead with the control board at 53% — 246 reports, a majority of its record. In GE's column the board is second at 17%, or 74 reports.

The two gaps are 27 points on the heating element in GE's favour and 36 points on the control board in Kenmore's. Every one of the four figures behind them rests on dozens of filings at minimum, so neither gap is an artefact of a sparse row. A few dozen additional reports on either side would not move them.

What deep evidence buys and what it does not#

It buys confidence in the shape. When a 461-report column puts a majority of its filings on one component and a 433-report column puts a third of its filings on a different one, the difference between those two records is measured rather than guessed.

It buys nothing at all in the direction readers usually want. Both columns count filings; neither counts machines. A record grows with the number of units installed and with how readily their owners report, and this database captures neither, so the near-equality of 433 and 461 is not evidence that the two brands are equally troublesome — it is evidence that comparable numbers of reports exist.

The quiet rows, and the practical reading#

Below the leaders the two columns are close and small. Wiring or the power cord is 5% for GE against 7% for Kenmore. The motor is 2% against 5%. The thermostat or sensor rounds to nothing on the GE side, one filing out of 433, against 1% on Kenmore's. These are the rows where both records agree there is not much to report, and the agreement is worth as much as the disagreement above it.

Used as a repair prior, the two columns point in different directions with unusual clarity. A GE dishwasher that has stopped heating sits in the largest region of its own record; a Kenmore that will not start or has lost its panel sits in the region that dominates its. How often either machine arrives in either state is not derivable from any of this, and the size of the corpora does not change that.

GE vs Kenmore dishwashers: what the reports mention#

Both columns are shares of their own corpus, and the corpora differ in size. GE: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for GE dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=433. Kenmore: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Kenmore dishwashers, 2011-2025, n=461. A difference no larger than one report on either side is marked "within one-report noise".

About the corpus: these are CPSC SaferProducts reports — incidents someone chose to report, not units sold — so the shares on this page are shares of the reports and never a failure rate. The corpus is weighted toward safety events: 12,007 of its 20,581 records (58%) are fire, smoke, burn or melt reports, which over-represents the components that burn and under-represents the ones that merely stop working.

GE dishwashers: the reported component split#

GE dishwashers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for GE dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=433.

Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.

Kenmore dishwashers: the reported component split#

Kenmore dishwashers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Kenmore dishwashers, 2011-2025, n=461.

Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.

How to use these numbers#

What this comparison can settle: which components the reported incidents of each brand actually concentrate on, for this appliance. What it cannot settle: which brand fails more often. That would need units sold, and no public source states it. Use the component split to plan for the repair each brand is most reported for, not to rank the two.