Outdated Kitchen Appliance Trends

How Do YOU Do With The Trends of 2023?

How well do you know the current appliance trends? Do you know how what’s in, what’s out and who’s got new appliances trends coming? We’re tackling some of the different trends that are falling by the wayside this year. Some of them will be easy to spot, and others you’re going to have to think more closely about.

Best of luck, and be sure to let us know how you do!

• True or False: Stainless Steel is Not a Big Deal

  Description text goes hereAlthough a variety of different metal finishes are in, as we've mentioned a few times already, stainless steel is very much out! We are so happy to say goodbye to this one, as trying to keep stainless steel shiny and fingerprint free is a pain.

  Black stainless steel also seems to be out, which is another blessing. Black stainless steel was very popular for a while, but it was only skin deep, as the finish itself was. Many times you would end up with scratches within the first few months of owning an appliance, and the stainless steel would show through. And while we are all for the artistic application of this technique, it's no good when it's not intentional.

• True or False: The Kitchen No Longer Needs A Triangle

  The Kitchen Triangle

  For ages and ages you typically had one person in the kitchen doing all of the cooking. So it made sense to have the kitchen triangle. This was a straight line between your sink your stove and your refrigerator. It made sense. With a single cook you'd ping pong between these three areas and there was nothing to get in your way. Now though we have hobbies, we have coffee bars, we have entire kitchens that are designed around people being in the kitchen as we cook. So the kitchen triangle is very much out.

• True or False: Eco-Friendly Designs Are In The Bin!

  False! There are, in fact, brands that are looking at making more efficient and eco-friendly devices available for your kitchen. Some of the examples are coffee makers with reusable filters and dishwashers that use even less water per load.

• True or False: Traditional Coil Stoves are a Thing of the Messy Past

  True! Electric coil stoves are very much on the way out. Although they were previously one of only two options, with the Advent of induction and other options, electric coil stoves are going the way of the dinosaurs. Celebrate with us at no longer having to scrape off burnt-on spills or worry about destroying the coils.

• True or False: Refrigerators Have Reached a Plateau

  False! Brands are looking to change the food zones that break down your fridge based on the different types of foods you want to keep on hand. Some of these are changeable as you need, others are specific to certain ingredients. The intention is so that you can keep your food fresher for longer.

• True or False: Technology in the Kitchen is Limited in What Can Be Done.

  False!

  Many different technologies are coming to your kitchen in 2023. We're not just looking at Wi-Fi and screens inside your refrigerator or Bluetooth that lets you connect to your refrigerator halfway across the house.

  Instead, many different sous vide tools are coming to your kitchen. Signature Kitchen suite is one of the first looking to bring a built-in sous vide range to the home cook. Although it still takes time, this slow cooking technique is capable of bringing restaurant quality food to your home.

• True or False: Everyone Is Sticking to Single Colors

  False!

  If the Pantone color of the year did not make it obvious enough, people are pushing to make their kitchens more and more personalized. Manufacturers and designers and aftermarket shops are all interested

  in helping make that happen. Whether it's a particular oven from La Cornue, or getting the MoodUP refrigerator when it becomes available, you can do it. Custom-colored appliances are available, and there's hardly any limit to what colors you can choose.

• True or False: Refrigerators with Tablets are Here To Stay

  If you've read our blog for any length of time you know that we very much despised the trend of refrigerators with tablets built in. Between having to worry about it being a security risk, or not being updated only a few months after you purchased, it they weren't worth the trouble. We are so happy to see that designers are realizing that this is not the way to make appliances smart.

Courtesy of Laurel Bern Interiors

With that, how did you do? Let us know over on our Facebook page! Are you a trendsetting whiz? Or do you have some catching up to do? (If it’s the latter, don’t worry, we did too!)

If you’re thinking ‘Well that’s great, Blogger, this was cool, but it doesn’t fix the fact that my oven is burning everything” don’t worry! That’s where giving our office a call can help. You can give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) Alternatively, you can reach out to us on our contact page if you’re not one for phones. Either way, we’ll work with you to set a date and time that works with your schedule. Whether you live in The Colony, Coppel or Carrollton, Appliance Rescue Services is here for you.

