Dryers

Is a Steam Appliance Right for You?

March 26, 2008 By NightOwl

Steam is hot right now. It is showing up in a variety of appliance and is touted as the way to sanitize, freshen and even shorten cleaning times. Consumer Reports weighed in on steam use in appliances at abclocal.go.com sharing their opinion of steam’s usefulness.

One thing to be aware of before even considering a steam unit is the cost:

Kimberly Janeway from Consumer Reports, says “Some cost twice as much or even more than the best buys we recommend, which don’t have a steam feature.”
The steam feature not only adds to an appliance’s price, it also adds time to wash cycles. For example, for the clothes washers, it added as much as 25 minutes. For the dishwashers, it added up to 45 minutes.
Consumer Reports’ Emilio Gonzalez just tested two washing machines with steam modes from Kenmore and Whirlpool. Both companies claim their steam features boost cleaning performance and remove stains better.
“While the washers did better at removing stains when using the steam setting, they still cleaned very well even without the steam,” says Gonzalez.
Consumer Reports also tested the steam settings of Kenmore and Whirlpool dryers. Testers used wrinkled shirts exposed to cigarette smoke.
“The dryers got rid of most of the odors and wrinkles from the shirts, although there were wrinkles still left on the sleeves. So it’s a refresher, but not a replacement, for going to the dry cleaner,” says Janeway.
New dishwashers made by Jenn-Air, LG, Maytag, and Kenmore also have a steam-cleaning feature. Consumer Reports put them through one of its toughest food cleaning challenges: removing baked on brownie batter.
Janeway says “Steam only improved cleaning slightly on all four dishwashers.”
So while steam may be the hot new trend in appliances, Consumer Reports says it’s an extra feature that’s not worth the extra money.

So, depending on your opinion of Consumer Reports, you have the beginnings of an answer to the question- Is a steam appliance right for you?

Appliance Sales are Down

March 24, 2008 By NightOwl

Here’s some bad news for appliance dealers (if they haven’t already noticed the effect in their own markets)

Twice.com reports that according to AHAM (Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers), January shipments of major appliances fell 17 percent to 3.9 million units compared with the 4.7 million major appliances sold during the year-ago period.

Taking the biggest hit was the home-comfort sector, which was dragged down by a nearly 60 percent drop in room air shipments. The decline was only minimally offset by a 2.8 percent increase in dehumidifier sales, AC’s sister category.

The cooking category also felt the heat, down 15.6 percent year-over-year to nearly 1.2 million units. Leading the decline was microwave ovens, off nearly 19 percent in January. Among ranges, ovens and cooktops, gas-fueled models fell 10.7 percent while electric models saw an 11 percent decline last month. Gas cooktops were singed by a 17.2 percent decline, marginally offset by a 1.2 percent increase in gas oven shipments. By contrast, electric cooktops enjoyed a 5.1 percent gain, while shipments of electric ovens dropped 10.6 percent.

Among the other core appliance categories, kitchen cleanup dropped nearly 14 percent to some 808,300 units, food preservation fell nearly 9 percent to approximately 623,700 units and home laundry slipped 3.1 percent to about 964,000 units.

There were, however, several bright spots. Besides the gain in electric cooktops, portable dishwashers saw shipments climb 21.3 percent and wholesale sales of gas clothes dryers were up nearly 6 percent. But among their category counterparts, electric dryers declined 3.1 percent and washing machine shipments were off by 4.5 percent, to about 519,300 units. Similarly, shipments of build-in dishwashers declined 7.8 percent, disposers fell 19.4 percent and compactors dropped 19.5 percent.

Within food preservation, refrigerator shipments declined 8.8 percent to some 513,700 units while freestanding freezers fell 9.5 percent, led by a 12.7 percent decline in chest-style models.

Summarizing the month is the AHAM 6, an amalgam of the industry’s core washer, dryer, dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer, range and oven categories. Factory shipments for that grouping fell 7 percent in January, to 2.4 million units.

Is Your Clothes Dryer Working Effectively?

March 22, 2008 By NightOwl

We invest a lot of money in our clothes and want them to last and look good. Over-drying and over heating clothes wears them out faster. If your dryer is working effectively, you can dry more quickly, sometimes at lower temperatures. If preserving your clothes, possibly preventing wrinkles and saving energy sounds good to you, try these tips from mrappliance.com:

Avoid kinking exhaust vent behind dryer. The shorter the better.
Exhaust ducting should be of a metalized semi rigid/flexible material. Do not use vinyl as it can be easily crushed. Vinyl will not withstand heat as well as metalized ducting.
Check your outside vent hood. Clean if necessary. It is not advisable to use mesh wire or grates to cover the vent hood. This will definitely help keep rodents or birds out of your exhaust but can easily clog as some lint always makes it through the dryer’s lint screen. The best vent hood has a flapper that opens when the dryer is in use and closes when off. Verify proper operation of the flapper periodically.
Clean lint screen between loads and more frequently if drying material with higher cotton content.
Do not overload dryer. Too many clothes will inhibit proper circulation of heated air between and through the garments. On the other hand, too few clothes can create a similar problem by bunching and disallowing proper air flow through the clothes. Proper air flow dissipates the moisture from the clothes faster making for a faster dry time.
In winter months, dryers located in a heated area of the home will dry more quickly than a non-heated utility room.
Drying multiple loads one after the other will reduce overall dry time by utilizing heat retained by the dryer from previous loads.
Recheck pockets before putting clothes into dryer. Chewing gum may make it through the wash with little to no consequence but your luck will run out if it is put into the dryer. Gum, pencils, change, nails, needles, jewelry, etc. can damage clothing as well as damage your appliance (as a rule of thumb, do not lay loose change or other small articles on top of your appliances).