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You Probably Don’t Need That Extended Warranty

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Straight from PR Newswire: J.D. Power and Associates Reports: High Reliability of Major Home Appliances May Reduce Need for Extended Warranties

According to J.D. Powers and Associates 2007 Major Home Appliance Study, most major appliances these days are quite reliable, yet many consumers continue to purchase extended warranties.

The study measures customer satisfaction in nine segments of major home appliances: dishwashers; free-standing ranges; built-in cook-tops and wall ovens; freezer-on-top style refrigerators; side-by-side and French door-style refrigerators; clothes washers; clothes dryers; over-the-range microwave ovens; and counter-top microwave ovens. The study, now in its third year, examines customer satisfaction with microwave ovens for the first time. Customer satisfaction is measured based on performance in six factors: operational performance (including how well the appliance functions, noise level and energy efficiency); operational features (such as the number of settings available and appliance capacity); ease of use; styling and feel; price; and warranty.

The study finds that during the first two years of ownership, approximately one in 10 consumers report some kind of problem with their major appliance. However, many of these problems can be resolved by following instructions in the owner’s manual or on the manufacturer’s Web site. Relatively few problems actually require a service visit.

Despite this high degree of reliability, many consumers purchase an extended warranty for their appliances. Among owners of refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers and laundry appliances, approximately 25 percent report purchasing an extended warranty, while approximately 15 percent of microwave oven owners do so.

“Extended warranties certainly provide a degree of peace of mind,” said Dale Haines, senior director of the real estate and construction industries practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “With some appliances — particularly those with complex electronics and potentially high repair costs — purchasing an extended warranty may make sense. However, major appliances tend to be very reliable, and consumers should consider very carefully — depending upon their circumstances — whether an extended warranty is worth the additional cost.”

In satisfying customers with major kitchen and laundry appliances, Bosch, GE Appliances, Kenmore, LG, Maytag, Samsung, Whirlpool and Whirlpool Gold rank highest in various segments.

“Particularly strong performers include Bosch, LG and Samsung, which have achieved consistently high satisfaction levels in consecutive years,” said Dale Haines, senior director of the real estate and construction industries practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “For two consecutive years, Bosch has ranked highest in the dishwashers segment and LG has ranked highest among clothes washers, while Samsung has earned an award in a refrigerator segment for three consecutive years. This is especially impressive considering the high levels of quality and reliability that many appliance manufacturers attain.”

The 2007 Major Home Appliance Study is based on 22,637 responses from consumers who purchased one or more new major home appliances through a retail store, their new-home builder, or received one through other means (such as a gift) during the previous 24 months.

Maytag Refrigerator Woes- An Update

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Last September I wrote here about my mother’s horrible experience with a brand new Maytag refrigerator.  She spent endless hours on the phone and weeks waiting for service for a fridge that was clearly a lemon.  We have had feedback that shows she is not alone.  I thought readers might be interested to know the end of the story. 

The defective refrigerator was never repaired properly, Maytag refused to speak with my mother further, and the store she purchased it from would not take it back.  It now sits (safely sealed for the protection of small children) in my parent’s garage while we try to dispose of it.  We thought maybe it could be repaired and used by a shelter or that an occupational school could use it for practice.  No one wants this new, yet defective fridge. 

 At this point, it looks like it is headed for the recycling heap.  At least it won’t be adding too much to the landfills.  That is the best I can say about it.

Cooking in Full Color

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Homeowners who add high end appliances to their kitchens have for years acknowledged stainless steel as the premium finish for appliances according to appliance magazine.  But now “more consumers are daring to commit to vibrant color on kitchen fixtures, and colorful alternatives to stainless ranges are becoming common.”

Dacor launched a colored-glass front on its wall ovens three years ago, and for 2007, it expanded the colored glass to a full line of appliances under the Preference brand name. At this year’s Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas, the was an exhibition by Viking Range Corp., which is relaunching the St. Charles brand of kitchen cabinetry. This all-steel line of cabinets will be offered in 24 planned colors, and Viking’s kitchen appliances will come in matching colors.
Prizer-Painter Inc., once a contract manufacturer of commercial appliances for Garland and other brands, launched BlueStar commercial-style appliances for the residential market in 2002. Prizer had a history of finishing expertise, and in the 1990s it developed a significant two-coat/one-fire powder-coating system. In 2007, that finishing expertise gives it the ability to offer 190 color choices in its BlueStar ranges—the most of any range OEM. If that’s still not enough, BlueStar will finish a range in custom colors as well.