Energy Efficient Refrigerators: What Makes Them Tick?

And Which Ones Are Worth Your Money?

Did you know that out of all of your appliances, your refrigerator uses the most energy within your home? According to the department of energy, it uses about 5% of your total electricity every month. It doesn't sound like a lot, but in comparison to how much everything else uses, it is. The only things in your home that use more energy are your air conditioning, space heating, and water heater. Fortunately for you, there are options for improving your current fridge or replacing it. 

So how do companies make a refrigerator energy efficient? Currently, three options are commonly used among companies like LG, whirlpool, and Samsung.

The first is a little like Papa Bear in the story of Goldilocks. Manufacturers take the casing of the fridge and expand it so that they have more space to fill in with insulation. This does come with several drawbacks, though. 

-a larger refrigerator is going to draw more energy. 

-the larger the refrigerator is, the higher the price tag is. More materials are used to make the product, and manufacturers want to recoup it.

-If you're looking to replace your fridge with a newer one, you must keep that larger space in mind. It is possible and has happened more than once that a client will have to completely remodel their space to fit the new fridge.

Another way manufacturers increase their refrigerators' energy efficiency is a bit more like Mama Bear. Instead of making the case bigger, they keep it the same size and just stuff more insulation into the existing space. This keeps it a standardized size, but it decreases the internal capacity of the fridge. So it's a bit like swinging too far the other way.

Many homeowners, especially today, are looking for a blend of internal storage space and energy efficiency. And that's what brings us to the just-right version of a refrigerator. Instead of expanding the refrigerator or reducing the internal capacity, manufacturers look to new materials and technologies. Still keep the standard size case and fill the inside with more efficient insulation. Then they pair that with an energy-efficient cooling system that is more advanced. The downside is that since these materials are still not in common use, the price tag goes up accordingly.

We'll quickly take a look at some of the most energy-efficient refrigerators in different styles currently on the market. 

Best Top Freezer 

Model: Whirlpool WRT112CZJZ 

Price: $568

Biggest Pro: It's considered a very reliable refrigerator model that lasts for ages. 

Biggest Con: It's a very straightforward refrigerator and freezer, and there aren't any bells or whistles to it. 

Best Bottom Freezer

Model: LG LBNC15231V

Price: $1295

Biggest Pro: All shelves are adjustable, so you can set up the fridge any way you want. 

Biggest Con: For all that, it's only slightly larger than the previous model and doesn't have any additional features; it's double the price of the Top Freezer model. 

Best French Door Refrigerator

Model: LG LFC22770ST

Price: $1679

Best Side By Side Refrigerator

Model: LG LSXS26326S

Price: $1500

Biggest Pro: It has the most interior space of all of the refrigerators on our list today. 

Biggest Con: As we said in the first section, a bigger fridge means more energy usage. 

Best Built In Refrigerator

Model: Thermador Freedom Collection T36BB915SS

Price: $11499

Biggest Pro: This one offers the highest reliability, customer satisfaction, and ease of use on our list. 

Biggest Con: It has wifi.  

What if you don't want to replace your refrigerator, though? Instead, you might look at making your current refrigerator more energy efficient. To that end, we have seven tips that can help you out.

First, organize your fridge. It sounds like such a simple thing and something many of us consider cleaning or trying to make our lives a little faster and a little easier. But it can actually be really good for your refrigerator's health as well. Your refrigerator relies on its ability to pump air through the fridge, typically coming from the Top, cycling down to the bottom, and then out through the vents at the bottom of your fridge. When the vents are blocked, the motor has to work even harder to force more air in to continue circulating. This causes many problems, from cold air pooling and even freezing some sections of the fridge and other areas being only slightly cooler than the ambient temperature of the room.

To solve that consider grouping things together in bins and drawers. This way, things don't get shoved to the back of the fridge over time.

