Beginning January 13th, GE is running an eight week sweepstakes, with weekly $250 VISA card giveaways and a grand prize of $20,000. You can enter each day for a chance to win. Here’s the link to get you there: GE Sweepstakes
Tips for Working with an Appliance Repair Technician
January 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
Appliance repair is something people generally like to avoid. Break downs never occur at a convenient time. Appliances fail when they are being used or are needed. In addition to not being able to use the appliance, people now have to find an appliance repair service and schedule an appointment. Continental Appliance, a San Francisco appliance repair and sales store, offers advice for working with an appliance repair service.
Below are some guidelines for working with an appliance repair service:
1. Gather necessary information before calling the appliance repair service, including availability, warranty information, brand name, model, and serial number of the appliance.
2. Be home when the appliance repairman shows up. Though it can be frustrating to be given a two to four hour time window, this is often the best they can do. The appliance repairman cannot always be expected to know exactly how long each job is going to take.
3. Don’t put off appliance repair when something is going wrong. If the appliance is making a grinding noise but still seems to work ok, chances are the repair will be relatively inexpensive if addressed right away. Ignoring the problem could lead to a more expensive problem.
4. Owners often like to watch the technician at work, but be considerate. Keep pets and children out of the way. The repairman doesn’t need a dog licking his face or children playing with his tools.
5. Payment is expected at the time of service. Do not wait until the job is complete then tell the appliance repairman to send a bill.
As expensive as it seems, appliance repair fees are generally reasonable when considering the time and money it takes to travel around fixing appliances, to keep up with advancing technologies and new products, and the convenience afforded. Imagine if the appliance has to be taken to the shop.
Winter Safety Tip – How to Prevent Dryer Fires
December 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment
One of the ways that dryers can start household fires is by igniting the excess lint that accumulates around the motor, burner shroud (for gas dryers) and cabinet interior. Lint is composed of very small, dry clothing particles which includes cotton and polyesters–both very good fires starters. Polyesters are particularly pernicious fires starters and are very difficult to extinguish once they ignite. Polyesters, vinyl in particular, pose another fire hazard when used as vent hoses, which we’ll talk more about later.
There are three things you can do to prevent the threat of fire from accumulated lint inside your dryer. First, clean your lint filter before every load. This will minimize the lint blow-by around the filter and save energy by helping the dryer run more efficiently.
Second, inspect your lint filter each time you pull it out. If you see any rips or distortions in the screen, replace the filter immediately.
Finally, have your dryer professionally disassembled and cleaned annually. A thorough professional cleaning removes accumulated lint and dirt from the dryer cabinet interior, motor, and burner or heating elements. In addition to substantially reducing the risk of dryer fires, this type of regular cleaning will help the drum bearings and rollers last longer, preventing or minimizing future service calls.
Many dryer installations use the common, cheap white vinyl vent hose for the dryer exhaust. These hoses were never UL-approved for dryer installations and are increasingly being recognized by local building codes as fire hazards. The American Household Appliance Manufacturers Association (AHAM) recommends the use of either rigid aluminum or steel duct or spiral-wound aluminum flex hose–NOT the white vinyl hose. For any dryer, but especially gas dryers, white vinyl vent hose should never be used and if yours has this installed on it, replace it ASAP with UL-approved materials.
One of the biggest causes of vent hose fires is the ignition of accumulated lint inside the vent hose. Lint gets caught in the folds and creases and sticks there because of the humidity. Over time, the lint builds up to such a degree that the dryer cannot exhaust properly. This results in increased drying times initially and, ultimately, in a fire. Once a fire starts in a vinyl vent hose, the hose itself ignites and burns vigorously creating a fire that is very difficult to extinguish.
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Whirlpool’s Newest Washers and Dryers
December 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Whirlpool has unveiled their newest laundry pairs, including an updated Duet platform and a new Maxima front-load line for Maytag.
Duet, which helped usher in the front-load washer category within the U.S. nearly a decade ago, has been retooled for even great energy and water efficiency in advance of anticipated higher federal standards.
Designed in conjunction with the Institute of Fabric Science, the revamped washer now uses as little as 11.5 gallons of water per load and exceeds current federal energy standards by more than 160 percent on average, Whirlpool said. The greater efficiency is achieved with an EcoBoost option that reduces water temperature while increasing agitation duration, resulting in the same cleaning effectiveness as previous iterations while using less water and energy.