European ranges can have sophisticated color choices. For example, La Cornue’s handmade Château ranges can be finished in rich shades such as British racing green and Eggplant.

Tecnogas, a member of the Antonio Merloni Group based in Italy, ­is taking a more lighthearted approach to the Allegro Fornello, or “cheerful gas cooker,” a freestanding range launched in June. The range aims to bring more cheerfulness into the kitchen through the innovative use of color. A combination of lids and flame diffusers in different colors and materials is interchangeable with the Series II gas burners supplied by Sabaf. The appliance even allows the homeowner to change out these cooker elements to match changing kitchen décor.

Appliance makers seem eager to supply this colorful addition to today’s kitchens.

Laundry Trends Around the Globe

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Washer and dryer manufacturers around the world all recognise  that the demands of the consumer drive their designs.  The latest trends are for energy efficiency, quietness and, especially in North America, size.

In Globalizing Laundry, David Simpson of Appliance Magazine writes:

Consumers are more aware that efficient models are less costly to operate, their awareness advanced by public information programs and rankings of washers’ energy and water efficiency.
Quietness is another important multinational design goal. More homes have laundry appliances sited close to living areas than in the past, and washer and dryer noise is less tolerated by consumers.

“The trend toward moving the laundry closer to the living areas of the home seems to be happening in all our markets,” observes Scott Davies, product manager at Fisher & Paykel. “Our customers want good-looking products that are quiet enough to use at night without waking the family.”

Despite these near-universal laundry appliance design trends, regional preferences add variety to the market. In North America, larger capacity is more important than elsewhere. Different regions and countries have preferences on top-loading versus front-loading washers. Manufacturers also continue to cater to specialty appliance needs with products like nontumble dryer cabinets, combination washer/dryers, and even top-load tumble dryers.

Other interesting coming offerings are steam drying, which would help fight wrinkles and Silver ions that are used in SilverCare washers from Samsung Electronics America. The ion system is designed to kill bacteria and clean without the potential clothes damage that can result from immersion in hot water and bleach.

So, while the drudgery of laundry will remain, we may be able to get through it faster with larger more energy efficient, quieter machines.

Sometimes You Just Need 13 Dozen Cookies

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This week we’ve been testing the KitchenAid Professional Series 600 Lift Stand Mixer (in onyx black).   I may not be a professional baker, but I’m no stranger to flour.   Most months I bake at least 16 loaves of bread, 4-6 quick breads and unreasonable amounts of cookies and brownies. Crazy yes,  but with four kids and lots of drop in neighbors, I like to keep my kitchen stocked with something freshly baked.   After 20 years of baking, I know the feel of a well kneaded bread dough.  So needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to testing the current crop of mixers.

The KitchenAid Professional Series 600 Lift Stand Mixer is an extremely powerful machine.   Although the manual warns that the motor can get hot, I had it knead 13 cups of bread flour without it even breaking a sweat.  The new PowerKnead dough hook plowed through close to 5 pounds of flour easily. Using the wire whip,  I was able to bring 12 egg whites to stiff peaks in under 4 minutes on my way to a pretty decent chocolate angel food cake.   I made a large batch of chocolate chip cookies without having to soften the butter.  Just as suggested in the manual, I used the  flat beater to cream it with the sugar.

The Professional Series 600 gets its strength from its old style construction. It is a durable metal machine with solid steel gears, an industrial strength motor and no plastic in sight.  This is a machine your grandkids just might inherit from you.

But with power comes size.  The mixer is over 17 inches tall, with a 16 by 12 footprint.  The standard bowl holds six quarts.  That six quart bowl carrying a full load of bread dough can reach 10 pounds or more.  To handle the load, the Professional Series 600 has a bowl lift mechanism that will lever the bowl and its contents up to the mixer blade or dough hook.   Unfortunately, when you lower it to empty the bowl, you still need to wrestle 10 pounds of dough up and out of the bowl for rising.   Even with smaller loads,  it’s a cumbersome operation to scrape batters from the 6 quart bowl.