Our next tip is to look after the seals on your doors. These seals or gaskets protect your fridge from warm air coming in from outside. However, when you're constantly opening and closing the doors to grab ‘just one thing you forgot’ or to get water or ice, those seals give way. Well, your fridge might be able to last 15 years, but those gaskets will give out after just a few, especially with constant opening and closing. So check once a year. See if they are cracking, rotting, or pulling away. If they are, call up your favorite repair company to come and have it replaced. Not only does that help with your electric bill, but it also means you'll be cutting down on wasted food.

A third tip for you, keep the fridge away from high heat. While this is much harder in Texas Summers, you can take small steps to help your fridge. Don't position your fridge so that it's right next to your oven, your range, or your dishwasher. Make sure that the refrigerator doesn't stand in direct light for long periods of time. All of these things lead to the outside casing of the refrigerator heating up and the motor having to work harder to try and ensure the inside is cool.

Another cleaning tip, keep your condenser coils clean. Those coils are how the refrigerator breathes essentially, and when they're covered in dirt and dust, your fridge can't breathe. Just like you start drawing deeper, harder breaths, if you have something obstructing your lungs, your fridge does too. Working harder means that your electrical bill will go up now, and it will shorten the life of your refrigerator. This means you'll have to replace it far sooner than you wanted.

One final cleaning-oriented tip, clean up the ice inside your freezer. This is a summing that you have a freezer attached to your refrigerator. The motor works for both of them, and if the frost is building up in your freezer, then you'll have that motor working even harder, trying to circulate air on that side to get around the obstruction. So you can either regularly scrape off the ice that builds up or defrost your fridge and freezer on a regular basis. Both are options, and both will save you money in the long run.

Moving away from cleaning, try cooling your food before you put it into the fridge or freezer. So if you take food that is steaming hot right after dinner or right after you bake it, for example, and put it into the fridge, your fridge has to work to take the temperature down anywhere from 350° to 500° down to around 40°. On the other hand, if you let your food cool down on the counter prior to putting it away for storage, it only needs to bring it down from the ambient temperature of the room. Doing this means that the fridge doesn't have to work as hard, which cuts down on electricity usage. And that is what we are always hoping to do.

A final tip is to consider investing in a countertop ice maker. If you have an ice maker inside of your freezer or you use bottled water all the time, you have to constantly open your fridge and freezer. Instead, keeping an ice maker on the counter uses up a very small amount of energy in comparison to what your fridge draws every time you have to open it up. Given that we live in Texas, it might be more helpful to get an under-the-counter ice maker, which would be larger, but that is entirely up to you.

Wrapping all of that up, do you still have questions? Do you have any tips that maybe we missed? Let us know over on our Facebook page, as we always love to hear from you.

If you're here because your refrigerator just isn't getting cool enough even after you've tried to organize it or clean the coils, reach out to us. You can get hold of us by calling ((214) 599-0055) or by going to our contact page. Whatever the issue is, we'll work with you until you're satisfied that the problem has been fixed. Our top goal at Appliance Rescue Service is to get your home running smoothly again.

The MoodUp Refrigerator to Shake UP Your Kitchen

Time to Start the Party

At the 2023 consumer electronics show, LG launched an impressive new refrigerator. Called the MoodUp refrigerator, this fridge could either be a new take on appliances for the modern home or an epic flop. We will walk you through the features that it offers as well as questions we still have and leave it to you, dear reader, to decide. 

 The MoodUp refrigerator comes with many different features. There are two major ones that we will discuss first before we dig into the more practical set.

The first feature that we're excited about is the built-in Bluetooth speakers. Being able to have music while you clean or cook is really important for a lot of us, especially if you are looking to enjoy your time in the kitchen more. Whether it's food prep or making the nightly meal, or cleaning up after a long day, having something to listen to can make all the difference. After all, that's why Audible and services like it are so very popular. We like the addition to the refrigerator, and we're excited to see LG being inventive.

