> you’ll still be spending about $3000 for a no-frills entry level fridge. And if you purchase it for use in a non-commercial environment, that'll usually void

> you’ll still be spending about $3000 for a no-frills entry level fridge. And if you purchase it for use in a non-commercial environment, that'll usually void the warranty. That said, I'd still take it over the standard consumer models. My wife and I wanted to do that ourselves, but without a major kitchen renovation (our house was built in 1973), nothing commercial would fit. So the last time we replaced our fridge (earlier this year) we just got another side-by-side. But you know what? New side-by-sides have (mostly) become larger! And they don't fit into the spaces meant for the refrigerator in 1970s homes! So we couldn't even purchase our "new" fridge "new". Instead, we went to the place where we purchased our first fridge, a local used appliance refurbisher/dealer (who's been in business since the 1970s). We got that fridge when we got our house in 2002; there was actually nothing wrong with the cooling/freezing functions - just that the icemaker and on-door water dispenser no longer worked. So this used appliance lasted us a good 17 years. We ended up getting a similar style fridge and so far it's been great. But anything else, we try to buy commercial, because it's so much better quality (but you have to pay for it). We have a commercial microwave oven (we were tired of having to buy a new oven every time the old one died after a few years of normal usage) - it only has a single knob with a max of 6 minutes of setting and high-cooking only, but that's never been a problem - and the interior is super easy to wipe out, and not having a rotating turntable has never been a problem (if you need to even the cooking out, just stop it and rotate the plate yourself like old-times). It'll probably last forever. A couple of years ago I bought my wife a Robot Coupe food processor. Ugliest appliance I've ever seen - it's basically a box with a 1.5 HP motor in it, with 3 switches (on, off, and pulse). The blade is like razor sharp and heavy steel. Shakes the whole counter when running. Chops and blends anything. Her old Kitchen Aid thing just died after a few years. We also have an older model (early 90s) 4.5 qt Kitchen Aid stand mixer - not their largest model, but the next size down. It's a beast, and has never let us down. I'm not sure if their currently models are any good; I think I would likely go with their commercial offerings if I had to (Hobart). So yeah - commercial is where it's at, if you have the space (for some things) and don't mind the utilitarian look of most of the appliances (we don't care - it needs to work, first and foremost) - oh, and the cost (none of the appliances I mentioned were inexpensive - but that's worth the peace of mind). I also like that they are all super-duper simple; if you know how to cook, you don't need all those fancy controls and settings, and fortunately for me, my wife does know how to cook (she used to work at a place that didn't have an oven, but the place next door was owned by the same owner and had a pizza oven - she learned how to bake cookies properly - and fast - in a 700+ degree oven).