Because the mixer is so large and powerful,  I wouldn’t recommend it  for making one loaf of banana bread.  If you’re planning on outfitting the school bake sale, or doing your christmas baking,  you could produce 8 loaves or abundant cookies  with ease.

One of the things this mixer does do,  is morph beyond a standard stand mixer.   You can add a sausage stuffer, pasta maker, ice cream maker, citrus juicer, grain mill, food grinder, rotary slicer/shredder.   That powerful motor doesn’t have to sit idly on your counter waiting for your next birthday cake.

In the final analysis,  the professional series 600 stand mixer is exactly that.  It’s a professional piece of equipment.  This big, powerful tool is a great addition to a catering kitchen,  although overwhelming and a bit unwieldy for daily use in a typical family kitchen.    But, if you want to be able to make 3 pounds of fudge, hundreds of cookies, or a big pile of bread at the drop of a hat, this is the machine to get it done. 

If you want to see a demonstration video, there are two nice ones on this product page

CAPACITY:
KitchenAid’s marketing liturature identifies The Professional 600 Series as the most powerful stand mixer in their product line.  It is  able to churn through 14 cups of flour per batch.  Enough to make  8 Loaves of White Bread, 13 Dozen Cookies, or 8 Pounds of Mashed Potatoes.   It features a 10-speed slide control ranging from a very fast whip to a very slow stir.   New with this model is the PowerKnead™ spiral dough hook that  replicates hand-kneading to handle 20% more dough than previous models.

DESIGN

  • Stand Mixer – Removable bowl on a permanent stand
  • Bowl-lift Mixer Style -A lever raises bowl into mixing position, or lowers it for removal
  • Multi-purpose Attachment Hub – Attach pasta maker, grinder etc. to connector on the mixer’s front
  • All-Metal Construction, direct drive transmission, steel gears, and commercial motor protection for lifelong reliability

PERFORMANCE
575 Motor Wattage
14 Cups Flour Power
6 Quart Mixing Bowl Capacity
67 Point Planetary Mixing Action
Electronic Speed Sensor – 10 Mixing Speeds

INCLUDES
Professional Wire Whip
Burnished Flat Beater
Clear  Pouring Shield
6 Qt. Stainless Steel Bowl w/Handle
Burnished PowerKnead™ Spiral Hook

 Available for $399, with lots of 50 dollar rebates.

Stay tuned for our review of the 5 quart KitchenAid Artisan Series Stand Mixer.

Whirlpool Debuts Colorful Steam Laundry Pair

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Whirlpool is adding a new washer/dryer pair to their line-up with the Aspen Green Duet Steam pair. (Although the pair is available in white too.)  “Whirlpool brand is proud to introduce this new technology and help consumers use steam to get more done in the washer and dryer,” said John Alexander, VP and GM Brand Management, Whirlpool Corporation.

Here are some highlights of the new pair:

    The new Duet Steam washer effortlessly removes stains from grass to grease, even sanitizing towels and sheets without the need for bleach. To showcase how the new pair efficiently tackles the dirtiest duds, Whirlpool brand is steam cleaning Mike Rowe, host and creator of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” as he commemorates his 150th dirty job.
    Like Rowe, there are consumers who may require a more thorough cleaning. For that audience, the washer has a sanitation cycle designed to eliminate 99.9 percent of infectious bacteria.
    A special timed-release dispenser option – a first for Whirlpool brand – optimizes the delivery of OxiClean(R) stain fighters.
    The brand’s most energy efficient washer to date uses up to 73 percent less water and 77 percent less energy as compared to conventional top-loaders.The pair use immersive steam – a combination of mist and heat in the dryer – naturally steaming away tough odors and wrinkles without chemicals.
    In addition, consumers can now sanitize items such as stuffed animals, towels, bedding, and sleeping bags.

Steam has been showing up in more places with more uses lately, it’ll be interesting to see how this new pair performs.

Is the Food Safe to Eat?