Courtesy of LG

The showstopper of course is the panels that are on the outside of your refrigerator. If it was a normal refrigerator, you would need to remove them and change them out if you wanted to change the color or material. Or, heaven forbid, you might have to purchase an entirely new refrigerator if it no longer matches your kitchen. LG, with their MoodUp refrigerator, asks what if that was no longer an issue? Instead, you now have the capability to match every Pantone color of the year that you could want. You can even go so far as to change your color every day if you want to. 

Courtesy of LG

The demonstration advertises 190,000 different possible color combinations. The key word in that sentence is combinations. It doesn't mean that you're getting the capability for 190,000 different colors. Instead, you're getting the capability of multiple different panels that can all do different colors at the same time.And that's just at the rollout. There's nothing to say that LG won't update or improve the color offerings over time.  

That isn’t everything that the MoodUp can do though. You also are able to knock on the upper right panel to see what you have inside the fridge without having to open it and waste the cold air. You can also have it set to a ‘nighttime’ mode so that you get a quiet glow from the fridge when you’re forced to wake up in the middle of the night.  Last, but most importantly, we’re excited that you can also set the fridge to more muted colors like stainless steel, silver or a wood color if you’re not in the mood to be vibrant on a particular day. 

After all this though, there is still quite a bit that we don’t know yet about LG’s new friend. So, we’re left with several questions. 

How good are the speakers? It's not every day that you attempt to build speakers into your refrigerator, not to mention a refrigerator is not conducive to sound output. Much of the insulation that goes towards keeping your food cold is going also to block sound waves. 

Courtesy of LG

Is LG attempting to replace the need for a conventional speaker system? It can be pleasant to be able to play music while you're cooking, but it's not something we consider our fridge for typically.

What are the size options? Can we get this in anything smaller than what the video portrayed? We know there is a French door model, but what about the various arrangements of the freezer and refrigerator portions? Is this counter depth, or will it stick out past everything? Knowing how a refrigerator will fit into your space is vastly more important than whether or not the color will match and that doesn't change simply because the mood up is capable of changing colors.

Are there other features than the ones we've discussed here that won't be revealed until closer to the release date?

And that leads us straight to what is the release date? LG was not clear in the video on when this would be released to the consumer market. Will it be locked to certain regions only? Is there going to be a waiting list? All of these questions are ones that we urge consumers to ask before getting too excited about the new fridge.

That right there is everything we know so far about the LG MoodUp refrigerator as of January of 2023. With what we know, are you interested? Would you consider updating your fridge once the MoodUp comes to market? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page. 

If on the other hand you’re fighting with your current refrigerator, and you really just want it to function properly, that is something we can help with. Whether it’s getting too cold, not getting cold enough, or it’s making strange noises, we’re here for you. At Appliance Rescue Service, our goal is to help you get your home running smoothly again. You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). We’ll work with you to choose a date that works best for you and send one of our expert technicians to solve the problem. At Appliance Rescue Service, we’re here for you. 

Appliance Deep Dive Round Up

Putting It All Together To See What Makes Appliances Tick

Appliances might not be the most interesting topic in the world, but they are a basic part of the American home. They make our lives easier, most of the time. According to Merriam-Webster, “ an appliance is a device or piece of equipment designed to perform a specific task, typically a domestic one.”  Over the last year we’ve broken down every major appliance in the home, to go deep into what makes the different appliances work and what matters. 

Each of the posts covers the important parts of their appliances. How do the appliances work? What sort of variations are there? What are the differences that are important to know if you’re looking to purchase? What features would you expect to find? So that’s the way each one works. We want to highlight the different posts, make them easier to find, and most importantly, show off something from each of them that might be of interest. 

All About the Refrigerator 

Let’s start off looking at the 5 major styles of refrigerators. When it comes to refrigerators you’ve got freezerless refrigerators, top freezers, bottom freezers, side by sides, and french doors.  Even though the first three are listed by the location or lack of a freezer, they are still refrigerators. Why are they listed by the freezer then? Probably because they’re still refrigerators without much of a change. Even the Side by Sides and the French Door refrigerators are most defined by how they’re set up rather than any change in what they do. While that might seem odd, it’s because refrigerators don’t grow by leaps and bounds in terms of food storage. They grow by tiny moments, small improvements to how long food stays good. So the biggest factor for you as a home owner, is how you want them to look. 