Whirlpool estimates that the laundry pair can save consumers 12,857 gallons of water a year and as much as $3,300 in lifetime energy costs.
According to Twice.com, Whirlpool is targeting national retail chains for the launch, which is expected to begin in time for the holiday selling season. Suggest retail prices will start at $1,100 for both the washer and dryer.
Meanwhile, Whirlpool’s Maytag brand will roll out an entirely new front-load laundry platform in the Maxima, which offers increased capacity and a power-wash cycle that promises extra cleaning action by loosening stains and ground-in dirt.
The power-wash cycle is complimented by an internal water heater that boosts water temperatures to release difficult stains, and is followed by a thorough rinse to flush out any remaining detergent or lingering soils, Whirlpool said. Together, the functions can remove tough stains that weren’t pre-treated.
The 5-cubic-foot washer, available in two models, also has a 10-year limited parts warranty on the motor and stainless-steel wash basket.
Its companion 7.4-cubic-foot capacity dryer features “Quad” baffles and advanced moisture sensors for consistent load drying, while steam cycles help remove odors and wrinkles.
The Maxima series will carry an opening price point of $1,000 and is slated to ship this fall to retailers nationwide.
GE’s Plans to Help You Manage Your Energy Use
December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
GE Appliances & Lighting created the Home Energy Management (HEM) business, intending to be the first major appliance company to provide a whole-home solution for energy management.
When synchronized with the local utility company’s home smart-meter, coming into popular use, the HEM acts as the “central nervous system” for monitoring resource usage and controlling energy consumption within the home. The HEM, with the ability to collect data on multiple appliances, provides both real-time and long-term trend information on power and resource consumption and solar generation to the homeowners.
GE’s new Home Energy Manager (HEM) monitors all networked appliances which can include the refrigerator, range, dishwasher, washer and dryer, water heater, and will track all other home energy consumption including microwaves and televisions.
One of the primary goals of U.S. smart grid initiatives is to better use the energy production capacity the country already has. Home energy consumption efficiency can increase significantly when homeowners the option to participate in time-of-use pricing programs, which reward homeowners for lowering their consumption during periods of peak energy demand (usually 2-7 PM).
Simply providing consumers with energy consumption information motivates energy savings. A U.S. Department of Energy study showed that providing real-time pricing information to consumers via a smart meter helped reduce electricity costs 10% on average and 15% during peak periods.
“Knowing what is consuming electricity, and how much electricity that appliances are consuming, can be very empowering,” states Dave McCalpin, general manager of the new HEM business. “People will be able to make smarter choices if they have information. The once-a-month electrical bill provides no insight into your usage habits. We intend to change that.”
HEM’s design is targeted to include:
* Demand Response Integration, supporting communication standards Zigbee SEP 1.0, to enable demand response communication between a utility’s home smart meter and appliances on the home network, enabling real-time load shedding of networked appliances;
* Five-Day Weather Forecasts on Internet-enabled installations (communications supporting Ethernet, Wifi, and Zigbee SEP 1.0 standards);
* Electricity Usage Data Monitoring for the whole home for both short and long terms;
* Power Sub Metering for each GE demand response-enabled appliance;
* Solar Generation Monitoring of inverter output, including short- and long-term data where available;
* Water Usage Monitoring via household-wide data monitoring at 1-gallon resolution;
* Smart Thermostat Interface with full-featured seven-day programmable communicating thermostats that accepts demand response temperature offsets.
Appliance Lifespans
October 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We’ve said it before, here, but we’ll say it again, below we list some approximate lifespans for household appliances.
Average appliance life span in years
Compactors: 6
Dishwashers: 10
Disposers, food waste: 9
Dryers, electric: 12
Dryers, gas: 12
Freezers: 11
Microwave ovens: 9
Ranges, electric: 16
Ranges, gas: 17
Range/oven hoods: 11
Refrigerators: 12
Washers: 11
Water heaters, electric: 13
Water heaters, gas: 11
Air-conditioners, room: 9
Air-conditioners, central: 11
Boilers, gas: 20
Dehumidifiers: 7
Furnaces, gas: 15
Furnaces, oil: 17
Heat pumps: 12
Courtesy of heraldnet.com
Appliance Plumbing Design