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The Detroit Free Press offers an answer to the often asked question of whether food that has been in a refrigerator that has been off for a number of hours is safe to eat.

Chances are most of the perishable foods reached an unsafe temperature if the refrigerator was off for 24 hours or more. Items such as leftovers, fresh meats and poultry most likely reached an unsafe temperature where bacteria growth can take place. Milk products, soft cheeses, eggs and yogurt are considered not safe if stored above 40 degrees. Toss these items out. Also, homemade or store-bought mayonnaise, cream-based salad dressing and soups should be discarded.

The USDA says refrigerators should maintain a 40-degree temperature or below. Use an appliance thermometer to verify this and keep it in the refrigerator.

“This can be critical in the event of a power outage. When the power goes back on, if the refrigerator is still 40 degrees, the food is safe,” according to www.fsis.usda.gov

Many condiments, such as ketchup, mustard, jelly, jams, soy sauce and bottled marinade should be OK. These condiments usually have high salt and sugars that can act as a preservative. Bread would be fine as well as most fruit and vegetables. If the refrigerator is off more than 24 hours vegetables and fruits could become slimy or moldy.

If your freezer was turned off too, consider that some of those foods thawed during that time. If the foods still contain ice crystals they can be refrozen safely, according to the MSU Extension, Oakland County. The issue with thawing and refreezing is quality may be compromised.

Vacuum Savant

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Many children enjoy collecting things- stamps, coins, baseball cards, dolls, vacuums–vacuums?! Yes, Kyle Krichbaum of Michigan has a collection of 165 vacuums including an antique Hoover model O worth about $10,000. He repairs and enjoys using his collection and plans to continue this hobby into his future. You can see him here:

New Release: Maytag’s Latest Washer/Dryer Pair

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Maytag has released it’s newest HE washer/dryer pair, the EPIC z. Maytag says:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ — The legacy of Maytag(R) brand laundry continues with the new Maytag(R) EPIC z(TM) front-load washer and dryer. The versatile design of this space-saving, high-performance laundry system allows it to be installed virtually anywhere in the home.

The EPIC z laundry system features the quality and reliability expected from Maytag products. The front-load washer’s Rainfall Clean(TM) wash system offers exceptional cleaning performance to get clothes clean the first time, and its MaxExtract(TM) extended spin provides outstanding moisture removal.

The dryer’s GentleBreeze(TM) powerful drying system, combined with the washer’s water extraction, takes clothes from wet to dry in under 30 minutes.* The EPIC z units exceed basic ENERGY STAR(R) requirements and are some of the most energy efficient in the industry. According to recent Maytag brand research, the ENERGY STAR rating is the feature that most influences a laundry appliance purchase.**

“The EPIC z front-load washer and dryer provide solid, dependable features in a flexible design,” said Drew Fraser, vice president for North American laundry products. “They can be stacked, placed side-by-side, tucked under a countertop or set into a tighter-than-normal space. Yet, they still have enough capacity to handle a family’s laundry needs.”

The washer’s Rainfall Clean wash system has a three-baffle design that scoops up and showers water through 138 holes. This quick and thorough fabric saturation system gives detergent more time to work on stains and get clothes clean. In addition, the washer’s new NSF Certified Sanitary Cycle heats wash water up to 153 degrees Fahrenheit to remove at least 99.9 percent of test organisms. The washer’s space-saving dimensions are 36 in. (height) x 27 in. (width) x 30-1/2 in. (depth).

The Maytag EPIC z dryer includes two rear and two front premium drum rollers, part of the Smooth Balance(TM) Suspension System, that are permanently lubricated to help eliminate squeaks and noises for quiet operation and low vibration. The dryer offers an impressive 6.7 cu. ft. capacity with measurements for smaller spaces: 36 in. (height) x 27 in. (width) x 28-9/10 in. to 32-9/10 in. (depth).

Suggested retail prices are $799 to $949 for the washer, and $749 to $959 for the dryer. The Maytag EPIC z units are now available at home improvement stores and appliance retailers. Colors include Arctic Blue with Chrome, Black with Chrome, White with Chrome and White. For more information, visit www.maytag.com.