All About the Freezer

The freezer is both very similar and yet very different from the refrigerator. It doesn’t change much from one year to another, but instead, it slowly improves how long food can be kept. Changes to a lack of frostbite or lack of ice building up, they’re great! But overall, the freezer doesn’t change much in terms of its function. Instead, how the freezer is set up is what changes. For the freezer, your types are the portable freezer, a chest freezer,  an upright freezer, and drawer freezers. 

All About the Oven

Ovens are fantastic and have been for quite some time. The earliest ovens have been found in 29,000 BC. The varieties we have now are many, and the features are even more plentiful. We have gas and electric ovens, we have convection ovens, and steam ovens as well.  Our favorite feature though is a toss up between the warming drawer and the steam clean function. No matter how many times we fix ovens that have that feature we have to be grateful for it. 

All About the Stove 

  When it comes to the stove, everyone knows about gas stoves and electric stoves. The fights between the chefs will continue for ages yet, but for us, we love the induction stove. The fact that it’s nigh on impossible to be burned by the stove now is a fantastic thing. We also love that many stoves also offer continuous grates, which is wonderful for making breakfast foods of all sorts. After all, who doesn’t love breakfast? 

All About the Dishwasher

For dishwashers the types you might have include built-in, drawer, portable, countertop and integrated. Dishwashers are constantly changing though and offering new tools and techniques to make them better. When researching this we found that our favorite feature was the sensor wash.  This one feature makes it much easier to manage your water bill, and only uses the amount that’s needed to clean the dishes. 

All About the Washer

We’re tempted to say that the best part of the article is adding ‘laundry’ to the list of things that are consistent in life, but that would be a rather morose thought. Instead, for us it was learning about the existence of washer-dryer combinations. It’s not an efficient machine. It’s not an easy to use machine. The fact that it exists though, is where any appliance starts, as it can’t get better if it doesn’t exist yet. 

All About the Dryer 

And finally we have dryers. There are so many different types of dyers. They can all be said to do the same thing, but how they go about it? That’s wildly different. You’ve got gas dryers and electric dryers, but that’s just the power source. More important are the heat pump condenser dryers which use a technique similar to a refrigerator to make a dryer work many times more efficiently than the dryers any of us grew up with. 

And that’s that! If you’re looking to find out more about the options as of right now (2022) these are the posts to check out. Upgrades will come with time and we’ll update the page as well, diving in and letting you know what we’ve found as always. Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below, which article do you find the most useful? 

If instead you’re here because one of your appliances is making the holidays a nightmare, we can help with that! You can reach out to us on our contact page, or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). Even with the holidays, we’ll work with you to find a time that works best for you. At Appliance Rescue Service our goal is to get your home running smoothly again, whether it’s an oven that won’t stay lit, a dishwasher that isn’t draining or a dryer that’s squeaking.

Oven Deep Dive

 How does it work, why does it work, and how can you break an oven?

We are back again for our final appliance deep dive article. This one is all about the oven in your kitchen. We bake with it, we cook with it, we roast with it, and that’s only some of what your oven allows you to do. We're taking a look at the types of fuel, the parts that you need to be aware of, and the most common features that you can be on the lookout for. 

Types of Ovens

When it comes to ovens, there are three main categories. You have your conventional electric oven, your conventional gas oven, your steam oven, and then the convection oven. 

A conventional oven will cook your food by heating it with radiant heat created by the internal elements rather than an open flame. There are typically two heating elements or resistors in the top and bottom of the oven. Because of the ease of production, this is the most common and most basic oven available on the market. However, these are also not as precise when it comes to cooking. They're fantastic for cooking lots of food, they heat up quickly and evenly, and as we said, they're easy to replace. 

A conventional gas oven, on the other hand, is much better for more precise foods. A gas oven dates back to the 19th century. They can still be found all across the globe, both because they're effective in terms of cost and also because of the ability to fine-tune the temperature. 

The pieces within your gas oven are the ignition, the cooling fan, the thermostat, and the burner or burners, depending. The most important though is the flame failure device. This tool works to cut off the gas supply and prevents the build-up of gases if something goes wrong.

Your gas oven today is actually much safer than many would have you believe when treated properly and maintained. In the past, gas ranges and wall ovens used what was called a free-standing pilot light. Today they rely on a safety valve, that flame failure valve that we mentioned, that doesn't permit gas to flow into the burner unless the igniter is producing enough heat to ignite the gas. If there's no electricity, the oven igniter doesn't get hot enough, and therefore the gases cannot build up. 

The steam oven, though, is an oven that either cooks just by using steam or has an additional steam function on top of other more 'standard' functions that it can switch in between. Most steam ovens function by siphoning water from a cistern that you fill up into a built in boiler. That gets heated to 212* F and then vented into the oven. The heat from the steam is just as effective for cooking your food as any other method, and can actually be faster. 

Our final style of oven, the convection oven, is actually different from either the electric convection oven or the gas oven. In this type of oven, the main feature is actually the fan that enhances both the circulation of air and the temperature in the oven. The other elements include a tray at the bottom to protect your bake elements from drips or spills, a fan blade, a cooling compartment, and a convection baffle. If you're like most people and haven't heard of a battle before this is a case that protects and encloses the fan separate from the rest of the oven. The fan serves to move hot air evenly around your food, causing a faster cooking time.

The convection oven is for more than baking, although that is what some say it's best for it's capable of roasting, broiling, toasting, and dehydrating. All of that with hot "just" hot air. 

Parts of Your Oven

Now, while it's true that your oven types are all very different, there are some similarities that can be found across all of them.

All ovens are going to have an element that accomplishes the goal of making it into a very, very hot box. Electric ovens have a bake element, gas ovens have the burner system, the steam oven has the boiler, and the convection ovens have fan and bake elements. 

They also all have an internal thermostat that's meant to measure the heat inside and shift temperatures as needed. If your oven that you're dealing with is particularly old you might not have that and will need to look for other methods of checking the temperature. 

Most will also feature a small vent inside to help with mitigating the smoke that can be created or a duct for removing the smoke outside.

Beyond these few parts though, your ovens will be different. It's best to hold on to your manual when you purchase it so that you can reference it as needed.

Features With Your Oven 

All right, that's the boring stuff Let's move on to some of the interesting stuff like features you can look out for.

Multiple types of heat settings - 

We love it when an oven has options from baking to boiling to 'keep warm’. Because cooking can be so different at different stages having something like this makes life so much easier and more precise.

Dedicated warmer tray or drawer-

Instead of offering a separate mode, some ovens will offer a dedicated section of the oven for keeping foods at a certain temperature. This is fantastic if you are looking to proof bread or wanting to keep different pieces of a meal warm while other pieces are still cooking.

Steam cleaning mode-

As we've mentioned before, the only good way to clean your oven is with elbow grease. However, we will say that ovens which come with a steam clean mode rather than the burning method, are much more to our liking. These make it so much easier to get in and get everything wiped off and don't require running the risk of melting and important component within your oven.

Safety locks-

Parents rejoice! It is possible to find ovens that feature a safety lock to keep your little ones out of the oven. While that is one feature in a household of many places they can get into, it is definitely a worthwhile feature in our opinion. 

Did you learn what you expected about ovens? Did we miss something glaringly obvious? Let us know over on our Facebook page or in the comments below. 

If, instead, you are here because your oven specifically is giving you trouble, we're sorry to hear that. You can reach out to us via our contact page or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055) to set up an appointment today. We will work with you to find a time that works best for you and your schedule. At Appliance Rescue Service, our goal is to get your home running smoothly again.

P.S. And for those of you wondering the answer to our question in the headline of how to break an oven? The answer is easy, you press the “Self-clean” button.